Notifications

Introduction

Wails provides a comprehensive cross-platform notification system for desktop applications. This service allows you to display native system notifications, with support for interactive elements like action buttons and text input fields.

Basic Usage

Creating the Service

First, initialize the notifications service:

import "github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/pkg/application"
import "github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/services/notifications"

// Create a new notification service
notifier := notifications.New()

//Register the service with the application
app := application.New(application.Options{
    Services: []application.Service{
        application.NewService(notifier),
    },
})

Notification Authorization

Notifications on macOS require user authorization. Request and check authorization:

authorized, err := notifier.CheckNotificationAuthorization()
if err != nil {
    // Handle authorization error
}
if authorized {
    // Send notifications
} else {
    // Request authorization
    authorized, err = notifier.RequestNotificationAuthorization()
}

On Windows and Linux this always returns true.

Notification Types

Basic Notifications

Send a basic notification with a unique id, title, optional subtitle (macOS and Linux), and body text to users:

notifier.SendNotification(notifications.NotificationOptions{
    ID: "unique-id",
    Title: "New Calendar Invite",
    Subtitle: "From: Jane Doe", // Optional
    Body: "Tap to view the event",
})

Interactive Notifications

Send a notification with action buttons and text inputs. These notifications require a notification category to be resgistered first:

// Define a unique category id
categoryID := "unique-category-id"

// Define a category with actions
category := notifications.NotificationCategory{
    ID: categoryID,
    Actions: []notifications.NotificationAction{
        {
            ID:    "OPEN",
            Title: "Open",
        },
        {
            ID:          "ARCHIVE",
            Title:       "Archive",
            Destructive: true,  /* macOS-specific */
        },
    },
    HasReplyField:    true,
    ReplyPlaceholder: "message...",
    ReplyButtonTitle: "Reply",
}

// Register the category
notifier.RegisterNotificationCategory(category)

// Send an interactive notification with the actions registered in the provided category
notifier.SendNotificationWithActions(notifications.NotificationOptions{
    ID:         "unique-id",
    Title:      "New Message",
    Subtitle:   "From: Jane Doe",
    Body:       "Are you able to make it?",
    CategoryID: categoryID,
})

Notification Responses

Process user interactions with notifications:

notifier.OnNotificationResponse(func(result notifications.NotificationResult) {
    response := result.Response
    fmt.Printf("Notification %s was actioned with: %s\n", response.ID, response.ActionIdentifier)

    if response.ActionIdentifier == "TEXT_REPLY" {
        fmt.Printf("User replied: %s\n", response.UserText)
    }

    if data, ok := response.UserInfo["sender"].(string); ok {
        fmt.Printf("Original sender: %s\n", data)
    }

    // Emit an event to the frontend
    app.EmitEvent("notification", result.Response)
})

Notification Customisation

Custom Metadata

Basic and interactive notifications can include custom data:

notifier.SendNotification(notifications.NotificationOptions{
    ID: "unique-id",
    Title: "New Calendar Invite",
    Subtitle: "From: Jane Doe", // Optional
    Body: "Tap to view the event",
    Data: map[string]interface{}{
        "sender": "[email protected]",
        "timestamp": "2025-03-10T15:30:00Z",
    }
})

Platform Considerations

macOS

On macOS, notifications:

• Require user authorization
• Require the app to be notorized for distribution
• Use system-standard notification appearances
• Support subtitle
• Support user text input
• Support the Destructive action option
• Automatically handle dark/light mode

Windows

On Windows, notifications:

• Use Windows system toast styles
• Adapt to Windows theme settings
• Support user text input
• Support high DPI displays
• Do not support subtitle

Linux

On Linux, dialog behaviour depends on the desktop environment:

• Use native notifications when available
• Follow desktop environment theme
• Position according to desktop environment rules
• Support subtitle
• Do not support user text input

Best Practices

1. Check and request for authorization:

   • macOS requires user authorization

2. Provide clear and concise notifications:

   • Use descriptive titles, subtitles, text, and action titles

3. Handle dialog responses appropriately:

   • Check for errors in notification responses
   • Provide feedback for user actions

4. Consider platform conventions:

   • Follow platform-specific notification patterns
   • Respect system settings

Examples

Explore this example:

• Notifications

API Reference

Service Management

Method	Description
New()	Creates a new notifications service

Notification Authorization

Method	Description
RequestNotificationAuthorization()	Requests permission to display notifications (macOS)
CheckNotificationAuthorization()	Checks current notification authorization status (macOS)

Sending Notifications

Method	Description
SendNotification(options NotificationOptions)	Sends a basic notification
SendNotificationWithActions(options NotificationOptions)	Sends an interactive notification with actions

Notification Categories

Method	Description
RegisterNotificationCategory(category NotificationCategory)	Registers a reusable notification category
RemoveNotificationCategory(categoryID string)	Removes a previously registered category

Managing Notifications

Method	Description
RemoveAllPendingNotifications()	Removes all pending notifications (macOS and Linux only)
RemovePendingNotification(identifier string)	Removes a specific pending notification (macOS and Linux only)
RemoveAllDeliveredNotifications()	Removes all delivered notifications (macOS and Linux only)
RemoveDeliveredNotification(identifier string)	Removes a specific delivered notification (macOS and Linux only)
RemoveNotification(identifier string)	Removes a notification (Linux-specific)

Event Handling

Method	Description
OnNotificationResponse(callback func(result NotificationResult))	Registers a callback for notification responses

Structs and Types

NotificationOptions

type NotificationOptions struct {
    ID         string                 // Unique identifier for the notification
    Title      string                 // Main notification title
    Subtitle   string                 // Subtitle text (macOS and Linux only)
    Body       string                 // Main notification content
    CategoryID string                 // Category identifier for interactive notifications
    Data       map[string]interface{} // Custom data to associate with the notification
}

NotificationCategory

type NotificationCategory struct {
    ID               string                // Unique identifier for the category
    Actions          []NotificationAction  // Button actions for the notification
    HasReplyField    bool                  // Whether to include a text input field
    ReplyPlaceholder string                // Placeholder text for the input field
    ReplyButtonTitle string                // Text for the reply button
}

NotificationAction

type NotificationAction struct {
    ID          string  // Unique identifier for the action
    Title       string  // Button text
    Destructive bool    // Whether the action is destructive (macOS-specific)
}

NotificationResponse

type NotificationResponse struct {
    ID               string                  // Notification identifier
    ActionIdentifier string                  // Action that was triggered
    CategoryID       string                  // Category of the notification
    Title            string                  // Title of the notification
    Subtitle         string                  // Subtitle of the notification
    Body             string                  // Body text of the notification
    UserText         string                  // Text entered by the user
    UserInfo         map[string]interface{}  // Custom data from the notification
}

NotificationResult

type NotificationResult struct {
    Response NotificationResponse  // Response data
    Error    error                 // Any error that occurred
}