# Notify

> Post a macOS notification with terminal-notifier to reach the human when they are away from the terminal — and diagnose one that never appeared.

- Skill: `possibilities/notify` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add possibilities/notify`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/possibilities/notify/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: possibilities (https://skillmd.com/u/possibilities)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/possibilities/notify

---


# Notify

Post a macOS notification with `terminal-notifier`. The human is not
watching the terminal; this is how something reaches them before they
next look.

## Send one

```sh
terminal-notifier -title TITLE -message TEXT -ignoreDnD
```

Title and message are the only required parts. `-ignoreDnD` is worth
keeping by default — something worth notifying is worth surfacing through
Do Not Disturb.

- `-group ID` replaces the previous notification carrying that ID instead
  of stacking another beside it. One ID per recurring subject.
- `-open URL` opens a URL when clicked. `-execute COMMAND` runs a command
  headlessly, so its output goes nowhere a reader will see.
- `-sound default` for something that should interrupt rather than wait.

Write the message as the outcome, not a report: the human reads a banner,
so one line saying what finished or what is needed.

## When it does not appear

macOS refuses to surface a notification from an application bundle it has
not registered, and a Homebrew upgrade relocates the bundle — so delivery
can stop after an unrelated upgrade. `terminal-notifier` still exits 0,
which makes this silent.

`terminal-notifier -list ALL` prints what was actually delivered, with
timestamps, and settles whether the problem is delivery or the call.

Re-registering the bundle fixes it:

```sh
lsregister=/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister
"$lsregister" -f "$(brew --prefix)/opt/terminal-notifier/terminal-notifier.app"
```

Re-register before a post, rather than only after noticing silence, if
notifications keep going missing on this machine.