Documentation
Notifiers

Notifiers

Notifiers determine where Update-Watcher sends its results after checking for available updates. Each notifier formats the update report for a specific platform or protocol and delivers it to the configured destination. Notifiers are delivery-only – they never modify your system, install updates, or interact with package managers.

You can enable any number of notifiers simultaneously. For example, you might send a Slack message to your DevOps channel, trigger a PagerDuty incident for security updates, and archive a JSON payload to a webhook endpoint – all from a single update-watcher run invocation.

All Notifiers

NotifierTypeDescription
SlackChatRich Block Kit messages to Slack channels via incoming webhooks.
DiscordChatEmbedded messages to Discord channels via webhooks.
Microsoft TeamsChatAdaptive Card messages to Teams channels via Workflow webhooks.
TelegramChatMarkdown-formatted messages to Telegram chats and groups via Bot API.
EmailEmailHTML-formatted email via any SMTP server with STARTTLS support.
ntfyPushPush notifications via ntfy.sh or self-hosted ntfy servers.
PushoverPushPush notifications to iOS, Android, and Desktop via Pushover API.
GotifyPushPush notifications via self-hosted Gotify server.
Home AssistantSmart HomeNotifications through Home Assistant’s notify service.
Google ChatChatMessages to Google Chat spaces via webhooks.
MatrixChatMessages to Matrix rooms via the client-server API.
MattermostChatMessages to Mattermost channels via incoming webhooks.
Rocket.ChatChatMessages to Rocket.Chat channels via incoming webhooks.
PagerDutyMonitoringIncident triggers via Events API v2 for security updates.
PushbulletPushCross-device push notifications via Pushbullet API.
WebhookGenericJSON payloads to any HTTP endpoint for custom integrations.
Update WallDashboardStructured update reports to a self-hosted Update Wall dashboard.

Categories

Chat Platforms

Send update notifications directly into the channels where your team already communicates. All chat notifiers support rich formatting, security update highlighting, and optional mentions for critical updates.

  • Slack – Block Kit formatting with security mentions
  • Discord – Embedded messages with custom bot identity
  • Microsoft Teams – Adaptive Cards via Workflow webhooks
  • Telegram – Bot API with Markdown formatting
  • Google Chat – Google Workspace webhook integration
  • Matrix – Decentralized, self-hostable chat
  • Mattermost – Self-hosted Slack alternative
  • Rocket.Chat – Self-hosted team communication

Push Notifications

Receive update alerts on your phone, tablet, or desktop without needing a chat application open. Ideal for solo administrators or after-hours monitoring.

  • ntfy – Open-source, self-hostable push notifications
  • Pushover – iOS, Android, and Desktop with priority levels
  • Gotify – Fully self-hosted push notification server
  • Pushbullet – Cross-device push notifications

Email

Traditional email delivery for teams that rely on inbox-based workflows or need an audit trail.

  • Email – HTML email via any SMTP server

Monitoring and Incident Management

Integrate update notifications into your existing monitoring and incident response workflows.

  • PagerDuty – Trigger incidents for security updates with configurable severity

Smart Home

Integrate server update alerts into your home automation setup.

  • Home Assistant – Notify service integration for dashboards and automations

Generic

Send raw update data to any HTTP endpoint for custom processing, logging, or integration with systems not directly supported.

  • Webhook – JSON payloads with custom headers and authentication

Dashboard

Send full structured update reports to a self-hosted dashboard for persistent history, filtering, and multi-server overview.

  • Update Wall – Self-hosted update monitoring dashboard

Send Policy

The send_policy setting in your configuration controls when notifications are sent:

  • only-on-updates (default) – Notifications are sent only when at least one checker reports available updates. Silent when everything is up to date.
  • always – Notifications are sent after every run, even if no updates are found. Useful as a heartbeat to confirm Update-Watcher is running.

This setting applies globally to all configured notifiers. Set it in the top-level configuration:

config.yaml
send_policy: "only-on-updates"

Security Mentions

Several notifiers support a mention_on_security option (or platform-specific equivalent like mention_role for Discord). When enabled, the notifier adds a mention or highlight to the notification whenever security updates are detected. This draws immediate attention to critical patches in busy channels.

Next Steps