Desktop Notifier

desktop-notifier is a Python library for cross-platform desktop notifications. Currently supported platforms are:

• Linux via the dbus service org.freedesktop.Notifications
• macOS and iOS via the Notification Center framework

Features

Where supported by the native platform APIs:

• Clickable notifications
• Multiple action buttons
• A single reply field (e.g., for chat notifications)
• Asyncio integration: the main API consists of async methods and a running event loop is required to respond to user interactions with a notification
• Notification sounds
• Notification threads (e.g., for different conversations)
• Limit maximum number of notifications shown in the notification center
• Pure Python dependencies only, no extension modules

Installation

From PyPI:

pip3 install -U desktop-notifier

Usage

The main API consists of asynchronous methods which need to be awaited. Basic usage only requires the user to specify a notification title and message. For instance:

import asyncio
from desktop_notifier import DesktopNotifier

notify = DesktopNotifier()

async def main():
    n = await notify.send(title="Hello world!", message="Sent from Python")
    
    await asyncio.sleep(5)  # wait a bit before clearing notification

    await notify.clear(n)  # removes the notification
    await notify.clear_all()  # removes all notifications for this app

asyncio.run(main())

For convenience, the is also a synchronous method send_sync() to send notifications which does not require a running asyncio loop:

notify.send_sync(title="Hello world!", message="Sent from Python")

By default, "Python" will be used as the app name for all notifications, but you can manually specify an app name and icon in the DesktopNotifier constructor. Advanced usage also allows setting different notification options such as urgency, buttons, callbacks, etc. The following code will generate the notification shown in the gif at the top of the page:

from desktop_notifier import DesktopNotifier, Urgency, Button, ReplyField

notify = DesktopNotifier()

async def main():
  await notify.send(
      title="Julius Caesar",
      message="Et tu, Brute?",
      urgency=Urgency.Critical,
      buttons=[
        Button(
          title="Mark as read",
          on_pressed=lambda: print("Marked as read")),
      ],
      reply_field=ReplyField(
        title="Reply",
        button_title="Send",
        on_replied=lambda text: print("Brutus replied:", text),
      ),
      on_clicked=lambda: print("Notification clicked"),
      on_dismissed=lambda: print("Notification dismissed"),
      sound=True,
  )
  

loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
loop.create_task(main())
loop.run_forever()

Note that some platforms may not support all options. For instance, some Linux desktop environments may not support notifications with buttons. macOS does not support manually setting the app icon or name. Instead, both are always determined by the application which uses the Library. This can be Python itself, when used interactively, or a frozen app bundle when packaged with PyInstaller or similar solutions. Please refer to the Platform Support chapter of the documentation for more information on limitations for certain platforms.

Any options or configurations which are not supported by the platform will be silently ignored. Please refer to the documentation on Read the Docs for more information on platform support.

Event loop integration

Using the asynchronous API is highly recommended to prevent multiple milliseconds of blocking IO from DBus or Cocoa APIs. In addition, execution of callbacks requires a running event loop. On Linux, an asyncio event loop will be sufficient but macOS requires a running CFRunLoop.

You can use rubicon-objc to integrate a Core Foundation CFRunLoop with asyncio:

import asyncio
from rubicon.objc.eventloop import EventLoopPolicy

# Install the event loop policy
asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(EventLoopPolicy())

# Get an event loop, and run it!
loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
loop.run_forever()

Desktop-notifier itself uses Rubicon Objective-C to interface with Cocoa APIs so you will not be adding a new dependency. A full example integrating with the CFRunLoop is given in examples/eventloop.py. Please refer to the Rubicon Objective-C docs for more information.

Likewise, you can integrate the asyncio event loop with a Gtk main loop on Gnome using gbulb. This is not required for full functionality but may be convenient when developing a Gtk app.

Notes on macOS

On macOS 10.14 and higher, the implementation uses the UNUserNotificationCenter instead of the deprecated NSUserNotificationCenter. UNUserNotificationCenter restricts sending desktop notifications to signed executables. This means that notifications will only work if the Python executable or bundled app has been signed. Note that the installer from python.org provides a properly signed Python framework but homebrew does not (manually signing the executable installed by homebrew should work as well).

If you freeze your code with PyInstaller or a similar package, you must sign the resulting app bundle for notifications to work. An ad-hoc signature will be sufficient but signing with an Apple developer certificate is recommended for distribution.

Requirements

• macOS 10.13 or higher
• Linux desktop environment providing a dbus desktop notifications service

Dependencies

• dbus-next on Linux
• rubicon-objc on macOS