@nolag/notify

Real-time notifications with channels, read/unread tracking, and badge counts.

Overview

@nolag/notify delivers real-time notifications to your users with full read/unread lifecycle management. Notifications are organised into channels (logical groupings like 'alerts', 'mentions', or 'system') and each channel tracks its own unread count independently. The SDK replays up to 30 days of notification history on reconnect so users never miss an event regardless of when they were last online.

Key Features

  • Channel-based notification delivery with independent unread counts
  • 30-day notification replay so users catch up after any period offline
  • Per-notification and bulk read/unread tracking
  • Global badge counts aggregated across all subscribed channels
  • Rich notification payloads with title, body, icon, actions, and custom data
  • Automatic reconnection with channel restoration

How It Works

NoLagNotify wraps the @nolag/js-sdk client. Each channel you subscribe to creates a NotifyChannel instance that subscribes to two topics: notifications for durable notification delivery and _read for ephemeral read-receipt signals. A NotificationStore inside each channel accumulates notifications and tracks read state, while the main class aggregates badge counts across all channels.

TopicPurposeReplay
notificationsNotification payloads: title, body, icon, actions, and custom data30 days
_readRead receipt signals (ephemeral)None

Installation

npm install @nolag/notify @nolag/js-sdk

Quick Start

import { NoLagNotify } from '@nolag/notify'

// Create and connect the client
const notify = new NoLagNotify('your-access-token', {
  user: { id: 'user-123', name: 'Alice' },
})

await notify.connect()

// Subscribe to a notification channel
const channel = await notify.subscribe('alerts')

// Listen for new notifications
channel.on('notification', (n) => {
  console.log(`[${n.title}]: ${n.body}`)
  console.log('Unread:', channel.getUnread().length)
})

// Mark a specific notification as read
await channel.markRead(n.id)

// Mark everything in the channel as read
await channel.markAllRead()

// Get global badge counts across all channels
const badges = notify.getBadgeCounts()
console.log('Total unread:', badges.total)

// Mark all channels read at once
await notify.markAllRead()

notify.disconnect()

API Reference

NoLagNotify

The main class. Manages the WebSocket connection, channel subscriptions, and global badge counts.

MethodDescription
connect()Establish WebSocket connection
disconnect()Gracefully close the connection and clear all channels
subscribe(channel)Subscribe to a notification channel; returns a NotifyChannel instance
unsubscribe(channel)Unsubscribe from a channel and remove it from badge tracking
getBadgeCounts()Return unread counts for every subscribed channel plus a total aggregate
markAllRead()Mark all notifications across all subscribed channels as read

Events: NoLagNotify

EventPayloadDescription
connectednoneWebSocket connection established
disconnectedreason: stringConnection closed
reconnectednoneReconnection successful; channels are restored automatically
errorerror: ErrorUnrecoverable error occurred
notification{ channel: string, notification: Notification }A new notification arrived on any subscribed channel
badgeUpdated{ channel: string, count: number, total: number }Badge counts changed for a channel

NotifyChannel

Returned by subscribe(). Scoped to a single channel; handles notification delivery, storage, and read state.

MethodDescription
send(title, opts)Publish a notification to this channel (typically called server-side)
markRead(id)Mark a single notification as read by ID
markAllRead()Mark every notification in this channel as read
getNotifications()Return all notifications in the local store
getUnread()Return only unread notifications

Events: NotifyChannel

EventPayloadDescription
notificationNotificationA new notification arrived on this channel
read{ id: string }A notification was marked as read
readAllnoneAll notifications in this channel were marked as read
replayStart{ count: number }Historical notification replay is beginning
replayEnd{ replayed: number }Historical notification replay is complete