Notifications API

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers

The Notifications API allows web pages to control the display of system notifications to the end user. These are outside the top-level browsing context viewport, so therefore can be displayed even when the user has switched tabs or moved to a different app. The API is designed to be compatible with existing notification systems, across different platforms.

Concepts and usage

On supported platforms, showing a system notification generally involves two things. First, the user needs to grant the current origin permission to display system notifications, which is generally done when the app or site initializes, using the Notification.requestPermission() method. This should be done in response to a user gesture, such as clicking a button, for example:

js
btn.addEventListener("click", () => {
  let promise = Notification.requestPermission();
  // wait for permission
});

This is not only best practice — you should not be spamming users with notifications they didn't agree to — but going forward browsers will explicitly disallow notifications not triggered in response to a user gesture. Firefox is already doing this from version 72, for example.

This will spawn a request dialog, along the following lines:

A dialog box asking the user to allow notifications from that origin. There are options to never allow or allow notifications.

From here the user can choose to allow notifications from this origin, or block them. Once a choice has been made, the setting will generally persist for the current session.

Note: As of Firefox 44, the permissions for Notifications and Push have been merged. If permission is granted for notifications, push will also be enabled.

Next, a new notification is created using the Notification() constructor. This must be passed a title argument, and can optionally be passed an options object to specify options, such as text direction, body text, icon to display, notification sound to play, and more.

In addition, the Notifications API spec specifies a number of additions to the ServiceWorker API, to allow service workers to fire notifications.

Note: To find out more about using notifications in your own app, read Using the Notifications API.

Interfaces

Notification

Defines a notification object.

NotificationEvent

Represents a notification event dispatched on the ServiceWorkerGlobalScope of a ServiceWorker.

Extensions to other interfaces

notificationclick event

Occurs when a user clicks on a displayed notification.

notificationclose event

Occurs when a user closes a displayed notification.

ServiceWorkerRegistration.getNotifications()

Returns a list of the notifications in the order that they were created from the current origin via the current service worker registration.

ServiceWorkerRegistration.showNotification()

Displays the notification with the requested title.

Specifications

Specification
Notifications API Standard

Browser compatibility

api.Notification

BCD tables only load in the browser

api.ServiceWorkerRegistration.showNotification

BCD tables only load in the browser

api.ServiceWorkerRegistration.getNotifications

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also