| name | macos-branded-notifications |
| description | Send branded macOS notifications with custom app icon using terminal-notifier. Use when implementing native Notification Center integration with custom branding. |
macOS Branded Notifications
Send native macOS notifications that display your app's custom icon instead of a generic Terminal icon.
Architecture
YourApp.app/
├── Contents/
│ ├── Info.plist # App bundle metadata
│ └── Resources/
│ ├── AppIcon.icns # Your app icon (required)
│ ├── success.png # Optional content images
│ └── failure.png
Implementation Steps
1. Create App Bundle Structure
mkdir -p YourApp.app/Contents/{MacOS,Resources}
2. Create Info.plist
Key fields:
CFBundleIdentifier: Unique reverse-domain identifier (used with -sender flag)CFBundleIconFile: Name of .icns file (without extension)LSUIElement: true hides app from Dock (background app)
3. Generate App Icon (.icns)
mkdir -p AppIcon.iconset
sips -z 16 16 icon.png --out AppIcon.iconset/icon_16x16.png
sips -z 32 32 icon.png --out AppIcon.iconset/icon_16x16@2x.png
iconutil -c icns AppIcon.iconset -o YourApp.app/Contents/Resources/AppIcon.icns
rm -rf AppIcon.iconset
4. Register with Launch Services
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -f /path/to/YourApp.app
5. Send Notifications
brew install terminal-notifier
terminal-notifier \
-title "Your Title" \
-message "Your message" \
-sender com.yourcompany.yourapp \
-sound default
6. Enable Notifications (REQUIRED!)
- Open System Settings > Notifications
- Find your app in the list
- Toggle Allow notifications ON
Troubleshooting
- Generic icon: Re-register app with
lsregister -f, then killall NotificationCenter
- Not appearing: Enable notifications in System Settings for the app
- Icon cache:
sudo rm -rf /Library/Caches/com.apple.iconservices.store && killall Finder
- Content images: Use
file:// URL format with -contentImage flag
