--- layout: changelog title: "Track who is online with the new Presences API" date: 2026-05-25 cover: /images/blog/announcing-presences-api/cover.avif tags: realtime, api --- Appwrite now ships a first-class **Presences API** for short-lived user statuses like online, away, editing, or typing. Each presence is a small record attached to a user, with a `status` string, optional `metadata`, an `expiresAt` timestamp (up to 30 days), and the same [permissions](/docs/advanced/platform/permissions) model as the rest of the platform. Presences broadcast every change over dedicated Realtime channels (`presences` and `presences.`) as `upsert`, `update`, and `delete` events, so an "online now" list, a typing indicator, or a "viewing this page" cue is a single `Channel.presences()` subscription away. Stale records emit `delete` events automatically when they expire, no cleanup job required. Combine it with [Realtime queries](/blog/post/announcing-realtime-queries) and a client only receives the presence events its UI actually needs to render, which makes the API a fit for multiplayer games and live movement tracking as much as for online indicators. [Read the announcement](/blog/post/announcing-presences-api)