github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy

ntfy is a straightforward push notification server that works well for self-hosted notification infrastructure. The HTTP API is clean and the Go client library follows sensible patterns. TLS configuration is solid out-of-the-box with modern cipher suites, and the default server setup enforces HTTPS properly when configured.

Authentication can get tricky in production. The library supports token-based auth and ACLs, but the permission model requires careful planning—easy to misconfigure topic access controls. Input validation is generally robust with proper URL sanitization and message length limits, though custom attachment handling needs extra scrutiny. Error messages are appropriately vague to external clients while logging detailed info server-side, which is the right approach.

The dependency chain is lean for a Go project, mostly standard library with a few well-maintained dependencies like gorilla/websocket and mattn/go-sqlite3. CVE response has been reasonable when issues arise. The biggest security gotcha is that default installations allow anonymous publishing unless you explicitly configure auth, which catches teams off-guard in production.

Using ntfy as a Go library rather than just the standalone server reveals some operational gaps. The client implementation is straightforward for basic pub/sub patterns, but lacks sophisticated connection pooling and resource management you'd expect for production use. HTTP connections aren't explicitly pooled with tunable parameters, and there's minimal control over underlying transport settings like keepalives or connection limits.

Error handling is basic - you get errors back but without rich context for distinguishing transient failures from permanent ones, making retry logic your responsibility. Timeout configuration exists but isn't granular (no separate dial/read/write timeouts). The library doesn't provide built-in circuit breaking or backoff strategies. Observability is limited - no structured logging hooks or metrics exports, so instrumenting for production monitoring requires wrapping the client.

For simple notification workflows it works fine, but scaling to high-throughput scenarios or building reliable production systems requires significant wrapper code. The server itself is solid, but treating this as a library dependency for critical paths needs careful evaluation.

The ntfy Go package provides a clean client library for publishing push notifications to ntfy servers. The API is minimal and intuitive - you create a publisher, specify a topic, and send messages. The core `Publish()` method is well-designed with functional options pattern for adding features like priorities, tags, and actions without overwhelming the basic use case.

In practice, error handling is straightforward with standard Go idioms. The package returns clear errors when topics are invalid or servers are unreachable. Authentication support works seamlessly with both tokens and basic auth. The biggest win is how quickly you can integrate it - literally 5 lines of code to send your first notification.

The main limitation is sparse documentation within the package itself. While the ntfy server documentation is excellent, the Go package relies heavily on reading example code and method signatures. IDE autocomplete helps, but you'll find yourself referencing the main ntfy docs frequently to understand available message options and server capabilities.