📄 Concepts

What is NotificationAPI exactly?

It is a managed service that removes a lot of your notification-related tasks:

• Send Emails, SMS, in-app, and more in a single API without third-party services
• Handle server-side notification logic: per-user notification preferences, throttling, etc.
• Handle client-side logic: live notifications (websockets), permissions, in-app, etc.
• Manage and host notification templates, user preferences, tokens
• Handle compliance (Google Bulk Sender, 10DLC, etc.)

Detailed Flow by Channel

Each notification channel has its own unique flow and requirements. Select a channel below to see exactly how NotificationAPI handles the complexity for you:

Simple API, Complex Infrastructure

Despite all this behind-the-scenes complexity, your integration remains simple:

notificationapi.send({
  type: 'welcome',
  to: {
    email: 'user@example.com',
    number: '+15005550006'
  },
  parameters: {
    name: 'John Doe',
    message: 'Hello world!'
  }
});

This single API call triggers all the sophisticated flows shown above, automatically handling templating, user preferences, compliance, delivery optimization, and tracking.

Step-by-step: Send your first notification

1. Design your notification template

In the NotificationAPI dashboard:

• Create a new notification template
• Choose your channels (email, SMS, in-app, etc.)
• Design your content using our visual editors
• Set up user preferences and delivery options

2. Install the SDK

Choose your preferred SDK and install it in your project:

# Node.js
npm install @notificationapi/node

# Python
pip install notificationapi

# PHP
composer require notificationapi/notificationapi

# Or use our REST API directly

3. Configure and send

Initialize the client with your credentials and send your first notification:

import NotificationAPI from '@notificationapi/node';

const notificationapi = new NotificationAPI({
  clientId: 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID',
  clientSecret: 'YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET'
});

// Send the notification
await notificationapi.send({
  type: 'welcome', // matches your template ID
  to: {
    email: 'user@example.com'
  }
});

4. Add in-app notifications (optional)

For web applications, add our React component to display in-app notifications:

import {
  NotificationAPIProvider,
  NotificationPopup
} from '@notificationapi/react';

function App() {
  return (
    <NotificationAPIProvider userId="user-123" clientId="YOUR_CLIENT_ID">
      <NotificationPopup />
      {/* Your app content */}
    </NotificationAPIProvider>
  );
}

5. Monitor and optimize

Use the dashboard to:

• Track delivery rates and engagement
• View detailed logs for debugging
• Analyze user preferences and behavior
• Set up webhooks for real-time events

Perfect for these use cases

NotificationAPI works especially well for product notifications like:

• User onboarding (welcome sequences, tutorials)
• Activity alerts (comments, mentions, updates)
• System notifications (security alerts, maintenance)
• Workflow updates (approvals, status changes)
• Transaction confirmations (payments, orders)

Next steps

Ready to implement notifications in your app?

1. Send your first notification →
2. Add in-app notifications →
3. Set up user preferences →