ntfy/docs/publish.md

Publishing

Publishing messages can be done via HTTP PUT or POST. Topics are created on the fly by subscribing or publishing to them. Because there is no sign-up, the topic is essentially a password, so pick something that's not easily guessable.

Here's an example showing how to publish a simple message using a POST request:

=== "Command line (curl)" curl -d "Backup successful 😀" ntfy.sh/mytopic

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /mytopic HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh

Backup successful 😀
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/mytopic', { method: 'POST', // PUT works too body: 'Backup successful 😀' })

=== "Go" go http.Post("https://ntfy.sh/mytopic", "text/plain", strings.NewReader("Backup successful 😀"))

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/mytopic', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', // PUT also works 'header' => 'Content-Type: text/plain', 'content' => 'Backup successful 😀' ] ]));

If you have the Android app installed on your phone, this will create a notification that looks like this:

{ width=500 }

Android notification

There are more features related to publishing messages: You can set a notification priority, a title, and tag messages 🥳 🎉. Here's an example that uses some of them at together:

=== "Command line (curl)" curl \ -H "Title: Unauthorized access detected" \ -H "Priority: urgent" \ -H "Tags: warning,skull" \ -d "Remote access to phils-laptop detected. Act right away." \ ntfy.sh/phil_alerts

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /phil_alerts HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh Title: Unauthorized access detected Priority: urgent Tags: warning,skull

Remote access to phils-laptop detected. Act right away.
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/phil_alerts', { method: 'POST', // PUT works too body: 'Remote access to phils-laptop detected. Act right away.', headers: { 'Title': 'Unauthorized access detected', 'Priority': 'urgent', 'Tags': 'warning,skull' } })

=== "Go" go req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://ntfy.sh/phil_alerts", strings.NewReader("Remote access to phils-laptop detected. Act right away.")) req.Header.Set("Title", "Unauthorized access detected") req.Header.Set("Priority", "urgent") req.Header.Set("Tags", "warning,skull") http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/phil_alerts', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', // PUT also works 'header' => "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n" . "Title: Unauthorized access detected\r\n" . "Priority: urgent\r\n" . "Tags: warning,skull", 'content' => 'Remote access to phils-laptop detected. Act right away.' ] ]));

{ width=500 }

Urgent notification with tags and title

Message title

The notification title is typically set to the topic short URL (e.g. ntfy.sh/mytopic). To override the title, you can set the X-Title header (or any of its aliases: Title, ti, or t).

=== "Command line (curl)" curl -H "X-Title: Dogs are better than cats" -d "Oh my ..." ntfy.sh/controversial curl -H "Title: Dogs are better than cats" -d "Oh my ..." ntfy.sh/controversial curl -H "t: Dogs are better than cats" -d "Oh my ..." ntfy.sh/controversial

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /controversial HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh Title: Dogs are better than cats

Oh my ...
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/controversial', { method: 'POST', body: 'Oh my ...', headers: { 'Title': 'Dogs are better than cats' } })

=== "Go" go req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://ntfy.sh/controversial", strings.NewReader("Oh my ...")) req.Header.Set("Title", "Dogs are better than cats") http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/controversial', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', 'header' => "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n" . "Title: Dogs are better than cats", 'content' => 'Oh my ...' ] ]));

{ width=500 }

Detail view of notification with title

Message priority

All messages have a priority, which defines how urgently your phone notifies you. You can set custom notification sounds and vibration patterns on your phone to map to these priorities (see Android config).

The following priorities exist:

Priority	Icon	ID	Name	Description
Max priority		5	max/urgent	Really long vibration bursts, default notification sound with a pop-over notification.
High priority		4	high	Long vibration burst, default notification sound with a pop-over notification.
Default priority	(none)	3	default	Short default vibration and sound. Default notification behavior.
Low priority		2	low	No vibration or sound. Notification will not visibly show up until notification drawer is pulled down.
Min priority		1	min	No vibration or sound. The notification will be under the fold in "Other notifications".

You can set the priority with the header X-Priority (or any of its aliases: Priority, prio, or p).

