Riot Client Notifier is a lightweight friend presence monitor with Windows desktop and Linux/cloud email profiles. It currently alerts when a friend comes online in VALORANT, even with Riot Client and VALORANT closed. The Node.js watcher connects to Riot's XMPP chat service, renews your saved remember-me login, and tracks friends by their stable PUUID.
Looking for a Riot Client friend notifier, a VALORANT online alert, or a Riot Games presence notification? This app alerts when a selected Riot friend enters VALORANT. Riot's wider game ecosystem also includes League of Legends (LoL), Teamfight Tactics (TFT), Legends of Runeterra (LoR), League of Legends: Wild Rift, and 2XKO. Those titles are included as Riot ecosystem keywords; this project's friend activity alerts currently detect VALORANT presence only. Read the technical guide to Riot authentication and friend presence.
- Monitor multiple friends with separate Windows notifications, debounce, and cooldowns.
- Gmail email on the same VALORANT alert. A failed send retries on its own, without repeating the Windows toast.
- Standalone Riot XMPP presence connection; no running Riot Client required after login setup.
- Automatic token renewal from your existing saved Riot login.
- Stable PUUID tracking that survives Riot ID changes.
- Duplicate suppression, debounce, and saved notification state across restarts.
- Network/authentication failures handled as unknown rather than offline.
- Per-user Windows sign-in startup and simple start, stop, status, and friend-selection controls.
- Windows DPAPI encryption for the watcher's session cache; no passwords in configuration.
- Vendored streaming XML parser; no npm dependency installation required.
- Windows desktop: use the existing PowerShell installer below. It uses your saved Riot login, DPAPI, desktop notifications, and optional email.
- Linux / cloud VM: follow CLOUD.md. It uses a securely exported encrypted session, email alerts, a separate data directory, and a systemd service.
Set RIOT_ENV=windows or RIOT_ENV=cloud explicitly, or let the OS select the default. Both profiles use the same monitoring code. GCloud deployment can be done separately.
- Windows with Windows PowerShell and desktop notification support.
- Node.js 22 or newer available as
nodein your terminal. - Riot Client installed and previously signed in with remember me enabled under the same Windows user.
- The friend you monitor must be an accepted friend of that Riot account.
- Internet connectivity; Windows must be signed in and the PC awake for desktop alerts.
This uses Riot's private authentication/social protocols. It was verified on a Windows installation; compatibility with every client version, account, or future authentication change is not guaranteed. It is an unofficial project, unaffiliated with Riot Games.
Clone or download this repository, then run from its folder:
git clone https://github.com/GodOfCoding1/riot-client-notifier.git
cd riot-client-notifier
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1 -RiotId 'YourFriend#TAG,AnotherFriend#TAG'Pass one Riot ID or a comma-separated list. Without -RiotId, the installer reuses the existing selection or prompts for IDs. It copies Node and the application into %LOCALAPPDATA%\RiotFriendNotifier, resolves all selected friends, runs checks, submits a test notification, enables sign-in startup, and starts the hidden watcher. No administrator account is required. Re-run the installer to upgrade an existing installation; existing single-friend configuration and notification state remain supported.
After setup, Riot Client and VALORANT can both be closed. If Riot revokes the saved authorization, sign into Riot Client again with remember me enabled. The watcher retries automatically.
Open %LOCALAPPDATA%\RiotFriendNotifier and double-click:
| Control | Action |
|---|---|
ChangeFriends.cmd / ChangeFriend.cmd |
Replace the monitored list with one or more comma-separated Riot IDs |
AddFriend.cmd |
Add one or more Riot IDs, keeping existing friends |
RemoveFriend.cmd |
Remove one or more monitored Riot IDs; keep at least one friend |
Start.cmd / Stop.cmd |
Start or stop the background process |
Status.cmd |
Check running state, connection, latest observation, and startup |
Test.cmd |
Submit a Windows test notification |
DisableStartup.cmd / EnableStartup.cmd |
Remove or restore sign-in startup |
PowerShell example:
$manager = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'RiotFriendNotifier\manage.ps1'
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $manager -Action ChangeFriends -RiotId 'FriendOne#TAG,FriendTwo#TAG'
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $manager -Action AddFriend -RiotId 'AnotherFriend#TAG'
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $manager -Action RemoveFriend -RiotId 'FriendOne#TAG'
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $manager -Action StatusStop does not disable future sign-in startup. DisableStartup does not stop the currently running process. Use both to disable the application completely.
