# A notification when a chat needs you > Get a desktop notification when Claude Code or Codex finishes, asks a question or wants approval. The DIY hooks route, and what Shuriken does for you. Source: https://shuriken.sh/blog/desktop-notifications Get a desktop notification when Claude Code or Codex finishes, asks a question or wants approval. The DIY hooks route, and what Shuriken does for you. Update By Shuriken Updated 27 October 2026 3 min read **Contents** You start a big refactor, switch to email, and twenty minutes later you check back. The agent finished nineteen minutes ago. Or worse: two minutes in, it asked "may I run this command?" and has been waiting ever since. We heard this from everyone who runs more than one agent, and we lived it. So Shuriken sends a notification on your computer when a chat needs you: when it asks for approval, when it asks a question, and when it is done or stops on an error. For every project and every chat, in one place. ## The DIY route, fairly # You don't need Shuriken for a basic "done" ping. Both big CLIs can do it on their own, and if you run one agent in one terminal, this may be all you need. ### Claude Code: hooks # Claude Code has hooks: commands it runs on events. According to [Anthropic's hooks reference](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/hooks), two are useful here: - Stop runs "when Claude finishes responding". - Notification runs "when Claude Code sends a notification", with matchers such as permission_prompt and idle_prompt, so you can react to approvals and to Claude waiting on you. Point either at a notifier: osascript -e 'display notification …' or terminal-notifier on a Mac, notify-send on Linux, a PowerShell toast on Windows. A few lines in your settings file and you get a banner. ### Codex: notify # Codex has a notify setting that runs a program of your choice. [OpenAI's configuration docs](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/config-file/config-advanced) say it currently fires on agent-turn-complete, with the turn's details passed as JSON. The Codex terminal UI also has built-in notifications for finished turns and approval requests. ### Where DIY gets thin # The DIY route works per CLI, per machine. Once you run several agents across several projects, the gaps show: - each agent needs its own setup, and each computer needs it again; - a banner says "done" but not which project, which chat or which account; - clicking it doesn't take you to the chat; - at best a CLI knows whether its own terminal window has focus, not whether you are already reading that chat somewhere else. The DIY route works per CLI and per machine; Shuriken covers every chat at once. ## What Shuriken does # Every chat in Shuriken, whatever agent it runs and whichever of your computers or servers it runs on, reports to one place. So one notification system covers all of it. - Needs you: a chat asks for permission or an answer. - Chat done or failed: a chat finishes its turn, or stops on an error. - Account events: a source signs out and needs you to sign in again, a device goes offline while agents work, a device can't update, a new sign-in to your Shuriken account. - Power: the charger comes out, or the battery runs low, while agents work. Every chat that needs you, from every project, in one place. Each event can be switched on or off, with its own sound (Chime, Glass, Pop, Bell and others, or Silent). On a computer, Shuriken can also read alerts aloud. There's a Send a test button, so you know your system hasn't quietly blocked notifications. If it has, Shuriken tells you, with a button to open System Settings. Three details we are fond of: - No ping for the chat you're looking at. A desktop notification comes only when you are not on that chat. - Mute a project. A noisy experiment can stay quiet from its menu, while everything else still reaches you. - Answered elsewhere, gone everywhere. Answer a question on one device and the banner on the others is taken back. Your choices are saved to your account, so every computer you sign in to behaves the same. And notifications sit next to [Activity](https://shuriken.sh/features/activity), which shows what each chat is doing right now. That's handy when you run [many agents in parallel](https://shuriken.sh/features/parallel-agents). With Shuriken you follow and answer your agents' chats from your phone. [Try Shuriken](https://shuriken.sh/) ## On your phone # Today, your phone uses Shuriken's web app, at app.shuriken.sh in any browser, and you can add it to your home screen. Open it and every chat, the queue and its questions are there, so you can answer an approval from the bus. Installed to your home screen, the web app already gets account alerts as pushes: a device offline, a server that can't update, a source that was signed out, a new sign-in. What it doesn't promise yet is a push when a chat needs you. That comes with the native iOS and Android apps, which we are building from scratch and