Prerequisites

Set up your local environment to develop presences - clone the presences repository and install the CLI.

Requirements

• Node.js 22+ - required to run the CLI and build presences
• pnpm - the presences repository uses pnpm workspaces
• Discord Desktop - for testing your presence with Nowly Host
• Git - to clone the presences repository

Clone the Presences Repository

All community presences live in the nowly-presence/presences repository.

git clone https://github.com/nowly-presence/presences.git
cd presences

Install the CLI Globally

The Nowly CLI lets you scaffold, validate, and build presences.

pnpm i -g @nowly/cli

On Node 24+, you may need --config.minimumReleaseAge=0 if the package was published recently.

Install Dependencies

The presences repo uses pnpm workspaces. Installing dependencies also links the @nowly/sdk package for type-checking.

pnpm install

Verify Setup

Run the CLI to confirm everything works:

nowly --help

You should see a list of available commands (init, build, pack, extension, validate, etc.).

Next Step

Your environment is ready. Go to Creating Your First Presence to scaffold your first presence.