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push API methods

Subscribe to and receive push notifications when a server-side notification is received, via the Web Push API

Last modified Sun Dec 18, 2022
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About the Web Push API

Mastodon natively supports the Web Push API. You can utilize the same mechanisms for your native app. It requires running a proxy server that connects to Android’s and Apple’s proprietary notification gateways. However, the proxy server does not have access to the contents of the notifications. For a reference, see Mozilla’s web push server, or more practically, see:

Subscribe to push notifications 

POST /api/v1/push/subscription HTTP/1.1

Add a Web Push API subscription to receive notifications. Each access token can have one push subscription. If you create a new subscription, the old subscription is deleted.

Returns: WebPushSubscription
OAuth: User token + push
Version history:
2.4.0 - added
3.3.0 - added data[alerts][status]
3.4.0 - added data[policy]
3.5.0 - added data[alerts][update] and data[alerts][admin.sign_up]
4.0.0 - added data[alerts][admin.report]

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user token> to gain authorized access to this API method.
Form data parameters
subscription[endpoint]
required String. The endpoint URL that is called when a notification event occurs.
subscription[keys][p256dh]
required String. User agent public key. Base64 encoded string of a public key from a ECDH keypair using the prime256v1 curve.
subscription[keys][auth]
required String. Auth secret. Base64 encoded string of 16 bytes of random data.
data[alerts][mention]
Boolean. Receive mention notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][status]
Boolean. Receive new subscribed account notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][reblog]
Boolean. Receive reblog notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][follow]
Boolean. Receive follow notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][follow_request]
Boolean. Receive follow request notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][favourite]
Boolean. Receive favourite notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][poll]
Boolean. Receive poll notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][update]
Boolean. Receive status edited notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][admin.sign_up]
Boolean. Receive new user signup notifications? Defaults to false. Must have a role with the appropriate permissions.
data[alerts][admin.report]
Boolean. Receive new report notifications? Defaults to false. Must have a role with the appropriate permissions.
data[policy]
String. Specify whether to receive push notifications from all, followed, follower, or none users.

Response

200: OK

A new PushSubscription has been generated, which will send the requested alerts to your endpoint.

{
  "id": 328183,
  "endpoint": "https://yourdomain.example/listener",
  "alerts": {
    "follow": true,
    "favourite": true,
    "reblog": true,
    "mention": true,
    "poll": true
  },
  "server_key": "BCk-QqERU0q-CfYZjcuB6lnyyOYfJ2AifKqfeGIm7Z-HiTU5T9eTG5GxVA0_OH5mMlI4UkkDTpaZwozy0TzdZ2M="
}
401: Unauthorized

Invalid or missing Authorization header.

{
  "error": "The access token is invalid"
}

Get current subscription 

GET /api/v1/push/subscription HTTP/1.1

View the PushSubscription currently associated with this access token.

Returns: WebPushSubscription
OAuth: User token + push
Version history:
2.4.0 - added

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user token> to gain authorized access to this API method.

Response

200: OK 
{
  "id": 328183,
  "endpoint": "https://yourdomain.example/listener",
  "alerts": {
    "follow": true,
    "favourite": true,
    "reblog": true,
    "mention": true,
    "poll": true
  },
  "server_key": "BCk-QqERU0q-CfYZjcuB6lnyyOYfJ2AifKqfeGIm7Z-HiTU5T9eTG5GxVA0_OH5mMlI4UkkDTpaZwozy0TzdZ2M="
}
401: Unauthorized

Invalid or missing Authorization header.

{
  "error": "The access token is invalid"
}
404: Not found

A PushSubscription does not exist for this token.

{
  "error": "Record not found"
}

Change types of notifications 

PUT /api/v1/push/subscription HTTP/1.1

Updates the current push subscription. Only the data part can be updated. To change fundamentals, a new subscription must be created instead.

Returns: WebPushSubscription
OAuth: User token + push
Version history:
2.4.0 - added
3.3.0 - added data[alerts][status]
3.4.0 - added policy
3.5.0 - added data[alerts][update] and data[alerts][admin.sign_up]
4.0.0 - added data[alerts][admin.report]

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user token> to gain authorized access to this API method.
Form data parameters
data[alerts][mention]
Boolean. Receive mention notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][status]
Boolean. Receive new subscribed account notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][reblog]
Boolean. Receive reblog notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][follow]
Boolean. Receive follow notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][follow_request]
Boolean. Receive follow request notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][favourite]
Boolean. Receive favourite notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][poll]
Boolean. Receive poll notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][update]
Boolean. Receive status edited notifications? Defaults to false.
data[alerts][admin.sign_up]
Boolean. Receive new user signup notifications? Defaults to false. Must have a role with the appropriate permissions.
data[alerts][admin.report]
Boolean. Receive new report notifications? Defaults to false. Must have a role with the appropriate permissions.
policy
String. Specify whether to receive push notifications from all, followed, follower, or none users.

Response

200: OK

Updating a PushSubscription to only receive mention alerts

{
  "id": 328183,
  "endpoint": "https://yourdomain.example/listener",
  "alerts": {
    "follow": false,
    "favourite": false,
    "reblog": false,
    "mention": true,
    "poll": false
  },
  "server_key": "BCk-QqERU0q-CfYZjcuB6lnyyOYfJ2AifKqfeGIm7Z-HiTU5T9eTG5GxVA0_OH5mMlI4UkkDTpaZwozy0TzdZ2M="
}
401: Unauthorized

Invalid or missing Authorization header.

{
  "error": "The access token is invalid"
}
404: Not found

No existing PushSubscription for this token

{
  "error": "Record not found"
}

Remove current subscription 

DELETE /api/v1/push/subscription HTTP/1.1

Removes the current Web Push API subscription.

Returns: none
OAuth: User token + push
Version history:
2.4.0 - added

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user token> to gain authorized access to this API method.

Response

200: OK

PushSubscription successfully deleted or did not exist previously

{}
401: Unauthorized

Invalid or missing Authorization header.

{
  "error": "The access token is invalid"
}

See also

app/controllers/api/v1/push/subscriptions_controller.rb