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](subscribe/phone.md) installed on your phone, this will create a notification that looks like this:

<figure markdown>
  ![basic notification](static/img/basic-notification.png){ width=500 }
  <figcaption>Android notification</figcaption>
</figure>

There are more features related to publishing messages: You can set a [notification priority](#message-priority), 
a [title](#message-title), and [tag messages](#tags-emojis) 🥳 🎉. 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.'
        ]
    ]));
    ```

<figure markdown>
  ![priority notification](static/img/priority-notification.png){ width=500 }
  <figcaption>Urgent notification with tags and title</figcaption>
</figure>

## 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 ...'
        ]
    ]));
    ```

<figure markdown>
  ![notification with title](static/img/notification-with-title.png){ width=500 }
  <figcaption>Detail view of notification with title</figcaption>
</figure>

## 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](subscribe/phone.md)).

The following priorities exist:

| Priority | Icon | ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max priority | ![min priority](static/img/priority-5.svg) | `5` | `max`/`urgent` | Really long vibration bursts, default notification sound with a pop-over notification. |
| High priority | ![min priority](static/img/priority-4.svg) | `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 | ![min priority](static/img/priority-2.svg) |`2` | `low` | No vibration or sound. Notification will not visibly show up until notification drawer is pulled down. |
| Min priority | ![min priority](static/img/priority-1.svg) | `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'
        ]
    ]));
    ```

<figure markdown>
  ![priority notification](static/img/priority-detail-overview.png){ width=500 }
  <figcaption>Detail view of priority notifications</figcaption>
</figure>

## Tags & emojis 🥳 🎉
You can tag messages with emojis and other relevant strings:

* **Emojis**: If a tag matches an [emoji short code](emojis.md), 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](emojis.md) to figure out what tags can be converted to emojis. 
Here's an **excerpt of emojis** I've found very useful in alert messages:

<table class="remove-md-box"><tr>
<td>
    <table><thead><tr><th>Tag</th><th>Emoji</th></tr></thead><tbody>
    <tr><td><code>+1</code></td><td>👍️</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>partying_face</code></td><td>🥳</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>tada</code></td><td>🎉</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>heavy_check_mark</code></td><td>✔️</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>loudspeaker</code></td><td>📢</td></tr>
    <tr><td>...</td><td>...</td></tr>
    </tbody></table>
</td>
<td>
    <table><thead><tr><th>Tag</th><th>Emoji</th></tr></thead><tbody> 
    <tr><td><code>-1</code></td><td>👎️</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>warning</code></td><td>⚠️</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>rotating_light</code></td><td>️🚨</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>triangular_flag_on_post</code></td><td>🚩</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>skull</code></td><td>💀</td></tr>
    <tr><td>...</td><td>...</td></tr>
    </tbody></table>
</td>
<td>
    <table><thead><tr><th>Tag</th><th>Emoji</th></tr></thead><tbody>
    <tr><td><code>facepalm</code></td><td>🤦</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>no_entry</code></td><td>⛔</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>no_entry_sign</code></td><td>🚫</td></tr>
    <tr><td><code>cd</code></td><td>💿</td></tr> 
    <tr><td><code>computer</code></td><td>💻</td></tr>
    <tr><td>...</td><td>...</td></tr>
    </tbody></table>
</td>
</tr></table>

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'
        ]
    ]));
    ```

<figure markdown>
  ![priority notification](static/img/notification-with-tags.png){ width=500 }
  <figcaption>Detail view of notifications with tags</figcaption>
</figure>

## 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](config.md#message-cache)), 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=`](subscribe/api.md#fetching-cached-messages) and 
[`poll=1`](subscribe/api.md#polling) 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'
        ]
    ]));
    ```

### Firebase
!!! info
    If `Firebase: no` is used and [instant delivery](subscribe/phone.md#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)](https://firebase.google.com/docs/cloud-messaging)
(see [Firebase config](config.md#firebase-fcm)) 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'
        ]
    ]));
    ```