gotify
Feature Request: Shared Apps for Multiple Users
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. I feel like Gotify is missing a key feature, there’s no way to have shared apps that multiple users can use. Gotify is great for notifications, but it falls short if you can’t send notifications to groups or share apps between users. That makes it hard to use for groups or households.
Describe the solution you'd like I’d love to see support for shared apps that can be accessed by multiple users. One way to do this would be if notifications posted to one app could be forwarded to other apps/users. This forwarding should be locked down and only configurable by administrators to avoid misuse.
This would let a single app send notifications to a group of people instead of just one user. Group and personal notifications combined would make Gotify way more useful for households or group setups.
I personally use Gotify for Home Assistant and smart home notifications, but to cover my entire family, I’d have to create an app for each person, get a token for each, then create a script for each app in Home Assistant. Being able to forward notifications from one app to others, or mark an app as a shared channel and pick which users get those notifications — BAM, done.
Describe alternatives you've considered Right now, I have to create separate apps for each user or rely on individual notifications, which is clunky and not scalable for groups. I’ve tried NTFY, NOVU, Rocket.Chat, and a few other smaller projects. Even dabbled with MQTT. But nothing matches how reliable and no-nonsense Gotify is.
Additional context Gotify is awesome overall — this forwarding or shared group feature feels like an essential next step and a total game changer. There’s no real solution out there that checks all the boxes like Gotify does. Would love to see this in a future update!
Hi thanks for the ticket, Just in case you have not checked older discussions on related issues, we have #103 and #678.
I personally is putting maybe link/token based sharing on the table after the UI is modernized but not more than that.
The current entity and security architecture is designed around the idea that each user is an independent, isolated user, just like your push notifications on your phone stay yours and they don't have a button on there to "forward this notification to ...".
this forwarding or shared group feature
I have a plugin for broadcasting which should do what you want but it really is stretching the limit of what gotify is designed for.
Being able to forward notifications from one app to others, or mark an app as a shared channel and pick which users get those notifications — BAM, done.
To be honest this feels more like an IM to me than a push notification service. I feel it might be more suited for an IM hook, like Slack, Telegram, Jabber, Matrix, etc.
To be honest this feels more like an IM to me than a push notification service. I feel it might be more suited for an IM hook, like Slack, Telegram, Jabber, Matrix, etc.
I get that pushing to a service is the traditional approach, but that’s not really what most people are looking for. IMs, Telegram, Jabber, Matrix, and even MQTT all have their own quirks and aren’t really practical for a home setting. Some people just want a simple notification system that they can setup web hooks to, assign users and call it a day.
The broadcast plugin is closer to what I mean, but this kind of functionality really should be native. I’ve read through other posts requesting similar features, and most are met with “I don’t need that, so it won’t be added.”, and one response even called the idea stupid. That kind of response isn’t great for the project or for the community supporting it.
A simple, admin-controlled shared app or topic system would make Gotify much more useful for households and small teams without breaking its core principles, and the way the project is currently laid out wouldn't be hard at all for it to be extended to support it. Have it be a part of the general functionality of the notification system would extend functionality 10-fold.
most are met with “I don’t need that, so it won’t be added.”
Are you sure about the "won't be added" part. I don't think we have this exact stance, only that it currently doesn't fit in the model and would require a major rework and thinking how to make it backwards compatible.
and one response even called the idea stupid.
Which response did that?
I agree that this feature could be useful to the users that want share messages, and it's visible that there is interest for this.
Thanks for the follow up .. To clarify my points earlier:
I am not dismissing any particular feature request, I am simply saying
(1) it is a lot of work and some of them are outside my comfort zone, without a commitment from all affected components I am hesitant starting work which can get stalled like #707
(2) the current model is a strict per user segmentation: introducing user-to-user sharing combined with a registration feature can lead to gotify crossing into fan-out processing/scaling, UGC processing territory which can lead to a need for moderation, database specific tuning, etc.
(3) I personally don't need it, and I see clear alternatives available on the market, I don't think that is simply a statement of "I don't need it, case closed".
