# 04.01.2026 - Tips/Claude Code Notifications on macOS

When Claude Code needs your attention — whether it's waiting on a permission request, finished a long task, or just has something to tell you — it's easy to miss if you've switched to another window. Here's how to wire up native macOS notifications so you never have to babysit the terminal again.

## The notification script

Save this script to `~/.claude/notify.sh`:

```bash
#!/bin/bash
TITLE="$1"
MESSAGE="$2"

# Check env var first (works if Claude was launched from the shell directly)
if [ "$TERM_PROGRAM" = "vscode" ]; then
  APP="com.microsoft.VSCode"
elif [ "$TERM_PROGRAM" = "WezTerm" ]; then
  APP="com.github.wez.wezterm"
elif [ "$TERM_PROGRAM" = "iTerm.app" ]; then
  APP="com.googlecode.iterm2"
else
  # Walk up the full ancestor chain, not just $PPID
  APP="com.apple.Terminal"  # default
  PID=$$
  for _ in $(seq 1 10); do
    PID=$(ps -p "$PID" -o ppid= 2>/dev/null | tr -d ' ')
    [ -z "$PID" ] || [ "$PID" -le 1 ] && break
    PROC=$(ps -p "$PID" -o comm= 2>/dev/null | xargs basename 2>/dev/null)
    case "$PROC" in
      *Code*)       APP="com.microsoft.VSCode";     break ;;
      *wezterm*)    APP="com.github.wez.wezterm";   break ;;
      *iTerm*)      APP="com.googlecode.iterm2";    break ;;
      *Warp*)       APP="dev.warp.Warp-Stable";     break ;;
      *Alacritty*)  APP="io.alacritty";             break ;;
      *kitty*)      APP="net.kovidgoyal.kitty";     break ;;
    esac
  done
fi

terminal-notifier -title "$TITLE" -message "$MESSAGE" -activate "$APP"
```

The script detects which terminal emulator launched Claude Code — first by checking `$TERM_PROGRAM`, then by walking up the process ancestry — so that clicking a notification focuses the right app. Make it executable:

```bash
chmod +x ~/.claude/notify.sh
```

You'll also need [terminal-notifier](https://github.com/julienXX/terminal-notifier) if you don't have it:

```bash
brew install terminal-notifier
```

## Hooking into Claude Code events

Add the following to your `~/.claude/settings.json` under the `hooks` key:

```json
"hooks": {
  "PermissionRequest": [
    {
      "matcher": "",
      "hooks": [
        {
          "type": "command",
          "command": "bash $HOME/.claude/notify.sh \"🔔 Claude Code\" \"Claude needs your input\""
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "Notification": [
    {
      "matcher": "",
      "hooks": [
        {
          "type": "command",
          "command": "bash $HOME/.claude/notify.sh \"🔔 Claude Code\" \"Claude needs your attention\""
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "Stop": [
    {
      "matcher": "",
      "hooks": [
        {
          "type": "command",
          "command": "bash $HOME/.claude/notify.sh \"✅ Claude Code\" \"Task completed\""
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

Three events are covered: `PermissionRequest` fires when Claude is blocked waiting for you to approve a tool call, `Notification` catches any other attention-needed signal, and `Stop` lets you know when the task is fully done. Now you can freely switch away while Claude works and get a tap on the shoulder the moment something needs you.