=== "Command line (curl)" curl -H "X-Priority: 5" -d "An urgent message" ntfy.sh/phil_alerts curl -H "Priority: low" -d "Low priority message" ntfy.sh/phil_alerts curl -H p:4 -d "A high priority message" ntfy.sh/phil_alerts

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /phil_alerts HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh Priority: 5

An urgent message
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/phil_alerts', { method: 'POST', body: 'An urgent message', headers: { 'Priority': '5' } })

=== "Go" go req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://ntfy.sh/phil_alerts", strings.NewReader("An urgent message")) req.Header.Set("Priority", "5") http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/phil_alerts', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', 'header' => "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n" . "Priority: 5", 'content' => 'An urgent message' ] ]));

{ width=500 }

Detail view of priority notifications

Tags & emojis 🥳 🎉

You can tag messages with emojis and other relevant strings:

• Emojis: If a tag matches an emoji short code, it'll be converted to an emoji and prepended to title or message.
• Other tags: If a tag doesn't match, it will be listed below the notification.

This feature is useful for things like warnings (⚠️, ️🚨, or 🚩), but also to simply tag messages otherwise (e.g. script names, hostnames, etc.). Use the emoji short code list to figure out what tags can be converted to emojis. Here's an excerpt of emojis I've found very useful in alert messages:

Tag Emoji +1 👍️ partying_face 🥳 tada 🎉 heavy_check_mark ✔️ loudspeaker 📢 ... ...

Tag Emoji -1 👎️ warning ⚠️ rotating_light ️🚨 triangular_flag_on_post 🚩 skull 💀 ... ...

Tag Emoji facepalm 🤦 no_entry ⛔ no_entry_sign 🚫 cd 💿 computer 💻 ... ...

You can set tags with the X-Tags header (or any of its aliases: Tags, tag, or ta). Specify multiple tags by separating them with a comma, e.g. tag1,tag2,tag3.

=== "Command line (curl)" curl -H "X-Tags: warning,mailsrv13,daily-backup" -d "Backup of mailsrv13 failed" ntfy.sh/backups curl -H "Tags: horse,unicorn" -d "Unicorns are just horses with unique horns" ntfy.sh/backups curl -H ta:dog -d "Dogs are awesome" ntfy.sh/backups

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /backups HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh Tags: warning,mailsrv13,daily-backup

Backup of mailsrv13 failed
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/backups', { method: 'POST', body: 'Backup of mailsrv13 failed', headers: { 'Tags': 'warning,mailsrv13,daily-backup' } })

=== "Go" go req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://ntfy.sh/backups", strings.NewReader("Backup of mailsrv13 failed")) req.Header.Set("Tags", "warning,mailsrv13,daily-backup") http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/backups', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', 'header' => "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n" . "Tags: warning,mailsrv13,daily-backup", 'content' => 'Backup of mailsrv13 failed' ] ]));

{ width=500 }

Detail view of notifications with tags

Scheduled delivery

You can delay the delivery of messages and let ntfy send them at a later date. This can be used to send yourself reminders or even to execute commands at a later date (if your subscriber acts on messages).

Usage is pretty straight forward. You can set the delivery time using the X-Delay header (or any of its aliases: Delay, X-At, At, X-In or In), either by specifying a Unix timestamp (e.g. 1639194738), a duration (e.g. 30m, 3h, 2 days), or a natural language time string (e.g. 10am, 8:30pm, tomorrow, 3pm, Tuesday, 7am, and more).

As of today, the minimum delay you can set is 10 seconds and the maximum delay is 3 days. This can currently not be configured otherwise (let me know if you'd like to change these limits).

For the purposes of message caching, scheduled messages are kept in the cache until 12 hours after they were delivered (or whatever the server-side cache duration is set to). For instance, if a message is scheduled to be delivered in 3 days, it'll remain in the cache for 3 days and 12 hours. Also note that naturally, turning off server-side caching is not possible in combination with this feature.

