A simple cross-platform command-line notification tool ⏰🔔, plus a lightweight single-header library notify.h for integration in your own projects.

• Desktop notifications
• Timed reminders with flexible duration syntax
• Optional audio playback (custom file or system bell)
• Cross-platform:
  • Linux (via notify-send)
  • macOS (via osascript)
  • Windows (via MessageBox)

Perfect for break timers, lightweight reminders, or automating alerts directly from the terminal.

gcc build.c -o build
./build

# Example output:
CMD: mkdir bin
CMD: gcc -O2 main.c -o bin/notify
MSG: Saved binary to './bin'

This compiles notify and saves the binary to the bin/ folder.

# Notify in 45 minutes
./bin/notify 45m "Rest, it is time to rest my friend."

NOTE: Quotes around the message are optional.

# Notify in 1 hour 5 minutes and play audio.wav
./bin/notify audio.wav 1h5m "Rest, it is time to rest my friend."

• Supports s (seconds), m (minutes), h (hours), or combinations:
  • 1h5m15s
  • 90m
  • 45s

• Message → displayed in a native notification popup.
• Audio file → plays if provided (.wav recommended).
• No file found → falls back to system bell sound.

For easier access, copy the binary into your $PATH:

sudo cp bin/notify /usr/local/bin/

Now you can simply run:

notify 30m "Stretch your legs!"

This project also includes notify.h — a single-header library for embedding notifications in your own C projects.

/**
 * Cross-platform notification function. Uses system notification center to push messages.
 * @param source notification source. Default: "App".
 * @param title title of notification. Default: "Notification".
 * @param message notification description. Default: "".
 * @returns 0 on success, -1 on failure
 */
extern int ntf_notify(const char *source, const char *title, const char *message);

/**
 * Cross-platform bell function that plays system notification sound or custom WAV file.
 * @param audio_file Path to WAV audio file. If NULL or file doesn't exist, plays default system bell.
 * @returns 0 on success, -1 on failure
 */
extern int ntf_beep(const char *audio_file);

👉 Command-line utility source code is in main.c.

MIT.