Notifications
MCP server for macOS notifications and sounds when Claude Desktop tasks complete.
What is Notifications?
Notifications is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to mcp server for macos notifications and sounds when claude desktop tasks complete.
MCP server for macOS notifications and sounds when Claude Desktop tasks complete.
This server falls under the Communication category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- MCP server for macOS notifications and sounds when Claude De
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx notificationsConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Notifications
The Notifications MCP Server adds native macOS notifications and audio alerts to Claude Desktop, so you can walk away from long-running tasks and be notified when they complete. It exposes a single 'task_status' tool that Claude calls to trigger macOS sound playback and visual banner notifications — messages containing 'start' or 'processing' play a startup sound, while all other messages play a completion chime. It supports multiple notification backends including terminal-notifier, AppleScript, PyObjC, and pync, with automatic fallback between them.
Prerequisites
- macOS (Linux and Windows are not supported)
- Python 3.8 or higher installed
- Claude Desktop installed and running
- Optional but recommended: terminal-notifier for rich notification banners ('brew install terminal-notifier')
Install the server package
Install the base package via pip. Add the [visual] extra for PyObjC-based notifications or [pync] for pync-based notifications.
# Base install:
pip install notifications-mcp-server
# With visual notifications via PyObjC:
pip install "notifications-mcp-server[visual]"
# With pync backend:
pip install "notifications-mcp-server[pync]"Install terminal-notifier (recommended)
Install terminal-notifier via Homebrew for reliable macOS notification banners that work across all macOS versions.
brew install terminal-notifierConfigure Claude Desktop
Add the server to your Claude Desktop configuration file at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. The 'claude-notifications' command is installed by pip into your PATH.
{
"mcpServers": {
"notifications": {
"command": "claude-notifications"
}
}
}Optionally customize notification sounds and icons
Set environment variables to use custom audio files and notification icons instead of the defaults.
{
"mcpServers": {
"notifications": {
"command": "claude-notifications",
"env": {
"CLAUDE_START_SOUND": "/System/Library/Sounds/Ping.aiff",
"CLAUDE_COMPLETE_SOUND": "/System/Library/Sounds/Hero.aiff",
"CLAUDE_VISUAL_NOTIFICATIONS": "true",
"CLAUDE_NOTIFICATION_ICON": "/path/to/icon.png"
}
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop
Quit and relaunch Claude Desktop so the notifications server is loaded. Test it by asking Claude to complete a task and notify you when done.
Notifications Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the Notifications MCP server with custom sounds.
{
"mcpServers": {
"notifications": {
"command": "claude-notifications",
"env": {
"CLAUDE_COMPLETE_SOUND": "/System/Library/Sounds/Hero.aiff",
"CLAUDE_VISUAL_NOTIFICATIONS": "true"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts that will trigger notifications when Claude finishes long-running work.
- "Analyze this 500-line CSV file and summarize the findings. Notify me when you're done."
- "Refactor all the functions in this codebase to use async/await, then let me know when complete."
- "Write a 2000-word blog post about MCP servers. Send a notification when finished."
- "Process these 20 files and notify me when each one is done."Troubleshooting Notifications
No notification appears even though the tool reports success
Check macOS System Preferences → Notifications and ensure notifications are allowed for terminal-notifier or the terminal app running Claude. You may need to grant notification permission the first time by running 'terminal-notifier -message test' directly.
'claude-notifications' command not found after pip install
The pip install may have placed the script in a location not on your PATH. Run 'pip show notifications-mcp-server' to find the install location, then add the Scripts or bin directory to your PATH, or use the full path in the 'command' field of your config.
Sound plays but no visual banner appears
Install terminal-notifier ('brew install terminal-notifier') and set CLAUDE_VISUAL_NOTIFICATIONS=true in your environment. Without terminal-notifier, the server falls back to AppleScript for sounds but may not show banners depending on your macOS version and Focus settings.
Frequently Asked Questions about Notifications
What is Notifications?
Notifications is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that mcp server for macos notifications and sounds when claude desktop tasks complete. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Notifications?
Follow the installation instructions on the Notifications GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Notifications?
Notifications works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Notifications free to use?
Yes, Notifications is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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