Platform Notification System Design Spec

Platform Notification System Skill (Design Spec)

⚠️ STATUS: PLANNED / PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED

This document outlines the proposed architecture for a unified notification system. Currently, the platform uses fragmented mechanisms (Toast, Direct WebSocket, Polling) without a centralized notification database.

1. Current State (As-Is)

Currently, "notifications" are handled by disparate systems:

Limitations

• No history of "System" notifications (e.g., "You received a tip").
• No offline support for critical alerts (unless checked manually).
• No unified "Red Dot" badge for all activity (Friends + Messages + System).

2. Proposed Architecture (To-Be)

A unified system where all events flow into a central notifications table and are pushed via WebSocket.

Database Schema

CREATE TABLE notifications (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    user_id VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,    -- Recipient
    type VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,        -- 'friend_req', 'tip_received', 'post_mention', 'system'
    title VARCHAR(200),
    content TEXT,
    reference_id VARCHAR(100),        -- Related ID (e.g., post_id, tx_hash)
    reference_url VARCHAR(500),       -- Click action URL
    is_read BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW()
);

-- Index for speed
CREATE INDEX idx_notifications_user_read ON notifications(user_id, is_read);

WebSocket Protocol Extension

Extend existing ws://{host}/ws/messages to handle general notifications:

Server -> Client Payload:

{
    "type": "notification",
    "data": {
        "id": 123,
        "category": "tip",
        "title": "You received 10 Pi!",
        "url": "/forum/post/456",
        "timestamp": "2025-01-01T12:00:00Z"
    }
}

3. Implementation Plan

Step 1: Database Migration

Create the notifications table using the schema above.

Step 2: Backend API (api/routers/notifications.py)

@router.get("/api/notifications")
def get_notifications(limit=50, offset=0):
    # Return paginated list
    pass

@router.post("/api/notifications/mark-read")
def mark_read(notification_ids: List[int]):
    # Update is_read = True
    pass
    
@router.get("/api/notifications/badge")
def get_badge_count():
    # Return count of unread notifications
    pass

Step 3: Event Triggers

Modify existing logic to inject notifications:

Friend Request (core/database/friends.py):

def send_friend_request(...):
    # ... existing logic ...
    create_notification(
        user_id=target_id,
        type='friend_request',
        title='New Friend Request',
        content=f'{sender_name} wants to be friends',
        reference_url='/friends'
    )

Tip Received (core/database/forum.py):

def create_tip(...):
    # ... existing logic ...
    create_notification(
        user_id=recipient_id,
        type='tip_received',
        title='You received a tip!',
        content=f'Someone tipped you {amount} Pi',
        reference_url=f'/forum/post.html?id={post_id}'
    )

Step 4: Frontend Integration

1. Notification Center UI: Add a "Bell" icon to the header.
2. WebSocket Handler: Listen for type: "notification" events.
3. Toast Integration: Show Toast ONLY when real-time notification arrives.

4. Workflows

User Story: Receiving a Tip (Future State)

1. User A tips User B's post.
2. Backend:
   • Records tip transaction.
   • Inserts row into notifications table for User B.
   • Pushes WebSocket event to User B (if online).
3. User B (Online):
   • Sees "Bell" icon show red dot.
   • Sees Toast: "You received 1.0 Pi!".
4. User B (Offline):
   • Logs in later.
   • "Bell" icon shows red dot (fetched via API).
   • Clicks Bell -> Sees list of missed tips.

5. Maintenance Notes

Design Owner: [Current Developer] Target Phase: Phase 2/3 Dependencies: Requires platform-friend-system and platform-forum-system to be stable first.

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