desktop-notifier 1.0.0

Python library for cross-platform desktop notifications

Desktop Notifier

desktop-notifier is a Python library for cross-platform desktop notifications. Currently supported platforms are:

• Linux via the dbus service org.freedesktop.Notifications
• macOS via the Notification Center framework

Features

• Clickable notifications (requires platform support)
• Notifications with buttons (requires platform support)
• Asyncio integration to execute callbacks on user interaction
• Limit maximum number of notification shown for any app
• Pure Python dependencies only, no extension modules

Installtion

From PyPI:

pip3 install -U desktop-notifier

Usage

Basic usage only requires the user to specify a notification title and message:

from desktop_notifier import DesktopNotifier

notifier = DesktopNotifier()
notifier.send(title="Hello world!", message="Notification body")

By default, "Python" will be used as the app name for all notification. Advanced usage allows specifying the app name, notification urgency, app icon, buttons and callbacks:

from desktop_notifier import DesktopNotifier, NotificationLevel

notifier = DesktopNotifier(app_name="Sample App")
notifier.send(
    title="Hello from Python!",
    message="A horrible exception occured",
    urgency=NotificationLevel.Critical,
    icon="/path/to/icon.png",
    action=lambda: print("notification clicked"),
    buttons={
        "Button 1": lambda: print("Button 1 clicked"),
        "Button 2": lambda: print("Button 2 clicked")
    },
)

Note that some platforms may not support all options. For instance, some Linux Desktop environments may not support notifications with buttons. On macOS, the app icon and name are always set to the application which calls the code. This will be Python when used interactively or any app name when run from a frozen and signed app bundle. Any options or configurations which are not supported by the platform will be silently ignored.

Execution of callbacks requires a running event loop. On Linux, it requires a running asyncio loop and on macOS it requires a running CFRunLoop. You can use rubicon-objc to integrate a Core Foundation CFRunLoop with asyncio:

import asyncio
from rubicon.objc.eventloop import EventLoopPolicy

# Install the event loop policy
asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(EventLoopPolicy())

# Get an event loop, and run it!
loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
loop.run_forever()

Full documentation can be found at https://rubicon-objc.readthedocs.io/en/latest/how-to/async.html.

Notes on macOS

On macOS 10.14 and higher, the implementation uses the UNUserNotificationCenter instead of the deprecated NSUserNotificationCenter. UNUserNotificationCenter restricts sending desktop notifications to signed frameworks or app bundles. This means that notifications will only work if Python has been installed as a Framework and properly signed. This is the case when using the installer from python.org but not for homebrew installations.

If you are planning to use this library in an app bundle, you must sign the app bundle to send notifications, either with an Apple Developer certificate or ad-hoc for local usage.

Requirements

• macOS 10.13 or higher
• Linux desktop environment providing a dbus desktop notifications service

Dependencies

• dbus-next on Linux
• rubicon-objc on macOS