MCP Desktop Notification Server

A desktop notification server that can work either as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server and a Claude Code hook processor. Send desktop notifications with sound alerts from your AI assistants or command line.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
  • Prerequisites
  • Setup
  • Development Setup
• Usage Modes
  • 1. Command Line Interface (CLI)
  • 2. MCP Server Mode
  • 3. Claude Code Hook Mode
• Sound Configuration
  • Default Sound
  • Custom Sounds
  • Adding Your Own Sound
• Development
  • Project Structure
  • Available Scripts
  • Testing
• Platform Support
  • macOS
  • Linux
  • Windows
• Troubleshooting
  • Notifications not appearing
  • Sound not playing
  • MCP server not connecting
  • Claude hooks not working
• Publishing to npm
  • Prerequisites for Publishing
  • Publishing Steps
  • First-time Publishing
  • Verifying Publication
• Contributing
• License
• Acknowledgments

Features

• 🔔 Desktop notifications with customizable title and message
• 🔊 Sound alerts (system beeps or custom audio files)
• 🤖 MCP server mode for AI assistant integration
• 🪝 Claude Code hook processor for event notifications
• 💻 Command-line interface for direct usage
• 🌍 Cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows)

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18 or higher
• npm or yarn

Setup

# Install globally from npm
npm install -g mcp-desktop-notification

# Or use directly with npx (no installation needed)
npx mcp-desktop-notification --title "Hello" --message "World"

Development Setup (for contributors)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/franz-see/mcp-desktop-notification
cd mcp-desktop-notification

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

Usage Modes

1. Command Line Interface (CLI)

Send notifications directly from the terminal:

# Basic notification
npx mcp-desktop-notification --title "Build Complete" --message "Your project has been built successfully"

# With custom sound
npx mcp-desktop-notification --title "Alert" --message "Important notification" --sound beep

# With icon (path to image file)
npx mcp-desktop-notification --title "Info" --message "Check this out" --icon /path/to/icon.png

CLI Options

• -t, --title <title> - Notification title (required)
• -m, --message <message> - Notification message (required)
• -i, --icon <icon> - Path to icon file (optional)
• -s, --sound <sound> - Sound to play (optional):
  • beep or system - System beep sound
  • beep:frequency - Beep with specific frequency
  • /path/to/audio.mp3 - Custom audio file
  • Default: Uses embedded sound (@sound.mp3)
• --verbose - Show debug output

2. MCP Server Mode

Use as an MCP server for AI assistants like Claude Desktop.

Configuration for Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop settings
2. Navigate to Developer > Edit Config
3. Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "desktop-notification": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-desktop-notification", "--server"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tool

Once configured, Claude will have access to the send_notification tool:

send_notification({
  title: "Task Complete",
  message: "The requested operation has finished successfully"
})

The tool will:

• Display a desktop notification with the specified title and message
• Play the default sound alert (@sound.mp3 or system beep)
• Return success/failure status to the AI assistant

Example Usage in Claude

You can ask Claude to:

• "Send me a desktop notification when the analysis is complete"
• "Alert me with a notification saying 'Build finished'"
• "Notify me when you're done processing the data"

3. Claude Code Hook Mode

Integrate with Claude Code to receive notifications for various events during your coding session.

Setup Claude Code Hooks

1. In Claude Code, configure hooks in your settings
2. Add the notification command as a hook:

# For specific events
npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook

# With verbose output for debugging
npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook --verbose

Supported Hook Events

The notification server handles these Claude Code events:

| Event | Notification Title | Description | |-------|-------------------|-------------| | PreToolUse | [PreToolUse] Claude Code: [Tool Name] | Before a tool executes | | PostToolUse | [PostToolUse] ✓ [Tool Name] Completed | After a tool finishes | | UserPromptSubmit | [UserPromptSubmit] Claude Code | When you submit a prompt | | Notification | [Notification] Claude Code Notification | Custom notifications | | Stop | [Stop] Claude Code | Response completed | | SubagentStop | [SubAgentStop] Claude Code Subagent | Subagent task completed | | SessionStart | [SessionStart] Claude Code Session | New session started | | SessionEnd | [SessionEnd] Claude Code Session | Session ended | | PreCompact | Claude Code | Context compaction starting |

Example Hook Configuration

In your Claude Code settings or configuration file:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": "npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook",
    "UserPromptSubmit": "npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook",
    "Stop": "npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook"
  }
}

Testing Hooks

You can test the hook processor manually:

# Test PostToolUse event
echo '{"hook_event_name":"PostToolUse","tool_name":"Bash"}' | npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook

