ntfy.sh

ntfy.sh is a pub/sub notification service. Publish a message to a topic URL, subscribers get a push notification. Runs on public ntfy.sh for free (with rate limits) or self-host it under your own domain.

Perfect for homelab self-hosters who don’t want to depend on Slack/Discord.

Option A — Use the public ntfy.sh

Pick a topic name that’s hard to guess — e.g. dockmesh-home-a7f392
Install the ntfy app on your phone (iOS / Android)
Subscribe to your topic in the app
Your notification URL is https://ntfy.sh/dockmesh-home-a7f392

Anyone who knows this URL can send you notifications. Use a random-enough topic name to keep it private.

Option B — Self-host ntfy

Deploy ntfy as a dockmesh stack:

services:
  ntfy:
    image: binwiederhier/ntfy:latest
    command: serve
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      NTFY_BASE_URL: https://ntfy.example.com
      NTFY_AUTH_FILE: /var/cache/ntfy/user.db
      NTFY_AUTH_DEFAULT_ACCESS: deny-all
      NTFY_BEHIND_PROXY: "true"
      NTFY_CACHE_FILE: /var/cache/ntfy/cache.db
      NTFY_ATTACHMENT_CACHE_DIR: /var/cache/ntfy/attachments
    volumes:
      - ntfy_cache:/var/cache/ntfy
      - ntfy_etc:/etc/ntfy

volumes:
  ntfy_cache:
  ntfy_etc:

Add a proxy route for ntfy.example.com. Create users:

docker exec -it monitoring_ntfy_1 ntfy user add --role=admin admin
# enter password

docker exec -it monitoring_ntfy_1 ntfy user add dockmesh-publisher
docker exec -it monitoring_ntfy_1 ntfy access dockmesh-publisher 'alerts*' write-only

Subscribe from the app with your ntfy URL + username/password.

Add to dockmesh

Settings → Channels → New channel → ntfy

Field	Value
Name	`phone-alerts`
Server	`https://ntfy.sh` or your self-hosted URL
Topic	`dockmesh-home-a7f392`
Username (optional)	if self-hosted with auth
Password (optional)	if self-hosted with auth
Priority	Default `3`, critical alerts can elevate to `5`

Click Send test — phone should buzz.

Message format

dockmesh sends:

Title: emoji + severity + rule name
Message body: target, metric, value
Tags: warning, critical, stack name (searchable in ntfy app)
Click action: link to the dockmesh alert page

Priority levels

ntfy maps priority 1-5 to notification urgency:

Priority	Behavior
1	Min (silent, no notification, just stored)
2	Low
3	Default
4	High (buzzes longer)
5	Max (bypasses Do Not Disturb on most devices)

For on-call pager behavior, set critical-severity alerts to priority 5.

Tags / emojis

dockmesh attaches tags automatically based on severity, but you can add custom ones per channel or per rule. Common tags that render as emojis in the ntfy app:

warning → ⚠️
rotating_light → 🚨
white_check_mark → ✅
robot → 🤖
fire → 🔥

Why ntfy over Slack/Discord?

Self-hostable — no third-party dependency
Mobile-first — purpose-built for push notifications
No account needed (public server) — just pick a topic
iOS + Android apps that support bypassing Do Not Disturb
Free forever — no SaaS feature tier