Set up notifications
Notifications help you return when work needs attention. Personal push settings control alerts to your devices; squad notification settings send selected work updates to Slack, Discord, or Telegram.
Enable browser notifications
Section titled “Enable browser notifications”- Open Settings → Personal → Notifications in the browser you want to receive alerts on.
- Under Push Notifications, choose Enable beside Enable notifications on this device.
- Allow notifications in the browser prompt. Confirm Tau reports that this device will receive push notifications.
- Under Notification preferences, keep the account’s Push notifications switch enabled and choose the events under Notify me about.
Repeat device registration in each browser you use. The account preference applies across your devices, while the device control enables or disables only that subscription. Use Registered Devices → Remove to remove an old browser.
If the browser reports that permission is denied, change its notification permission for this Tau site in browser settings, then return to Tau. If it says push is unsupported, use a supported browser or another notification channel.
Choose how much an alert reveals
Section titled “Choose how much an alert reveals”By default, device alerts include work titles and question or message previews. Live Activity rows also show work titles.
Turn off Show work titles and message previews in your personal notification settings to conceal those details. Alerts then describe only the event and work number, such as Work #42 needs your answer, and Live Activity rows use the work number instead of the title. Open Tau to read the details.
In the mobile app, this switch is in Settings. The preference applies to your account on that Tau instance across devices. While enabled, preview text is sent through the configured delivery service (including the Tau relay, when used) and Apple or your browser’s push service, and may appear on your lock screen. Squad updates to connected chat channels follow their own notification settings.
Choose which work alerts you
Section titled “Choose which work alerts you”The categories in your personal settings decide which KINDS of alert your devices accept. Which squads and work streams reach you at all is set on each squad and work stream, using the attention control in its header: Decisions (questions, reviews, and blockers) and Progress (active work and completions), each at Notify, Show, or Mute.
Only Notify sends an inbox message and a device alert. Show keeps the work visible in the Feed and Needs you without alerting, and Mute removes it from those lists for you. Both filters apply: a muted category stays silent even where you chose Notify.
Check instance delivery
Section titled “Check instance delivery”An enabled device subscription also needs instance-level delivery configuration.
If device registration succeeds but alerts never arrive, ask your instance administrator to check Settings → Integrations → Web Push. Delivery must be enabled for the instance. Managed Apple Push credentials, when present, are controlled by Cloud rather than editable in your tenant settings.
As an administrator, enable Settings → Integrations → Web Push and save a
valid Contact address, using a mailto: address or HTTPS URL. Tau manages
the browser push signing keys. Use HTTPS for your public instance and then
register the browser device above.
For a native iOS app deployment, Apple Push needs the APNs .p8 signing key,
key ID, team ID, and matching app bundle ID. Browser notifications use Web Push
and do not require Apple Push configuration.
Alerts are sent to eligible recipients, not every user of the instance. For example, a question goes to its designated attention recipients. Muting an event or disabling your account push switch stops that event’s personal alerts even if the device remains registered.
Send squad updates to chat
Section titled “Send squad updates to chat”First connect a chat channel and verify that its bot can reply. Then open the squad’s Settings → Notifications:
- Choose the provider’s channel instance.
- Enter the destination Channel ID for Slack or Discord, or Chat ID for Telegram.
- Choose Save Changes.
You can also subscribe from the target chat after linking your account (or trusting the channel). The squad must be the one routed to that chat:
/tau notify <squad-name>Use /tau unnotify <squad-name> to unsubscribe, or choose Clear for that
provider in the squad’s notification settings and save.
Instance notification rules determine which events are sent. Configuring a destination does not turn every event into a chat message. The bundled rules include selected completion, review, and failure updates; blocked events require an explicit rule for external delivery. Administrators manage this in Settings → Notification Rules.
Adjust sound and troubleshoot
Section titled “Adjust sound and troubleshoot”Notification Sounds → Play sound when done controls the ping when an agent or chat finishes responding. It is separate from browser push registration.
For a missing alert, check the destination, instance integration switch, your personal preferences, and browser or operating-system notification permissions. For a chat destination, also check bot membership and the squad’s selected channel instance. Notifications link back to work in Tau; you can always return to the assistant to inspect progress directly.