=== "Command line (curl)" curl -H "At: tomorrow, 10am" -d "Good morning" ntfy.sh/hello curl -H "In: 30min" -d "It's 30 minutes later now" ntfy.sh/reminder curl -H "Delay: 1639194738" -d "Unix timestamps are awesome" ntfy.sh/itsaunixsystem

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /hello HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh At: tomorrow, 10am

Good morning
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/hello', { method: 'POST', body: 'Good morning', headers: { 'At': 'tomorrow, 10am' } })

=== "Go" go req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://ntfy.sh/hello", strings.NewReader("Good morning")) req.Header.Set("At", "tomorrow, 10am") http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/backups', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', 'header' => "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n" . "At: tomorrow, 10am", 'content' => 'Good morning' ] ]));

Here are a few examples (assuming today's date is 12/10/2021, 9am, Eastern Time Zone):

Delay/At/In header Message will be delivered at Explanation 30m 12/10/2021, 9:30am 30 minutes from now 2 hours 12/10/2021, 11:30am 2 hours from now 1 day 12/11/2021, 9am 24 hours from now 10am 12/10/2021, 10am Today at 10am (same day, because it's only 9am) 8am 12/11/2021, 8am Tomorrow at 8am (because it's 9am already) 1639152000 12/10/2021, 11am (EST) Today at 11am (EST)

Advanced features

Message caching

!!! info If Cache: no is used, messages will only be delivered to connected subscribers, and won't be re-delivered if a client re-connects. If a subscriber has (temporary) network issues or is reconnecting momentarily, messages might be missed.

By default, the ntfy server caches messages on disk for 12 hours (see message caching), so all messages you publish are stored server-side for a little while. The reason for this is to overcome temporary client-side network disruptions, but arguably this feature also may raise privacy concerns.

To avoid messages being cached server-side entirely, you can set X-Cache header (or its alias: Cache) to no. This will make sure that your message is not cached on the server, even if server-side caching is enabled. Messages are still delivered to connected subscribers, but since= and poll=1 won't return the message anymore.

=== "Command line (curl)" curl -H "X-Cache: no" -d "This message won't be stored server-side" ntfy.sh/mytopic curl -H "Cache: no" -d "This message won't be stored server-side" ntfy.sh/mytopic

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /mytopic HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh Cache: no

This message won't be stored server-side
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/mytopic', { method: 'POST', body: 'This message won't be stored server-side', headers: { 'Cache': 'no' } })

=== "Go" go req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://ntfy.sh/mytopic", strings.NewReader("This message won't be stored server-side")) req.Header.Set("Cache", "no") http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/mytopic', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', 'header' => "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n" . "Cache: no", 'content' => 'This message won't be stored server-side' ] ]));

Disable Firebase

!!! info If Firebase: no is used and instant delivery isn't enabled in the Android app (Google Play variant only), message delivery will be significantly delayed (up to 15 minutes). To overcome this delay, simply enable instant delivery.

The ntfy server can be configured to use Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) (see Firebase config) for message delivery on Android (to minimize the app's battery footprint). The ntfy.sh server is configured this way, meaning that all messages published to ntfy.sh are also published to corresponding FCM topics.

If you'd like to avoid forwarding messages to Firebase, you can set the X-Firebase header (or its alias: Firebase) to no. This will instruct the server not to forward messages to Firebase.

=== "Command line (curl)" curl -H "X-Firebase: no" -d "This message won't be forwarded to FCM" ntfy.sh/mytopic curl -H "Firebase: no" -d "This message won't be forwarded to FCM" ntfy.sh/mytopic

=== "HTTP" ``` http POST /mytopic HTTP/1.1 Host: ntfy.sh Firebase: no

This message won't be forwarded to FCM
```

=== "JavaScript" javascript fetch('https://ntfy.sh/mytopic', { method: 'POST', body: 'This message won't be forwarded to FCM', headers: { 'Firebase': 'no' } })

=== "Go" go req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://ntfy.sh/mytopic", strings.NewReader("This message won't be forwarded to FCM")) req.Header.Set("Firebase", "no") http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

=== "PHP" php-inline file_get_contents('https://ntfy.sh/mytopic', false, stream_context_create([ 'http' => [ 'method' => 'POST', 'header' => "Content-Type: text/plain\r\n" . "Firebase: no", 'content' => 'This message won't be stored server-side' ] ]));