(4) you can do it with a plugin, we are revamping the plugin system to a V2 API where loading and using plugins can be more pleasing and I am considering making writing cross-user brokers easier, so even within Gotify I can see a clear path for a viable workaround. (I am traveling this week, I will probably continue this weekend when I get back)
That's why I my stance is I see a future for simple link/token/signature based sharing but I am not optimistic about full blown "choose a recipient/group" feature landing soon.
Which response did that?
This was from a community member who mentioned on another issue they didn’t need such a feature and felt adding it would be “stupid.” I can’t seem to find the specific issue to link, but I clearly remember seeing it and having to go back and reread it to make sure I had read it correctly the first time.
I am not dismissing any particular feature request
I appreciate you saying that, and I just wanted to share why I think this feature could be really valuable - not only for me, but potentially for others who might not speak up even if they’d use it.
1.) I completely respect that this may not be your top priority or area of focus. That said, a user-to-user feature would be something I’d personally use every single day. I’d also be happy to beta test, provide feedback, and share bug reports to support development. While I may not be strong in Go, I’d gladly contribute however I can.
2.) I understand your point about moderation, but I wonder if that could be offloaded to a plugin specifically focused on content control and filtering. The underlying ability to share or group notifications feels like a natural, core capability of the platform (IMHO).
3.) I know there are alternatives out there, but none of them feel as reliable or straightforward as Gotify. NTFY often has noticeable delays and doesn’t support group notifications (in my experience at least). XMPP is on its way out and most clients these days are extremely clunky, and often have their own delays. Matter and MQTT usually need third-party clients with their own quirks. Gotify already shines above these options in terms of reliability, usability, and overall polish. The project is solid, it's just missing a few things.
4.) I’ve experimented with plugins, but the workflow isn’t as clean or seamless as having everything within Gotify’s main interface. Managing things across multiple screens creates extra friction.
I completely understand if this isn’t at the top of your roadmap, but I do think this feature would add a lot of value. Personally, it’s one of the only things keeping me from fully committing to Gotify as the backbone of my entire notification system - covering smart home, property management, and day-to-day alerts.
For example, right now Home Assistant sends notifications for doorbells, camera motion (during certain hours), window and door sensors, my wife’s garden moisture sensors, and much more through Gotify. All of that works great, but it all comes directly to my phone - even when some notifications are relevant to other people as well. Creating multiple channels and custom integrations for each user to receive the same information would get messy fast. Having a built-in way to direct or share notifications between users would make Gotify much more flexible and scalable.
I truly appreciate your openness in discussing this. It shows users that their suggestions are heard and genuinely valued, which really strengthens the community around Gotify.
Hi @bradjtrammell to follow up on this, would your workflow be simplified if we have the broadcast plugin but it doesn't have the cross-build compatibility anymore (now it is using gRPC which has excellent backwards and with engineering consideration for forward compatibility)?
The only thing I can more or less guarantee that is "happening in the coming weeks" is this..
a new native sharing feature is , as I said and Jannis said, needs a major rework and we do not have the correct combination of people with the right expertise x committed engineer hours available right now.
Hi @bradjtrammell to follow up on this, would your workflow be simplified if we have the broadcast plugin but it doesn't have the cross-build compatibility anymore (now it is using gRPC which has excellent backwards and with engineering consideration for forward compatibility)?
The only thing I can more or less guarantee that is "happening in the coming weeks" is this..
a new native sharing feature is , as I said and Jannis said, needs a major rework and we do not have the correct combination of people with the right expertise x committed engineer hours available right now.
Sorry for the delay — for some reason, GitHub’s been selective about which notifications it sends to my phone and email, and this just happened to be one it skipped. I only noticed it when I logged in check something else.
Totally understand not having the engineering bandwidth right now to tackle something like this. My suggestion was more for near future consideration. A plugin system sounds great, especially if it’s easy to install for those who aren’t super technical (maybe refining the plugin manager with install/uninstall/upload options). It’d also be nice if multiple users could be assigned to each topic without much hassle.
Personally, I’m not picky about the interface as long as the temporary solution works well, I just know that this would be an "all-in" feature for me, and I would setup every single system I have to use Gotify. Ha, on the subject of temporary... I’ve got a “temporary” server that’s been sitting on the floor in the corner of my dining room for about a year now. Not ideal, but it gets the job done.