Custom Notification Types

Custom Notification Types

Activate when designing push or desktop notifications triggered from Flow, Apex, or process automation. Custom Notification Types replaced the older Chatter-only notification path; they support both desktop and mobile push channels, can be invoked from Flow or Apex, and have specific recipient limits that bite at scale.

Before Starting

• Define the notification type in Setup first. Without a CustomNotificationType record, neither Flow nor Apex can send.
• Know the recipient limit. Up to 500 recipients per send() call.
• Choose channels. Desktop and Mobile are independent checkboxes; Mobile requires the Salesforce mobile app and enabled push notifications.

Core Concepts

Notification Type record

Created in Setup → Custom Notifications. Has a Name (label), API Name (DeveloperName), and channel checkboxes. DeveloperName is the handle used in Apex/Flow.

Messaging.CustomNotification (Apex)

Messaging.CustomNotification n = new Messaging.CustomNotification();
n.setTitle('Opportunity Closed');
n.setBody('Opportunity ' + oppName + ' was won.');
n.setNotificationTypeId(typeId);
n.setTargetId(oppId);
n.send(new Set<String>{ userId });

setNotificationTypeId takes the CustomNotificationType.Id; resolve via SOQL or describe.

Send Custom Notification (Flow Action)

Core action in Flow Builder. Accepts type API name, recipients (user ids, queue ids, group ids), title, body, target record id. Good for no-code paths.

Recipient resolution

Recipient IDs can be User, Group (queue or public group). Notifications deliver to active users in the group.

Common Patterns

Pattern: Owner notification on record change

Record-triggered Flow → Decision → Send Custom Notification with [$Record.OwnerId].

Pattern: Apex bulk fan-out

Aggregate target user IDs into sets of 500; loop n.send(batch) per batch. Do not exceed 500 per call.

Pattern: Type ID resolution via Custom Metadata

Store NotificationTypes__mdt with DeveloperName; Apex helper queries once per transaction and caches.

Decision Guidance

Recommended Workflow

1. Create Custom Notification Type in Setup with appropriate channels.
2. Decide Flow vs Apex invocation path based on declarative vs code context.
3. Resolve Notification Type ID dynamically (SOQL or CMDT).
4. Build invocation with proper title / body / target record.
5. For bulk: batch recipients in chunks of 500.
6. Test delivery on desktop and mobile (requires app + push permissions).
7. Add monitoring — notification failures are silent; check debug logs.

Review Checklist

• Custom Notification Type exists with correct channels
• Type ID resolved dynamically, not hard-coded
• Recipients bulked into 500-per-send chunks
• Title and body under character limits (Title ≤ 64 chars, Body ≤ 750)
• Target record ID set for deep-linking on mobile
• Mobile channel verified with mobile push enabled
• Error handling for send() failures

Salesforce-Specific Gotchas

1. Send failures are silent. The send() call does not throw on invalid recipient IDs; monitor via debug log or platform events.
2. Mobile push requires Connected App push credentials. Setup → Mobile → Notification Settings must be configured.
3. Custom notifications do not respect user notification preferences for desktop. Users cannot opt out per-type from the bell.

Output Artifacts

Related Skills

• flow/flow-actions-core — Flow core actions
• admin/email-templates-and-alerts — email path
• mobile/mobile-push-configuration — mobile push setup