plan to ship in November 2026. Until then, the [phone page](https://shuriken.sh/features/phone) shows what works today, and our guide to [Claude Code notifications on your phone](https://shuriken.sh/guides/claude-code-notifications-on-your-phone) covers the options, ours and others. If your agents spend more time waiting for you than working, [try Shuriken](https://shuriken.sh/) and let them tap you on the shoulder. Share [X](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshuriken.sh%2Fblog%2Fdesktop-notifications&text=A%20notification%20when%20a%20chat%20needs%20you)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshuriken.sh%2Fblog%2Fdesktop-notifications)[Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshuriken.sh%2Fblog%2Fdesktop-notifications&t=A%20notification%20when%20a%20chat%20needs%20you)[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshuriken.sh%2Fblog%2Fdesktop-notifications&title=A%20notification%20when%20a%20chat%20needs%20you)[E-mail](mailto:?subject=A%20notification%20when%20a%20chat%20needs%20you&body=https%3A%2F%2Fshuriken.sh%2Fblog%2Fdesktop-notifications) ## Sources - [Claude Code docs: Hooks reference](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/hooks) (accessed 22 October 2026) - [Codex docs: Advanced configuration (notify)](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/config-file/config-advanced) (accessed 22 October 2026) ## Frequently asked questions **Can Claude Code send a desktop notification when it finishes?** Yes, with hooks. A Stop hook runs when Claude finishes responding and a Notification hook runs when Claude Code sends a notification, and either can call a notifier command. **Does Shuriken notify me for chats I am looking at?** No. A desktop notification comes only when you are not looking at that chat, so the chat in front of you stays quiet. **Can I turn notifications off for one project?** Yes. Mute notifications from the project's menu or its settings, and its chats stay quiet. **Do I get push notifications on my phone?** For account alerts, yes: the installed web app gets a push when a device goes offline, a server can't update, a source is signed out or someone signs in. Pushes for chats that need you come with the native iOS and Android apps, planned for November 2026. On your phone Your agents in your pocket. Follow every chat from your phone: the queue, the changes and your voice, end-to-end encrypted. [Try Shuriken](https://shuriken.sh/) [How it works](https://shuriken.sh/features/phone) ## Keep reading - [Your agents on your phone, from the browser: Update 27 Oct 2026 4 min read Open app.shuriken.sh in any phone browser and add it to your home screen: every chat, the queue, Changes and voice. Browsers never count as devices.](https://shuriken.sh/blog/phone-web-app) - [We're building native iOS and Android apps: Planned 27 Oct 2026 3 min read Two native phone apps for Shuriken, iPhone and Android, are planned for November 2026. Until then, phones use the web app at app.shuriken.sh.](https://shuriken.sh/blog/native-ios-android-apps) - [How to run Claude Code from your phone (2026): Guide 27 Oct 2026 6 min read Four ways to drive Claude Code from a phone: Anthropic's Remote Control, the Happy app, SSH with tmux, or a harness. What each needs and what it can't do.](https://shuriken.sh/guides/run-claude-code-from-your-phone) - [Remote Control vs Happy Coder vs Shuriken: Comparison 27 Oct 2026 6 min read Claude Code's Remote Control, Happy Coder and Shuriken all put coding agents on your phone. What each covers, what it costs, and where it falls short.](https://shuriken.sh/compare/claude-remote-control-vs-happy-coder) - [Codex remote control: run Codex from your phone: Guide 27 Oct 2026 7 min read Codex remote control runs through the ChatGPT mobile app and a paired Mac or Windows PC. Linux works only as an SSH host; the CLI command is experimental.](https://shuriken.sh/guides/codex-remote-control-from-phone) - [Remote control for coding agents compared (2026): Comparison 27 Oct 2026 9 min read Remote control for coding agents in 2026: Claude Code, Codex and Copilot CLI steer from a phone, OpenCode serves a web UI, and Gemini CLI has none.](https://shuriken.sh/compare/coding-agent-remote-control-compared) - [Shuriken vs Claude Code Desktop (2026): Comparison 27 Oct 2026 5 min read Anthropic's desktop app is official and comes with your plan. Shuriken runs the same Claude Code CLI and adds several accounts, other agents and servers.](https://shuriken.sh/compare/claude-code-desktop) - [Claude Code on Android with Termux: what works: Guide 27 Oct 2026 7 min read Claude Code broke on plain Termux in April 2026: it became a glibc binary Android can't run. Ubuntu in proot-distro works; a remote computer works better.](https://shuriken.sh/guides/claude-code-android-termux) ## Free tools - [Claude limit reset tracker](https://shuriken.sh/tools/limit-resets/claude) - [Codex limit reset tracker](https://shuriken.sh/tools/limit-resets/codex)