Cross-platform desktop notifications from Claude Code. Use when: a long task completes, you need to alert the user, asking a choice via toast buttons, showing progress, or any time a desktop notification would be helpful. Works on WSL (Windows BurntToast), native Linux (notify-send), and macOS (osascript).

NOTIFY

Cross-platform desktop notifications from Claude Code.

Usage

/notify "Title" "Message"                          - Simple notification
/notify "Title" "Message" --alarm                  - Notification with sound
/notify "Question?" --choices "Yes" "No" "Maybe"   - Interactive with buttons
/notify "Building..." --progress 0.75              - Progress bar notification

What This Is

NOTIFY sends real desktop notifications from your Claude Code session. When a long build finishes, when a test suite completes, when Claude needs your attention — a toast pops up on your desktop instead of sitting silently in the terminal.

Platform Support

Platform	Method	Interactive Buttons	Progress Bar
WSL	BurntToast (PowerShell)	Yes (up to 5)	Yes
Linux	notify-send	Yes (if supported)	Text-based
macOS	osascript	No	No

How It Works

Simple Notification

python3 scripts/toast.py "Build Complete" "All 47 tests passed"

With Sound (Attention-Getter)

python3 scripts/toast.py "ALERT" "Deployment failed" --alarm

Interactive Choices

python3 scripts/toast.py "Deploy?" --choices "Production" "Staging" "Cancel"

Returns the selected option number (1-indexed) or None on timeout.

Progress Bar

python3 scripts/toast.py "Installing" --progress 0.6 --status "60% complete"

JSON Output

Add --json flag for machine-readable output:

python3 scripts/toast.py "Choose" --choices "A" "B" --json
# {"choice": 1, "label": "A"}

Programmatic Use (Python)

from toast import send_toast, ask_choice, send_progress

# Simple notification
send_toast("Title", "Message")

# With icon/image
send_toast("Title", "Message", hero=True)

# Interactive choice (returns 1-indexed int or None)
choice = ask_choice("Deploy where?", ["Production", "Staging", "Cancel"])

# Progress bar (call repeatedly to update)
send_progress("Building", "Compiling...", 0.3)
send_progress("Building", "Linking...", 0.7)
send_progress("Building", "Done!", 1.0)

AUTO-EXECUTE Protocol

When this skill is invoked:

Step 0: Prerequisites Check (First Use Only)

Run this check the first time NOTIFY is used in a session:

# Detect platform
grep -qiE "(microsoft|wsl)" /proc/version 2>/dev/null && echo "PLATFORM=wsl" || \
  ([ "$(uname)" = "Darwin" ] && echo "PLATFORM=macos" || echo "PLATFORM=linux")

Then verify dependencies:

WSL: powershell.exe -Command "Get-Module -ListAvailable BurntToast" — if not found, tell user: "NOTIFY requires BurntToast. Install it in PowerShell: Install-Module -Name BurntToast -Force"
Linux: which notify-send — if not found, tell user: "NOTIFY requires libnotify. Install it: sudo apt install libnotify-bin"
macOS: No check needed (osascript is built-in)

If prerequisites are missing, tell the user exactly what to install and how. Do not silently fail.

Steps 1-4: Normal Operation

Detect the platform (WSL, Linux, macOS)
Use the appropriate notification method
For interactive choices, wait for the user's response (default 60s timeout)
Return the result to the conversation

Proactive use: When a long-running task completes (build, test suite, deployment), send a notification automatically so the user knows to come back.

Prerequisites and Setup

WSL (Windows)

Open PowerShell as Administrator on your Windows host
Install BurntToast: Install-Module -Name BurntToast -Force
If prompted about untrusted repository, type Y
Verify: Get-Module -ListAvailable BurntToast (should show version)
Copy scripts/toast.py and scripts/notify.sh to your skill directory

Troubleshooting WSL:

If powershell.exe is not found, check /mnt/c/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/
If you have appendWindowsPath=false in /etc/wsl.conf, add the PowerShell path to your $PATH
BurntToast requires Windows 10 1903+ or Windows 11

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt install libnotify-bin

Linux (Fedora/RHEL)

sudo dnf install libnotify

Linux (Arch)

sudo pacman -S libnotify

macOS

No additional setup — uses built-in osascript. Interactive buttons are not supported on macOS; notifications are display-only.

Verify Installation

# Quick test — should show a desktop notification
python3 scripts/toast.py "Test" "NOTIFY is working"

Dependencies

Python 3.10+ (standard library only — no pip packages needed)
WSL: BurntToast PowerShell module (Windows 10 1903+)
Linux: libnotify-bin / libnotify package
macOS: None (built-in osascript)

Feature Matrix

Feature	WSL + BurntToast	Linux + notify-send	macOS
Basic notification	Yes	Yes	Yes
Custom sound	Yes (multiple)	No	Default only
Alarm/urgent	Yes	Yes (critical urgency)	No
Interactive buttons	Yes (up to 5)	Yes (if DE supports)	No
Progress bar	Yes (native)	Yes (text-based)	No
App icon	Yes	Yes	No
Notification replacement	No	Yes	No

Don't make them watch the terminal. Tap them on the shoulder.