---
name: "notify-send"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "libnotify"
version: "0.8.9-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/notify-send"
---

# notify-send(1)

a program to send desktop notifications

## NAME

notify-send - a program to send desktop notifications

## SYNOPSIS

**notify-send** \[*OPTIONS*\] {*summary*} \[*body*\]

## DESCRIPTION

With **notify-send** you can send desktop notifications to the user via a notification daemon from the command line. These notifications can be used to inform the user about an event or display some form of information without getting in the user’s way.

## OPTIONS

- **-?**, **--help**

  Show help and exit.

- **-a**, **--app-name**=*APP\_NAME*

  Specifies the app name for the notification.

- **-A**, **--action**=\[*NAME*=\]*Text...*

  Specifies the actions to display to the user. Implies **--wait** to wait for user input. May be set multiple times. The *NAME* of the action is output to stdout. If *NAME* is not specified, the numerical index of the option is used (starting with 1).

- **--selected-action-fd**=*FILE\_DESCRIPTOR*

  File descriptor where to write the action chosen by the user.

- **--activation-token-fd**=*FILE\_DESCRIPTOR*

  File descriptor where to write the action activation token. The daemon must support it.

- **-u**, **--urgency**=*LEVEL*

  Specifies the urgency level (low, normal, critical).

- **-t**, **--expire-time**=*TIME*

  The duration, in milliseconds, for the notification to appear on screen.

  Not all implementations use this parameter. GNOME Shell and Notify OSD always ignore it, while Plasma ignores it for notifications with the critical urgency level.

- **-i**, **--icon**=*ICON*

  Specifies an icon filename or stock icon to display.

- **-n**, **--app-icon**=*ICON*

  Specifies an application icon filename or app icon name. The server may or may not display it.

- **-c**, **--category**=*TYPE*\[,*TYPE*...\]

  Specifies the notification category.

- **-h**, **--hint**=*TYPE*:*NAME*:*VALUE*

  Specifies basic extra data to pass. Valid types are BOOLEAN, INT, DOUBLE, STRING, BYTE and VARIANT.

- **-p**, **--print-id**

  Print the notification ID.

- **--id-fd=***FILE\_DESCRIPTOR*

  File descriptor where to write the notification ID.

- **-r**, **--replace-id**=*REPLACE\_ID*

  The ID of the notification to replace.

- **-w**, **--wait**

  Wait for the notification to be closed before exiting. If the **expire-time** is set, it will be used as the maximum waiting time.

- **-e**, **--transient**

  Show a transient notification. Transient notifications by-pass the server's persistence capability, if any. And so it won't be preserved until the user acknowledges it.

## SEE ALSO

The Desktop Notification Spec on **https://specifications.freedesktop.org/notification-spec/**.

## AUTHORS

**Andre Filipe de Assuncao e Brito** \<decko@noisemakers.org\>

Original author

**Paul van Tilburg** \<paulvt@debian.org\>

Original author

**Riccardo Setti** \<giskard@debian.org\>

Original author