Frappe Notification System

Quick Reference

Decision Tree

What notification mechanism do you need?
│
├─ Email on document event (no code)?
│  └─ Notification DocType → Channel: Email
│
├─ Programmatic email with custom logic?
│  └─ frappe.sendmail() in server script or hook
│
├─ Real-time in-app notification?
│  ├─ No-code → Notification DocType → Channel: System Notification
│  └─ Programmatic → frappe.publish_realtime()
│
├─ SMS on document event?
│  └─ Notification DocType → Channel: SMS (requires SMS Settings)
│
├─ Assign document to user?
│  ├─ No-code → Assignment Rule DocType
│  └─ Programmatic → frappe.desk.form.assign_to.add()
│
├─ Recurring document creation?
│  └─ Auto Repeat DocType
│
└─ Add comment or tag?
   ├─ Comment → doc.add_comment("Comment", text="...")
   └─ Tag → doc.add_tag("tag_name")

Notification DocType

The Notification DocType enables no-code alerts across four channels.

Event Triggers

Condition Syntax

ALWAYS use Python expressions in the Condition field:

# Status-based
doc.status == "Open"

# Date-based
doc.due_date == nowdate()

# Threshold-based
doc.grand_total > 40000

# Combined
doc.status == "Overdue" and doc.grand_total > 10000

Available context: doc, nowdate(), frappe.utils.*.

Recipient Configuration

Jinja Message Template

<h3>Order Overdue</h3>
<p>Transaction {{ doc.name }} has exceeded its due date.</p>

{% if comments %}
Last comment: {{ comments[-1].comment }} by {{ comments[-1].by }}
{% endif %}

<ul>
  <li>Customer: {{ doc.customer }}</li>
  <li>Amount: {{ doc.grand_total }}</li>
</ul>

Template variables: {{ doc }}, {{ doc.fieldname }}, {{ comments }}, {{ nowdate() }}.

Attach Print

Set Attach Print to include a PDF of the document. Select a Print Format for custom layout.

frappe.sendmail(): Programmatic Email

frappe.sendmail(
    recipients=["[email protected]"],       # list of email addresses
    subject="Invoice Due",                  # email subject
    message="<p>Your invoice is due.</p>",  # HTML body
    template="invoice_reminder",            # Jinja template name (optional)
    args={"customer": "ACME"},              # template context variables
    attachments=[{"fname": "inv.pdf", "fcontent": pdf_bytes}],
    reference_doctype="Sales Invoice",      # links email to document
    reference_name="SINV-00001",
    delayed=True,                           # queue via Email Queue (default)
    now=False,                              # True = send immediately, skip queue
    sender="[email protected]",           # override sender
    cc=["[email protected]"],
    bcc=["[email protected]"],
    reply_to="[email protected]",
    expose_recipients="header",             # show recipients in email header
)

Rules:

• ALWAYS set reference_doctype and reference_name when the email relates to a document — this links the email in the document timeline.
• NEVER set now=True in production — it blocks the request. Use delayed=True (default) to queue via Email Queue.
• ALWAYS ensure an Email Account with "Enable Outgoing" is configured before calling frappe.sendmail.

Email Queue

Emails are queued in the Email Queue DocType and sent by the scheduler. Check queue status:

# Check pending emails
pending = frappe.get_all("Email Queue", filters={"status": "Not Sent"}, limit=10)

frappe.publish_realtime(): System Notifications

frappe.publish_realtime(
    event="msgprint",                      # event name
    message={"msg": "Task completed!"},    # dict payload
    user="[email protected]",               # target specific user
    doctype="Sales Invoice",               # broadcast to doctype room
    docname="SINV-00001",                  # broadcast to document room
    after_commit=True,                     # emit after transaction commits
)

Room Types

Built-in Events

ALWAYS set after_commit=True when publishing from within a database transaction — otherwise the event fires before data is committed and the client may read stale data.

Assignment Rules

Auto-assign documents to users based on conditions (no code).

Configuration Fields

Programmatic Assignment

from frappe.desk.form.assign_to import add, remove, close, clear

# Assign
add({
    "assign_to": ["[email protected]"],
    "doctype": "Task",
    "name": "TASK-00001",
    "description": "Please review this task",
    "priority": "High",
    "date": "2025-12-31",
})

# Remove assignment (cancels ToDo)
remove("Task", "TASK-00001", "[email protected]")

# Close assignment (only assignee can close)
close("Task", "TASK-00001", "[email protected]")

# Clear all assignments
clear("Task", "TASK-00001")

NEVER call close() as a different user than the assignee — it raises a permission error.

Auto Repeat

Creates recurring copies of documents on a schedule.

ALWAYS set an End Date on Auto Repeat — open-ended schedules create documents indefinitely and are difficult to debug.

ToDo API

# Create ToDo directly
todo = frappe.get_doc({
    "doctype": "ToDo",
    "allocated_to": "[email protected]",
    "assigned_by": frappe.session.user,
    "description": "Review the quarterly report",
    "priority": "Medium",
    "date": "2025-12-31",
    "status": "Open",
    "reference_type": "Task",
    "reference_name": "TASK-00001",
}).insert(ignore_permissions=True)

ToDo statuses: Open, Closed, Cancelled.

Comments and Tags

# Add comment (appears in document timeline)
doc.add_comment("Comment", text="Reviewed and approved")
doc.add_comment("Edit", "Values changed")

# Add/get tags
doc.add_tag("urgent")
tags = doc.get_tags()  # returns list of tag strings

Version Differences

See Also

• references/email-system.md — Email Account, Email Queue, Communication linking, Newsletter, Notification Log
• references/examples.md — Full notification workflow examples
• references/anti-patterns.md — Common mistakes and fixes
• references/api-reference.md — Complete API signatures
• frappe-core-database — Database operations referenced in notifications
• frappe-core-permissions — Permission model for notification access