> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flowfield.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Flowfield Notifications: Alerts, Updates, and Dismissal

> Understand how Flowfield notifications work, how to enable desktop alerts, manage update checks, and what dismissal means for your workflow.

Flowfield's notification system collects task-attention alerts, operation errors, and available update notices in one place. Notifications persist across browsers and restarts — everyone viewing the board sees the same notification state.

## What triggers a notification

Flowfield creates a notification whenever one of the following conditions is true:

* A task needs your attention — a question is waiting, a result is ready for review, or a worker needs intervention.
* An operation error occurred that requires your awareness.
* A newer version of Flowfield is available on PyPI.

## Persistence

Notifications are saved in the workspace database, not per-browser. Dismissals are shared across all browsers and survive service restarts. Flowfield retains the 200 most recent notification records; older records are pruned automatically as new ones arrive.

## Dismissal

<Note>
  Dismissing a notification clears the alert only. It does **not** answer a question, approve code, or change the worker queue. **Clear Notifications** dismisses the currently visible set; any newer notices that arrived after the last page load remain visible.
</Note>

## Desktop alerts

Desktop alerts are optional and are configured per browser. To enable them, click **Enable Browser Notifications** in the Notifications panel and allow the permission when your browser asks. Once enabled, Flowfield delivers desktop popups for new notifications.

Keep in mind:

* Permission is granted per browser — enabling it on one machine does not affect others.
* Delivery is best effort: Flowfield makes one attempt, shared across tabs and browsers.
* An open browser tab with the Flowfield UI is required for desktop alerts to appear.

## Update notifications

Flowfield checks PyPI for newer releases automatically and surfaces the result as a notification. The check runs:

* When the web app opens in a browser
* Hourly while the service is running
* On demand when you click **Check for Updates** in the Notifications panel, or run `flowfield update check` from the CLI

All checks share a single saved result across browsers and the CLI — there is no per-browser update state.

Stable installs see notices for stable releases only. Prerelease installs can also discover prerelease versions. Releases must be compatible with your Python version and have a matching distribution.

When an update is available, the notification links to the release notes and includes upgrade commands for both `uv` and `pip`.

**Flowfield never installs updates automatically.** You are always in control of when an upgrade happens.

To turn off automatic background checks, use the toggle in Notifications settings or start the service with `FLOWFIELD_UPDATE_CHECKS=0`:

```sh theme={null}
FLOWFIELD_UPDATE_CHECKS=0 flowfield serve
```

Manual checks remain available even when automatic checks are disabled. No project content or usage data is included in the request to PyPI — only a version check.

## CLI update commands

You can interact with the update system from the command line without opening a browser.

```sh theme={null}
flowfield update status        # read the saved check result
flowfield update check         # trigger a manual check now
flowfield update status --json # structured output
```

`update status` reads the service's shared result, or the last cached result when the service is stopped. `update check` asks the running service to perform a check immediately and waits briefly for the result. Both commands accept `--json`; human-readable notices and errors go to stderr.


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