Notify

Notify Skill

Use this skill to send macOS notifications to the user through Notification Center when tasks complete, errors occur, or user input is needed.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

• User explicitly requests notification (e.g., "notify me when done")
• Long-running tasks complete (>30 seconds)
• Errors occur that require user attention
• You need user input and want to alert them
• Background tasks complete

[CRITICAL] Usage

You must invoke this script in order to send the notification

${HOME}/.claude/skills/notify/run.sh <event-type> [message]

Event types:

• complete - Task completed successfully
• error - Task failed or encountered an error
• question - You need user input
• background - Background task completed

Examples

User says: "Run the test suite and notify me when it's done"

You should invoke when tests finish:

${HOME}/.claude/skills/notify/run.sh complete "Test suite completed: 157 tests passed"

User says: "Deploy to staging and let me know if it fails"

You should invoke if deployment fails:

${HOME}/.claude/skills/notify/run.sh error "Deployment failed: connection timeout"

User says: "Refactor the auth module and ping me if you need my input"

You should invoke when you need clarification:

${HOME}/.claude/skills/notify/run.sh question "Should I use JWT or session tokens for authentication?"

User says: "Start the build in the background and notify me when done"

You should invoke when background build completes:

${HOME}/.claude/skills/notify/run.sh background "Build completed successfully in 2m 34s"

Features

• Auto-dependency installation: Automatically installs terminal-notifier via Homebrew if not present
• Cross-architecture support: Works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs
• Actionable notifications: Clicking a notification activates the Terminal window
• Sound alerts: Different sounds for different event types
• Notification Center integration: Notifications appear in macOS Notification Center

Requirements

• macOS (uses macOS Notification Center)
• Homebrew (for auto-installation of dependencies)
• terminal-notifier (installed automatically if missing)

Troubleshooting

Notifications not appearing

1. Check that terminal-notifier is installed:

   which terminal-notifier
   

2. Verify Notification Center permissions:

   • Open System Settings → Notifications
   • Find Terminal in the list
   • Ensure notifications are allowed

Installation fails

If automatic installation of terminal-notifier fails:

1. Ensure Homebrew is installed:

   brew --version
   

2. Manually install terminal-notifier:

   brew install terminal-notifier
   

3. Check for connectivity issues or Homebrew updates:

   brew update
   brew doctor
   

No sound with notifications

Check your macOS sound settings:

• System Settings → Sound → Sound Effects
• Ensure "Play sound effects through" is set to your desired output device
• Adjust "Alert volume" slider

Implementation

The skill executes claude-notifier.sh located in the same directory, which handles:

• Terminal-notifier path detection (Apple Silicon and Intel paths)
• Automatic dependency installation via Homebrew
• Notification delivery with appropriate titles, messages, and sounds