Push notifications

Kanna can send a web push notification when a chat changes state, so you can start a long job and walk away instead of watching a spinner.

What triggers one

Three transitions, and nothing else:

Transition	Meaning
→ waiting for you	The agent asked a question or wants a plan approved
→ failed	The turn errored
running → idle	The turn finished

The done notification is held back while the chat still has work in flight — a background task, a running subagent or workflow, or an armed loop. It is sent once that work finishes and the chat is idle again, so you are not told “done” while Kanna is still working. It is also not sent after a turn you stopped yourself.

A device that is currently looking at that chat is skipped — you can already see it. This is per device, so your phone still buzzes while your laptop has the chat open. Repeats of the same transition are suppressed too, so a flapping chat cannot spam you.

Inside Kanna, without push

A chat waiting for you is also marked in two places that need no setup:

• The browser tab title. With one chat waiting it reads [N] Needs input: <chat title> · Kanna; with several, [N] 3 chats need input · Kanna. N counts every chat that needs attention, unread ones included.
• The workspace tab strip. When a chat starts waiting and has no tab, Kanna opens one in the background without taking focus from what you are reading. A tab you close while the chat is still waiting stays closed.

Enable it

Settings → General → Push notifications, then Enable on this device. Your browser will ask for permission. Use Send test to confirm delivery before relying on it.

Enablement is per device: your laptop and your phone each opt in separately, and each appears in the Devices list where you can remove any device but the one you are on.

Push requires HTTPS

Browsers refuse push over plain HTTP, so http://localhost:3210 cannot register a subscription. Run kanna --share for a Cloudflare quick tunnel, or put Kanna behind a domain with TLS, then enable from that URL.

This is also what makes push most useful — a tunnelled instance is one you can actually check from your phone.

Set the contact subject

Push services require a contact address to sign notifications with — a mailto: address or an https: URL on a routable domain (not localhost). Set your own under the same section. Leave it wrong and some push services will reject delivery outright, which looks like notifications silently not arriving.

Mute what you do not care about

Per-project mutes are the main control: a project you have a cron job hammering every five minutes does not need to reach your lock screen. Toggle projects in the same settings section. Individual chats can be muted too.

If notifications stop arriving

• Check the device is still listed. A browser can drop a push subscription; re-enable on that device.
• Check the project is not muted.
• Check the contact subject is valid — an unroutable one gets deliveries rejected by the push service, with nothing visible on Kanna’s side.
• Check that device is not just looking at the chat. A device focused on a chat is never notified about it.