Desktop Notifications¶

pgtail can send desktop notifications for important log events.

Platform Support¶

Platform	Method
macOS	`osascript` (built-in)
Linux	`notify-send` (libnotify)
Windows	PowerShell toast

Enabling Notifications¶

By Log Level¶

notify on ERROR FATAL PANIC    # Specific levels
notify on error+               # ERROR and above

By Pattern¶

notify on /deadlock/           # Case-sensitive
notify on /connection refused/i # Case-insensitive

By Error Rate¶

notify on errors > 10/min      # Alert when rate exceeds threshold

By Query Duration¶

notify on slow > 500ms         # Alert on slow queries

Viewing Status¶

pgtail> notify

Shows current notification settings:

Notifications: enabled
Platform: macOS (osascript)

Rules:
  - Levels: FATAL, PANIC
  - Pattern: /deadlock/i
  - Error rate: > 10/min

Rate limiting: 1 per 5 seconds
Quiet hours: 22:00-08:00

Rate Limiting¶

Notifications are rate-limited to prevent spam:

Maximum 1 notification per 5 seconds
Quiet hours suppress all notifications

Quiet Hours¶

Suppress notifications during specific hours:

notify quiet 22:00-08:00       # No notifications 10 PM - 8 AM
notify quiet off               # Disable quiet hours

Handles overnight spans correctly.

Testing Notifications¶

notify test                    # Send test notification

Disabling Notifications¶

notify off                     # Disable all
notify clear                   # Remove all rules

Configuration¶

Persist notification settings:

[notifications]
enabled = true
levels = ["FATAL", "PANIC"]
patterns = ["/deadlock/i"]
error_rate = 10
slow_query_ms = 500
quiet_hours = "22:00-08:00"