ntfy-mcp

ntfy-mcp is a small, security-focused MCP server that lets AI agents send push notifications through ntfy.

It is designed for the practical moments when a long-running agent needs your attention:

• a build or test run finishes

• tests fail while you are away

• an approval is needed

• a PR is ready for review

• a task fails and needs human attention

The server exposes one MCP tool:

notify_user

Under the hood it sends an HTTPS POST to an operator-configured ntfy topic. The model can write the notification content, but it cannot choose arbitrary ntfy servers, arbitrary topics, arbitrary headers, attachments, or action buttons.

Why This Exists

Coding agents are increasingly good at running for several minutes without help. The missing piece is often human attention. Desktop notifications tied to one app are easy to miss, and polling a terminal is tedious.

ntfy-mcp gives MCP-capable clients a tiny, boring, auditable path to notify you on your phone without turning ntfy into an unbounded exfiltration channel.

Security Model

This project treats notification delivery as a security boundary, not as a thin wrapper around ntfy.

The MCP model is considered untrusted input. It must not control:

• the ntfy base URL

• arbitrary topics

• auth headers

• arbitrary request headers

• file attachments

• action buttons

MVP controls:

• NTFY_TOPIC is required.

• NTFY_ALLOWED_TOPICS defaults to NTFY_TOPIC.

• Requested topics must be in the allow-list.

• Topics must match a conservative letters, numbers, _, - format.

• NTFY_BASE_URL must use HTTPS and cannot include credentials.

• Bearer auth only comes from NTFY_TOKEN.

• Priority is constrained to 1 through 5.

• Long messages are truncated before sending.

• Obvious secret-like content is rejected before sending.

• click_url must be http:// or https://.

• Only a fixed set of ntfy headers is sent.

• Full notification messages are not logged by default.

• NTFY_DRY_RUN=true validates and returns success without network I/O.

Secret detection is intentionally basic. It blocks obvious private keys, GitHub tokens, OpenAI-style tokens, JWT-looking tokens, AWS access keys, and common token=, password=, api_key= style assignments. It is a guardrail, not a replacement for careful tool permissions.

Quickstart

Install dependencies:

uv sync

Choose a long random topic:

openssl rand -hex 24

Run a dry-run MCP client smoke test:

NTFY_TOPIC="replace-with-long-random-topic" \
NTFY_ALLOWED_TOPICS="replace-with-long-random-topic" \
NTFY_DRY_RUN=true \
uv run python examples/mcp-client-smoke.py

Run the STDIO MCP server directly:

NTFY_TOPIC="replace-with-long-random-topic" \
NTFY_ALLOWED_TOPICS="replace-with-long-random-topic" \
uv run python -m ntfy_mcp.server

The server waits for MCP messages on STDIO. Use an MCP client to call notify_user.

Subscribe In The ntfy App

1. Install the ntfy mobile app.

2. Add a subscription.

3. Use https://ntfy.sh unless you self-host ntfy.

4. Enter your long random topic.

5. If your ntfy server requires auth, configure a token on the server and set NTFY_TOKEN for this MCP server.

Avoid short or guessable topics. Public ntfy topics are effectively bearer secrets unless protected by server-side access control.

Test ntfy Directly

Before wiring an MCP client, verify ntfy delivery:

curl -fsS \
  -H "Title: ntfy-mcp test" \
  -H "Priority: 3" \
  -d "hello from ntfy-mcp" \
  "https://ntfy.sh/$NTFY_TOPIC"

For protected topics:

curl -fsS \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NTFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Title: ntfy-mcp test" \
  -d "hello from ntfy-mcp" \
  "https://ntfy.sh/$NTFY_TOPIC"

Codex Setup

Add a server entry to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.ntfy]
command = "uv"
args = ["--directory", "/absolute/path/to/ntfy-mcp", "run", "python", "-m", "ntfy_mcp.server"]
enabled = true
enabled_tools = ["notify_user"]

[mcp_servers.ntfy.env]
NTFY_BASE_URL = "https://ntfy.sh"
NTFY_TOPIC = "replace-with-long-random-topic"
NTFY_ALLOWED_TOPICS = "replace-with-long-random-topic"
NTFY_SOURCE = "codex"
NTFY_DEFAULT_PRIORITY = "3"
NTFY_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH = "1800"

If your topic requires auth:

NTFY_TOKEN = "replace-with-ntfy-access-token"

Keep tokens in local config or a secret manager. Do not commit them.

Claude Desktop Setup

Add a server entry to Claude Desktop's MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ntfy": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/ntfy-mcp",
        "run",
        "python",
        "-m",
        "ntfy_mcp.server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NTFY_BASE_URL": "https://ntfy.sh",
        "NTFY_TOPIC": "replace-with-long-random-topic",
        "NTFY_ALLOWED_TOPICS": "replace-with-long-random-topic",
        "NTFY_SOURCE": "claude",
        "NTFY_DEFAULT_PRIORITY": "3",
        "NTFY_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH": "1800"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add NTFY_TOKEN inside env only if the ntfy topic requires bearer auth.

Tool Input

notify_user accepts:

Severity adds a default tag:

Priority behavior:

• Explicit priority wins if it is 1 through 5.

• info and success use NTFY_DEFAULT_PRIORITY.

• warning defaults to at least 4 when no explicit priority is supplied.

• error defaults to 5 when no explicit priority is supplied.

Example Prompts

• "Notify me when the build finishes."

• "Notify me only if tests fail."

• "Notify me when you need approval."

• "Notify me when the PR is ready for review."

Environment Variables

Development

uv run pytest
uv run ruff check .

Dry-run the full MCP path:

NTFY_TOPIC="ntfymcp_smoke_topic_123" \
NTFY_ALLOWED_TOPICS="ntfymcp_smoke_topic_123" \
NTFY_DRY_RUN=true \
uv run python examples/mcp-client-smoke.py

Limitations

• STDIO first.

• Remote Streamable HTTP mode is future work.

• Attachments are intentionally omitted from the MVP.

• Action buttons are intentionally omitted from the MVP.

• Secret detection is basic and intentionally conservative.

• No local rate limiting yet.

Roadmap

• Optional local rate limiting and duplicate suppression.

• Streamable HTTP mode with authentication guidance.

• Stronger configurable secret scanning.

• Metadata-only audit logging.

• Notification templates for common agent states.

• Packaged releases and signed artifacts.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.