Enhancement request: desktop notifications

[theimpostor]

I noticed RepoBar doesn't do notifications, though it seems like an ideal place to implement them. E.g. a desktop notification when a PR is updated for a pinned repo. Would a PR implementing notifications be welcome, or was there a conscious decision not to do them?

[steipete]

I wouldn't use this, my repos are far to high volume. If someone wants to take a stab at it I'd consider.

[steipete]

Thanks, yes, a PR here would be welcome. There was not a hard product decision against desktop notifications. RepoBar already has a small UserNotifications path for successful local repo syncs, so the concept exists in the app; it just has not been generalized to GitHub activity yet.

For a first version I would keep the scope tight:

• opt-in setting, off by default
• pinned/visible repos only, not every accessible repo
• notify on newly observed PR activity after a refresh, not on the first cache hydration
• dedupe persisted per repo/PR/event so the same update does not notify repeatedly
• reuse the existing refresh/cache pipeline rather than adding a separate watcher

The main thing I would avoid is a broad notification system that alerts on every issue/PR/event type immediately. Starting with PR updates for pinned repos is a reasonable shape.

[steipete]

Thanks, this is welcome in principle. There was no hard decision against notifications; the important part is keeping them opt-in and scoped so RepoBar does not turn into a noisy global GitHub feed.

A good first version would probably be:

• add a setting for desktop notifications, disabled by default
• scope notifications to pinned/visible repos, not every accessible repo
• notify on meaningful PR changes such as new PR, review requested, checks failed/passed, or updated activity since the last seen snapshot
• reuse or generalize the existing local notification path used by local sync notifications
• avoid notifying for the initial cache/load so enabling the feature does not fire a backlog

A PR along those lines would be very welcome. I marked this as an enhancement/help-wanted item.

[steipete]

Yes, a PR would be welcome. I do not think we should make notifications global/noisy by default, but this fits RepoBar if it is scoped and opt-in.

A shape I would be happy with:

• add a setting for GitHub update notifications, default off
• start with pinned repos only, or another clearly bounded scope
• notify only on meaningful changes after the first observed snapshot, for example a PR opened/reopened/merged or a watched PR moving CI state
• persist a small last-seen marker so app restart does not replay old notifications
• reuse the existing refresh/cache paths; avoid adding a new polling loop just for notifications
• make the notification body actionable enough to click through to the PR/repo

RepoBar already has local macOS notifications for successful local sync actions, so the notification permission plumbing exists. The missing piece is the GitHub-side change detector/dedupe policy. Leaving this open as a valid enhancement.

[Whiteknight07]

I would like to take up this work! I'll start work on it right away