# Test with verbose output
echo '{"hook_event_name":"UserPromptSubmit","prompt":"Test prompt"}' | npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook --verbose

# Test notification event
echo '{"hook_event_name":"Notification","message":"Custom message"}' | npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook

Sound Configuration

Default Sound

By default, all notifications use @sound.mp3 which:

1. First attempts to play the embedded assets/sound.mp3 file
2. Falls back to system beep if the file doesn't exist or fails

Custom Sounds

You can specify custom sounds:

# System beep
--sound beep

# Custom audio file
--sound /path/to/notification.mp3

# Platform-specific system sounds
--sound system

Adding Your Own Sound

For custom sounds, use the --sound parameter with a path to your audio file:

# Use your custom sound file
npx mcp-desktop-notification --title "Alert" --message "Custom sound" --sound ~/my-notification-sound.mp3

Development

Project Structure

mcp-desktop-notification/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts           # Main entry point
│   ├── types.ts           # TypeScript interfaces
│   ├── notification.ts    # Notification handling
│   ├── sound.ts          # Sound playback logic
│   ├── claude-hook.ts    # Claude hook processor
│   ├── claude-hook.test.ts # Tests for Claude hook processor
│   └── mcp-server.ts     # MCP server implementation
├── assets/
│   └── sound.mp3         # Default notification sound
├── dist/                 # Compiled JavaScript
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── jest.config.js        # Jest test configuration
└── README.md

Available Scripts

# Build TypeScript to JavaScript
npm run build

# Run in development mode (using tsx)
npm run dev -- --title "Dev" --message "Test"

# Run MCP server in development
npm run server

# Run Claude hook processor in development
npm run claude-hook

# Start compiled version
npm start -- --title "Test" --message "Hello"

# Run tests
npm test

Testing

Test all three modes:

# 1. Test CLI mode
npx mcp-desktop-notification --title "CLI Test" --message "Testing CLI mode"

# 2. Test MCP server (starts server, use Ctrl+C to stop)
npx mcp-desktop-notification --server

# 3. Test Claude hook
echo '{"hook_event_name":"PostToolUse","tool_name":"TestTool"}' | npx mcp-desktop-notification --claude-hook

Platform Support

macOS

• Uses afplay for audio playback
• System sound: /System/Library/Sounds/Glass.aiff
• Full notification support via node-notifier

Linux

• Attempts multiple audio players: paplay, aplay, mpg123, ffplay
• System sound: ALSA default or terminal bell
• Requires notification daemon (most desktop environments have one)

Windows

• Uses PowerShell for audio playback
• System beep via [console]::beep()
• Windows notification support via node-notifier

Troubleshooting

Notifications not appearing

1. macOS: Check System Preferences > Notifications > Terminal/Node
2. Linux: Ensure a notification daemon is running (notify-osd, dunst, etc.)
3. Windows: Check notification settings in Windows Settings

Sound not playing

1. Check if the audio file exists: ls assets/sound.mp3
2. Test system beep: --sound beep
3. Verify audio player is installed (platform-specific)
4. Check system volume settings

MCP server not connecting

1. Verify the path in Claude Desktop config is absolute
2. Check the server starts correctly: npm run server
3. Restart Claude Desktop after config changes
4. Check Claude Desktop developer console for errors

Claude hooks not working

1. Test manually with echo command (see Testing Hooks section)
2. Use --verbose flag to see debug output
3. Ensure hook command has execution permissions
4. Check Claude Code hook configuration

Publishing to npm

Prerequisites for Publishing

1. Create an npm account at npmjs.com
2. Login to npm from your terminal:

   npm login

Publishing Steps

1. Update version number in package.json:

   npm version patch  # for bug fixes
   npm version minor  # for new features
   npm version major  # for breaking changes

2. Build the project:

   npm run build

3. Run tests to ensure everything works:

   npm test

4. Publish to npm:

   npm publish --access public

First-time Publishing

If the package name is already taken, you'll need to either:

• Choose a different name in package.json
• Use a scoped package name: @yourusername/mcp-desktop-notification

For scoped packages:

npm publish --access public  # Required for first publish of scoped packages

Verifying Publication

After publishing, verify your package is available:

npm view mcp-desktop-notification

# Test installation
npx mcp-desktop-notification --title "Test" --message "Package published!"

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

License

ISC

Acknowledgments

Built with:

• @modelcontextprotocol/sdk - MCP implementation
• node-notifier - Cross-platform notifications
• commander - CLI argument parsing
• TypeScript for type safety

Note: This tool requires appropriate permissions for desktop notifications and audio playback on your system. Make sure to grant necessary permissions when prompted.