Documentation
Call-style alerts for agent messages and HTTP notifications
Request an optional call-style reminder for a Ntfyx message from CLI, MCP or a JSON webhook. Learn phone setup, quiet settings and iPhone/Android limits.
Updated
What is a call-style message alert?
#Ntfyx can request optional call-style reminders for messages from CLI, MCP or JSON webhooks. Enable them on the receiving phone first. Viewing or dismissing the reminder does not answer the original question or approve an action.
Enable it on the receiving phone
#Call alerts are off by default. A sender can request this alert mode, but cannot turn on your phone setting or grant system permissions. Enable the option in Ntfyx settings and check the availability shown for your device.
- Enable Call alerts in Ntfyx on the receiving phone.
- Respond to the system permission request, then return to check readiness. Android full-screen access is a separate system setting where applicable.
- Check the Topic mute and quiet-hours settings before sending your own test message.
Request a Call alert from the CLI
#The current public CLI is 0.5.0. After pairing, add --alert-mode call to send or ask. The same message remains in its Topic and Session. Without this explicit option, ordinary notifications keep their existing behavior.
ntfyx send "The result needs your attention" --alert-mode call --session-id review-demo
ntfyx ask "Review this harmless example?" --allow-deny --alert-mode call --session-id review-demo --wait 60s --expires 90s --jsonUse the same option with local MCP
#The local ntfyx_send and ntfyx_ask tools accept alert_mode: "call". This example is the argument object for ntfyx_send, after the Source has been paired. The option requests a reminder; it does not grant execution permission.
{
"body": "The result needs your attention",
"session_id": "review-demo",
"alert_mode": "call"
}Request it in a copied-link JSON webhook
#POST this JSON body to the private sending link copied from the app. For this fixed-URL webhook format, the control belongs under ntfyx.alert_mode. An unrelated top-level alert_mode field from a third-party payload does not request a Call alert. GET links and ordinary monitor messages keep their normal notification behavior.
{
"body": "The result needs your attention",
"ntfyx": {
"alert_mode": "call"
}
}Quiet settings and platform limits
#Ntfyx checks Topic mute, quiet hours, message expiry and device capability. Sound and presentation also depend on the phone’s system policy. Call mode does not promise to bypass Focus, Do Not Disturb or silent settings.
| Platform or condition | What to expect |
|---|---|
| iPhone | Background registration lasts up to 24 hours. Open Ntfyx each day to renew it; expired registration falls back to ordinary encrypted push. |
| An iOS push already in transit | If iOS requires an in-flight push to be reported after the reminder becomes invalid or muted, a brief generic system reminder may appear and then end immediately. Turning the setting off cannot retract a push already accepted by the provider. |
| Android | Google Play services and applicable notification permissions are required. Full-screen access is separate and may be unavailable. A silent Call channel is not replaced with an audible ordinary channel to bypass your choice. |
| Unavailable or expired capability | The message can still use the ordinary notification path where allowed. Network, expiry and delivery limits can prevent or delay an alert; there is no guaranteed wake-up or emergency response. |
Viewing a message is separate from answering it
#Open the reminder to reach the original verified message. Dismissing it leaves any question unanswered. For a confirmation, choice or text question, answer in the original request; the sending computer must verify and claim that answer. A system call button never replaces this step.
Public availability and verification scope
#Public iPhone 1.6.4 and Android 1.6.4 include this opt-in feature. The separately submitted 1.6.1 update is awaiting review as of 23 October 2026. Recorded checks include an iPhone staging lock-screen reminder with user-confirmed sound, vibration and original-message navigation, and Android emulator notification/permission checks.
They do not establish every device, Focus mode, forced-quit state or Play-installed full-screen grant.