Feature Request: System notifications when Claude needs attention or completes tasks

Status Fixed / completed

Maintainer reply None cached

Activity 8 comments · opened Feb 18, 2026 · closed Aug 17, 2026

Summary

As a user working on multiple tasks, I would like to receive system-level notifications (VSCode notifications or terminal notifications) when Claude Code needs my attention or completes a task, similar to how GitHub Copilot provides notifications.

Use Case

When I ask Claude to perform a long-running task or multiple tasks, I often switch to other work. Currently, there's no way for me to know when:

Claude has completed all tasks
Claude needs my approval (e.g., for DELETE/UPDATE/INSERT queries)
Claude is blocked and waiting for my input
Claude has encountered an error that requires my attention

Proposed Solution

Add notification support that can:

Send VSCode notifications when Claude needs attention or completes tasks
Send terminal/system notifications when running in terminal mode
Allow users to configure notification preferences (e.g., only on completion, only when blocked, etc.)

Expected Behavior

Similar to GitHub Copilot's notification system, users should receive unobtrusive notifications that:

Appear in the VSCode notification area or system tray
Can be clicked to jump back to the Claude Code conversation
Can be configured or disabled in settings

Current Workaround

Currently, users must actively monitor the conversation to know when Claude needs attention, which reduces productivity when multitasking.

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Would love to see this feature to improve the workflow when working with Claude Code on complex, multi-step tasks!

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6 Comments

andyuninvited · 6 months ago

Here's a simple option, ready in 5 min. I built this because I wanted the same thing: C3Poh - a Telegram comms bridge for Claude Code. Your agent DMs you when it's done (or when something goes wrong), and you can DM it back to kick off new tasks.

Security first! Pure stdlib Python, no inbound ports (long-polling), allowlist-based access control so only you can reach it. Community channel if you run into anything or have more ideas: t.me/tinmanc3poh

addemod · 5 months ago

+1 on this. Tried to add a hook that runs a simple powershell script that triggers a notification, but looks like the vscode extension doesn't register the hooks.

janpaepke · 5 months ago

Different approach to the same problem: I built haunt, a Ghostty tab switcher that detects Claude Code's working/idle state from the terminal title prefixes. It shows a dim indicator while Claude is working and highlights the tab when it transitions to idle (needs your input). There's also a --next command you can bind to a hotkey to jump straight to whichever session needs attention.

It's Ghostty-specific and macOS-only, so it won't help everyone — but if that's your setup it solves this without needing external notification services.

mayerwin · 4 months ago

The DELETE/UPDATE/INSERT case is the one that bit me enough times to write an extension for it. A destructive-op approval is exactly when you want a clear, different-sounding cue, not a generic bell.

AI Agent Sound Notification splits the two events: one sound for "Claude needs authorization", a different sound for "Claude finished its turn". It uses the PermissionRequest hook for the first, Stop/UserPromptSubmit/PostToolUse for the second, and tails the session transcript to also catch manually-rejected permission prompts.

Free and open source. Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mayerwin.ai-agent-sound-notification. Repo: https://github.com/mayerwin/AI-Agent-Sound-Notification. Happy to take feedback or bug reports.

bennycode · 4 months ago

The easiest workaround is using Masko or adding a Claude Hook in .claude/settings.json that plays a sound:

  {
    "hooks": {
      "Stop": [
        {
          "hooks": [
            {
              "type": "command",
              "command": "say –\"done\""
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }

tristan666666 · 2 months ago

For macOS users, this is exactly the gap I was trying to close with Agent Island:
https://github.com/tristan666666/agent-island

It does not patch Claude Code itself. It sits in the MacBook notch and tracks Claude/Codex sessions as an ambient status layer:

running -> logo breathes
done / waiting for you -> logo spins
stuck / interrupted -> logo turns red + beeps

I also added an auto-resume path for selected long-running sessions: when the session can continue after the reset window, it can send a small "continue" / "OK" message to the chosen Claude/Codex thread.

Open source macOS app, forked from Codex Island. Sharing here because this issue is basically the workflow that made me build it.

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