notify-run-server 0.0.5

Database

notify-run-server needs a database backend to store subscription information and notification history. By default, it uses a sqlite database called notify.sqlite in the current working directory. All database access happens through SQLAlchemy, so it is possible to replace sqlite with another supported backend like MySQL or Postgres. Note, however, that not all backends support the JSON field type, which is required by notify-run-server.

To configure the database, set the environment variable NOTIFY_DB_URL to a URI that conforms to SQLAlchemy’s URL schema. The server will create the required tables the first time it connects to the database.

Alternatively, notify-run-server can use Amazon DynamoDB as a backend. This is used for the main production deployment, notify.run. To use this option, create two DynamoDB tables for channels and messages (see serverless.yml for the schema). Then set up the Python boto package with your AWS credentials and set the NOTIFY_DB_URL with the format dynamodb:<message_table_name>:<channel_table_name>.

Server URL

By default, notify-run-server assumes that it is running at the hostname given in the HTTP request. This breaks if it is running behind a reverse proxy or similar setup. In these cases, you can set the environment variable NOTIFY_WEB_SERVER to the root URL of the server, e.g. https://notify.run/.

VAPID Configuration

The web push protocol used by notify.run uses public key encryption to authenticate subscriptions. notify-run-server includes a built-in key pair that is fine for personal use, but for public instances you should generate your own key pair (e.g. using this tool) and pass them to notify-run-server with the NOTIFY_VAPID_PRIVKEY and NOTIFY_VAPID_PUBKEY environment variables, for the private and public keys, respectively.