Friend changes take effect on the next poll. Duplicate PUUIDs are monitored once. If any ID cannot be resolved, the existing selection is preserved. Adding or removing friends preserves alert state for friends that remain selected. Removal uses the stored display ID, without needing a Riot connection.
flowchart LR
A[Saved Riot login] --> B[OAuth token renewal]
B --> C[Entitlement and PAS / chat routing]
C --> D[TLS XMPP connection]
D --> E[Friend roster and live presence]
E --> F[PUUID tracking and debounce]
F --> G[Windows toast]
F --> H[Gmail SMTP]
Presence events update a local cache shared by all friends over one XMPP connection; the watcher evaluates it every 12 seconds. Each friend has independent debounce, cooldown, and saved notification state. Entering VALORANT requires two healthy observations at least 12 seconds apart. Leaving requires 36 seconds of healthy non-VALORANT presence; a two-minute cooldown further suppresses repeats. A first confirmed already-online observation can notify once, and persisted state prevents repeat alerts on reconnects.
Concurrent launcher/mobile and VALORANT sessions are tracked separately. dnd can mean in-game activity and counts as online. Disconnected or stale streams are unknown, never treated as a confirmed offline transition. Very short visits or transitions during outages may be missed.
The watcher publishes normal Riot chat presence to subscribe to friend updates, so your account may appear online in Riot chat. It sends no chat messages, friend requests, or gameplay commands.
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Riot Games\Riot Client\Data\RiotGamesPrivateSettings.yaml |
Existing Riot saved authorization, read without modification |
%LOCALAPPDATA%\RiotFriendNotifier\session.dpapi |
Refreshed watcher session encrypted for the Windows user |
config.json |
friends array of Riot IDs/PUUIDs and mode; no login secrets |
.env |
Gmail SMTP app password, sender, and recipient. Git ignores this file. |
state.json |
Notification deduplication state keyed by each friend's PUUID |
status.json / watcher.log |
Sanitized health and delivery diagnostics |
Riot passwords and browser cookies are not requested. The Gmail app password stays in .env. Remote HTTPS/TLS verifies certificates. The optional older loopback implementation confines its certificate exception to 127.0.0.1.
Never commit saved Riot settings, decrypted tokens, encrypted session caches, cookies, or logs. See SECURITY.md for credential handling and report guidance.
Status should show Running: True, source: independent-xmpp, chatConnected: true, and a timestamp that advances. Its friends array reports each friend's ID, PUUID, observed, and stable status. observed: other means a healthy non-VALORANT result; persistent unknown means activity cannot currently be determined. Short loading/renewal periods are expected.
Test.cmd submits a Windows test notification and, when .env is present, a test email. It does not check Riot connectivity or an actual friend transition. Check notification settings and Do Not Disturb if a banner does not appear.
node .\tests.cjs
node .\xmpp-tests.cjs
node .\multi-friend-tests.cjs
node .\notify-tests.cjs
node .\cloud-tests.cjsThe project has 61 transition, protocol, health, encryption, multi-friend, email-delivery, and runtime checks on Windows (59 on Linux), including Windows management command integration. Read the verification record for the distinction between live evidence and simulated checks. Cloud process recovery is handled by systemd; Windows process exits require Start or a new sign-in.
Linux and cloud VMs are supported by the cloud runtime profile. See CLOUD.md for session export, email configuration, friend selection, persistent state, and service installation. Windows DPAPI caches cannot be transferred to Linux. Cloud authentication and live alert delivery must be verified on the destination VM.
The configured GCloud deployment includes independent failure and recovery email alerts. See monitoring health for how stale checks, unknown friend status, stopped processes, and VM outages are detected.
- Technical guide: live protocol discovery, OAuth refresh, XMPP authentication, friend roster, health checks, and migration.
- Verification record: observed results, simulations, and untested scenarios.
- Contributing: setup, checks, and contribution expectations.
- Security: protecting authorization and reporting vulnerabilities.
- Third-party notices: vendored XML parser attribution.
Run Stop.cmd, then DisableStartup.cmd. Delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\RiotFriendNotifier, including its encrypted session cache. Optionally remove the sender registry key HKCU\Software\Classes\AppUserModelId\Local.RiotFriendNotifier.
Project code is MIT licensed. The vendored sax parser retains its own license. VALORANT and Riot Games names are used to describe compatibility and remain their respective owners' trademarks.
Protocol references: Riot OpenID metadata, VALORANT XMPP documentation, and techchrism's XMPP watcher.