notify-mcp

A lightweight Bash-based Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for sending desktop notifications via notify-send. This zero-dependency server enables AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to send system notifications directly to your Linux desktop and MacOS.

Prerequisites

- Linux system with notification support or MacOS
- notify-send command for linux (usually provided by libnotify package)
- jq tool

Installing notify-send

If notify-send is not installed on your system:

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get install libnotify-bin

Fedora/RHEL:

sudo dnf install libnotify

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S libnotify

Alt Linux:

sudo apt-get install notify-send

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/longdog/notify-mcp.git
cd notify-mcp

2. Make the script executable:

chmod +x notify-mcp.sh

3. (Optional) Add to your PATH for easier access:

sudo ln -s $(pwd)/notify-mcp.sh /usr/local/bin/notify-mcp

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop uses a JSON configuration file to define MCP servers.

1. Open Claude Desktop settings:

- Click Claude menu → Settings → Developer tab
- Click Edit Config to open claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the notify-mcp server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notify": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/notify-mcp.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Example with full path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notify": {
      "command": "/home/username/notify-mcp/notify-mcp.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

3. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop

4. Verify the connection by looking for the MCP server indicator (🔌 icon) in the Claude Desktop interface

Cursor

Cursor IDE supports MCP servers through its settings configuration.

1. Open Cursor settings:

- Press Ctrl+Shift+P (Linux/Windows) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS)
- Search for "MCP: Add MCP Server"
- Select Command (stdio)

2. Configure the server:
- Name: notify
- Command: /absolute/path/to/notify-mcp.sh
- Arguments: (leave empty)

Alternative: Manual configuration

Edit your Cursor settings file (.cursor/mcp.json in your workspace):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notify": {
      "command": "/home/username/notify-mcp/notify-mcp.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Cursor to apply changes

VS Code

VS Code supports MCP servers through the GitHub Copilot extension.

1. Via Command Palette:

- Press Ctrl+Shift+P (Linux/Windows) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS)
- Run "MCP: Add Server"
- Select Command (stdio)
- Enter the server information:
- Name: notify
- Command: /absolute/path/to/notify-mcp.sh

2. Via Configuration File:

Add to your user settings (.vscode/mcp.json) or workspace settings:

{
  "servers": {
    "notify": {
      "command": "/home/username/notify-mcp/notify-mcp.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

3. Restart VS Code to load the MCP server

4. Verify by running "MCP: List Servers" from the Command Palette

Gemini CLI

The Gemini CLI supports MCP servers through its settings configuration file.

1. Locate your Gemini CLI settings file:

~/.gemini/settings.json

2. Add the notify-mcp server to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notify": {
      "command": "/home/username/notify-mcp/notify-mcp.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Complete example:

{
  "apiKey": "your-api-key",
  "mcpServers": {
    "notify": {
      "command": "/home/username/notify-mcp/notify-mcp.sh",
      "args": []
    }
  },
  "mcp": {
    "allowed": ["notify"]
  }
}

3. Restart Gemini CLI or start a new session:

gemini-cli

4. Verify the server is loaded:

/mcp

This will list all connected MCP servers, including notify.

Alternative: Using STDIO Transport Directly

For testing or advanced use cases, you can interact with the MCP server directly via stdio:

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"2","method":"tools/call","params": {"arguments":{"title":"Hello","message":"World"}}}' | ./notify-mcp.sh