Ntfy MCP Server

Tools

Four tools covering the ntfy publish/subscribe surface — message lifecycle (publish, manage, fetch) plus an emoji-tag lookup that feeds the publish tool's tags field:

ntfy_publish_message

Send or update a push notification on an ntfy topic. Topics are created on first publish — treat the topic name as a secret because anyone who knows it can publish or subscribe.

• Full publish-parameter coverage — title, priority (1–5), tags, click, attach, icon, filename, markdown, delay, email, call, cache, firebase
• Up to three discriminated action buttons (view, broadcast, http, copy) per message
• Update or replace previously-sent messages by passing the original sequence_id
• Per-call base_url override that forwards credentials only when the override matches a registered server (NTFY_BASE_URL or an NTFY_SERVERS entry); otherwise the request goes out unauthenticated, so credentials never leak to alternate hosts

ntfy_manage_message

Clear (mark read & dismiss) or delete a previously-sent ntfy notification by sequence_id. Append-only — the original message stays in cache, and a message_clear / message_delete event is emitted to subscribers. Idempotent.

ntfy_fetch_messages

Poll cached messages from one or more topics with optional filters. Returns a snapshot, not a live stream — use it to confirm delivery, replay missed alerts, or audit topic activity.

• Comma-separated multi-topic queries (e.g. alerts,backups,phil_alerts)
• Filter by since (duration / timestamp / message ID / all / latest), priority, tags, id, title, message, scheduled-only
• Default window 10m, default limit 20 messages per response, hard cap 100
• Long bodies truncated to ~500 chars with messageTruncated reporting the dropped count

ntfy_search_emoji_tags

Substring search over the bundled ntfy emoji-tag reference. Returns the tag strings ready to plug into ntfy_publish_message's tags field. Without a query, returns the first slice of the full reference.

Resources and prompts

ntfy_fetch_messages covers the same topic data with custom windows and filters when the resource's fixed defaults aren't enough.

Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core:

• Declarative tool and resource definitions — single file per primitive, framework handles registration and validation
• Typed error contracts via ctx.fail(reason, …) plus framework error factories (forbidden, notFound, validationError, …)
• Pluggable auth: none, jwt, oauth
• Swappable storage backends: in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1
• Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
• STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports

ntfy-specific:

• Wraps ntfy's HTTP API with retry-aware client (withRetry + per-request timeout)
• Per-server scoped auth — credentials are bound to each registered base URL (NTFY_BASE_URL or per-entry under NTFY_SERVERS); per-call base_url overrides forward auth only when the override matches a registered server, and go out unauthenticated otherwise
• Bundled emoji-tag reference, regenerated from upstream docs/ntfy/emojis.md via scripts/build-emoji-tags.ts
• Mutually-exclusive auth modes (bearer token or basic auth) validated at config-load time

Project structure

Development guide

See CLAUDE.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:

• Handlers throw, framework catches — no try/catch in tool logic
• Use ctx.log for request-scoped logging, ctx.state for tenant-scoped storage
• Wrap external API calls: validate raw → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields
• Per-tool errors[] contracts stay inline — repetition is intended for locality

Getting started

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file. Public ntfy.sh works out of the box without an account; for protected topics, generate an access token at https://ntfy.sh/account.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ntfy-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["ntfy-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info",
        "NTFY_DEFAULT_TOPIC": "your-topic-name"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ntfy-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
        "-e", "NTFY_DEFAULT_TOPIC=your-topic-name",
        "ghcr.io/cyanheads/ntfy-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 NTFY_DEFAULT_TOPIC=your-topic bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://127.0.0.1:3010/mcp

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.3.11 or higher (or Node.js v24+).
• A topic name on an ntfy server. Public ntfy.sh requires no account; self-hosted instances and protected topics may need a bearer token or basic-auth credentials.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/ntfy-mcp-server.git

2. Navigate into the directory:

cd ntfy-mcp-server

3. Install dependencies:

bun install

4. Configure environment:

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env and set NTFY_DEFAULT_TOPIC (and auth, if needed)

Configuration

See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides.

Running the server

Local development

• Build and run:

  Copy

  # One-time build
  bun run rebuild
  
  # Run the built server
  bun run start:stdio
  # or
  bun run start:http

• Run checks and tests:

  Copy

  bun run devcheck     # Lint, format, typecheck, security, changelog sync
  bun run test         # Vitest test suite
  bun run lint:mcp     # Validate MCP definitions against spec

Docker

docker build -t ntfy-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -e NTFY_DEFAULT_TOPIC=your-topic -p 3010:3010 ntfy-mcp-server

The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to /var/log/ntfy-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them.

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.