Participants

Every person (or bot) in a Daily room is represented as a DailyParticipant object. Daily keeps these objects up to date as media states, permissions, and network conditions change.

The DailyParticipant Object

interface DailyParticipant {
  // Identity
  user_id: string;
  user_name: string;
  userData?: unknown;
  session_id: string;
  joined_at?: Date;
  local: boolean;
  owner: boolean;
  record: boolean;
  participantType?: DailyParticipantTypeValues;

  // Media tracks
  tracks: DailyParticipantTracks;

  // Network
  networkQualityState?: 'good' | 'warning' | 'bad' | 'unknown';

  // Permissions
  permissions: DailyParticipantPermissions;
  will_eject_at: Date;
}

See the DailyParticipant type reference for the full field listing with types and descriptions.

Listing Participants

`participants()`

Returns a DailyParticipantsObject — a flat map of all participants currently visible to the local client.

interface DailyParticipantsObject {
  local: DailyParticipant;
  [sessionId: string]: DailyParticipant;
}

const { local, ...remotes } = call.participants();

console.log('My session:', local.session_id);

for (const [sessionId, participant] of Object.entries(remotes)) {
  console.log(participant.user_name, sessionId);
}

The local key is always present. Remote participants are keyed by their session_id.

`participantCounts()`

Returns aggregate counts without full participant data — more accurate than counting participants manually as participant data can come in delayed on join, whereas the counts are provided immediately. Also, hidden participants are not included in participants(), but are included in the counts returned by participantCounts().

interface DailyParticipantCounts {
  present: number; // participants visible via participants()
  hidden: number;  // participants with hasPresence: false
}

const { present, hidden } = call.participantCounts();
console.log(`${present} visible, ${hidden} hidden`);

Listen for participant-counts-updated to keep this value current.

`waitingParticipants()`

call object mode only Returns a map of participants waiting in a knock-to-join lobby, keyed by their id. Use updateWaitingParticipant() to admit or deny them.

const waiting = call.waitingParticipants();
console.log(`${Object.keys(waiting).length} participants waiting`);

See the Waiting room guide for a full walkthrough including room configuration, event handling, and a complete example.

Updating Participants

`updateParticipant(sessionId, options)`

Send a change request for a single participant. Returns the DailyCall instance for chaining.

call.updateParticipant(
  sessionId: string,
  options: DailyParticipantUpdateOptions
): DailyCall

setAudio

boolean

Mute (false) or unmute (true) for the participant’s microphone. Only admins can mute remote participants’ audio. Note: while you can use this to mute/unmute the local participant, setLocalAudio() is the preferred method.

setVideo

boolean

Mute (false) or unmute (true) for the participant’s camera. Only admins can mute remote participants’ video. Note: while you can use this to mute/unmute the local participant, setLocalVideo() is the preferred method.

Stop a remote participant’s screen share. Can only be set to false (you can only stop, not start, a remote screen share). Requires admin permissions.

setSubscribedTracks

DailyTrackSubscriptionOptions

Control which of this participant’s tracks the local client receives. See Track Subscription.

eject

true

Remove the participant from the call. Can only be set to true. Requires admin permissions.

updatePermissions

DailyParticipantPermissionsUpdate

Change the participant’s hasPresence, canSend, canReceive, or canAdmin permissions. Requires admin permissions.

styles

DailyParticipantCss

Prebuilt only Apply CSS overrides to this participant’s video tiles.

`updateParticipants(updates)`

Apply updates to multiple participants in a single call. This method takes the same options as updateParticipant() but in a map keyed by session_id. You can use '*' as a wildcard key to apply the same update to all remote participants.

call.updateParticipants({
  [sessionId: string]: DailyParticipantUpdateOptions;
}): DailyCall

Code Examples

// Mute a specific participant's mic (owner only)
call.updateParticipant(sessionId, { setAudio: false });

// Remove a participant from the call (owner only)
call.updateParticipant(sessionId, { eject: true });

// Mute every remote participant's mic at once (owner only)
call.updateParticipants('*', { setAudio: false });

// Prevent a participant from sending video or screen share
call.updateParticipant(sessionId, {
  updatePermissions: {
    canSend: ['audio'], // audio only
  },
});

Participant Events

React to participant state changes by subscribing to these events:

Event	Fires when
`participant-joined`	A remote participant enters the room
`participant-updated`	Any field on a participant changes (mute, network quality, etc.)
`participant-left`	A remote participant leaves or is ejected
`participant-counts-updated`	The aggregate counts returned by `participantCounts()` change
`waiting-participant-added`	A participant enters the knock-to-join lobby
`waiting-participant-updated`	A waiting participant’s state changes
`waiting-participant-removed`	A waiting participant leaves the lobby or is admitted

call.on('participant-joined', ({ participant }) => {
  console.log(`${participant.user_name} joined`);
});

call.on('participant-updated', ({ participant }) => {
  const audioState = participant.tracks.audio.state;
  console.log(`${participant.user_name} audio is ${audioState}`);
});

call.on('participant-left', ({ participant, reason }) => {
  console.log(`${participant.user_name} left`, reason ?? 'normally');
});

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Features

Participants

The DailyParticipant Object

Listing Participants

`participants()`

`participantCounts()`

`waitingParticipants()`

Updating Participants

`updateParticipant(sessionId, options)`

`updateParticipants(updates)`

Code Examples

Participant Events

​The DailyParticipant Object

​Listing Participants

​participants()

​participantCounts()

​waitingParticipants()

​Updating Participants

​updateParticipant(sessionId, options)

​updateParticipants(updates)

​Code Examples

​Participant Events

The DailyParticipant Object

Listing Participants

`participants()`

`participantCounts()`

`waitingParticipants()`

Updating Participants

`updateParticipant(sessionId, options)`

`updateParticipants(updates)`

Code Examples

Participant Events