Notifications & Web Push

Chatto has persistent in-app notifications and optional browser Web Push. Operators configure whether push is available; members decide which rooms, threads, and devices should alert them.

How Notifications Work

Chatto creates persistent notifications for attention-worthy events:

Event	Default behavior
DM messages	Notify the recipient.
Direct @username mentions	Notify the mentioned user.
Role, @all, and @here mentions	Notify matching recipients, with confirmation for broad sends.
Replies to your message	Notify you.
Followed thread replies	Notify followers.
Rooms set to all messages	Notify for every root message in that room.

Notifications are stored for the user, survive browser restarts, sync across tabs and devices, and expire after 90 days. Dismissing a notification clears it everywhere for that user.

Notification Levels

Members can choose notification levels per room:

Level	Effect
Default	Inherit the parent/default behavior.
Muted	Suppress notifications and unread sidebar state for that room.
Normal	Notify for mentions, DMs, and thread replies.
All messages	Notify for mentions, DMs, thread replies, and every root message.

Muted rooms suppress mentions too. Treat mute as “leave this room out of my attention surface.”

Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb does not discard notifications. Chatto still records the pending notification and updates counts, but suppresses interruptive delivery while the user is in DND:

• no notification sound
• no Web Push delivery
• no active interruption

This preserves “review later” behavior without waking the user’s devices.

Enable Web Push

Web Push is disabled until you provide VAPID keys. Without push config, Chatto hides the push UI entirely.

Generate VAPID keys:

npx web-push generate-vapid-keys

Then configure Chatto:

TOML

[push]
enabled = true
vapid_public_key = "<generate-me>"
vapid_private_key = "<generate-me>"
vapid_subject = "mailto:admin@example.com"

Environment

CHATTO_PUSH_ENABLED=true
CHATTO_PUSH_VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=<generate-me>
CHATTO_PUSH_VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY=<generate-me>
CHATTO_PUSH_VAPID_SUBJECT=mailto:admin@example.com

Use a mailto: or HTTPS contact URI for vapid_subject. Keep the private key secret and stable; changing it can invalidate existing browser subscriptions.

Device Behavior

Each browser or installed PWA creates its own subscription. A user can have multiple subscribed devices, and each device receives the same push notification.

When a user reopens Chatto, the app refreshes the server’s stored subscription for that browser. Expired subscriptions are cleaned up automatically when push providers report them as gone.

Chatto sends regular notifications in a declarative-compatible Web Push format, with service-worker reconciliation where available and declarative display/badge fallback where supported. Operators do not need to change VAPID keys or push configuration for this behavior.

On iOS and iPadOS, Web Push works only for supported Home Screen web apps. Safari tabs that are not installed as an app may not receive native push.

Note

In multi-server use, native Web Push registration is offered only for the server that served the installed web app. Remote servers can still update in-app badges and play sounds while Chatto is open.

Operator Checklist

1. Set webserver.url to the public HTTPS origin.
2. Enable Web Push with stable VAPID keys.
3. Keep the service worker path reachable through your proxy.
4. Test from a normal member account, not only an owner account.
5. Test one desktop browser and one mobile installed PWA if mobile push matters.
6. Explain to members that push is per device and opt-in.

Related Guides

Environment Variables Full Web Push configuration reference.

Security & Privacy Session, CORS, WebSocket, and runtime-state security details.

Notification APIs Public ConnectRPC notification service reference.

Push Notification APIs Public ConnectRPC push subscription service reference.