# dunst-project/dunst

Lightweight and customizable notification daemon

Repository: https://github.com/dunst-project/dunst
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dunst
Homepage: https://dunst-project.org
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: c, notification-daemon, libnotify, dbus, wayland, x11
Last push: 2026-08-11T16:52:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 63, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5474, "days_push": 22, "days_rel": 168, "gap_med": 77, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5570, forks 381 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:22.439981+00:00)

## What it is
Dunst is a lightweight, highly customizable notification daemon for Unix-like systems that implements the freedesktop notification specification over DBus. It works on both X11 and Wayland, supports rules, scripting, pause levels, and notification history, and is designed for minimal window-manager-centric setups.

## Use cases
- show desktop notifications on a minimal window manager setup
- replace the notification daemon of a full desktop environment with something lighter
- customize notification appearance with fonts, icons, colors, and timeouts
- run scripts when notifications match a pattern
- set up a do-not-disturb mode with selective pause levels
- replay missed notifications from history with a keyboard shortcut
- route notifications to a specific monitor in a multi-monitor setup

## When to choose
- you use a tiling or minimal window manager without a built-in notification daemon
- you want fine-grained control over notification look, behavior, and priority
- you need X11 and Wayland support with minimal dependencies
- you want keyboard-driven notification management and history

## When to avoid
- you are on Windows or macOS
- you want a full-featured desktop environment notification center with widgets and app integration
- you need a graphical configuration interface rather than ini config files

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: gui, developer-tools
- domain: desktop-applications, developer-tools, operating-systems
- platform: bsd, cross-platform, cli
- tags: notification-daemon, libnotify, dbus, wayland, x11, window-manager, do-not-disturb, notification-history, linux

## Member repositories
- dunst-project/dunst (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.439981+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:55:36.156543+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dunst-project/dunst (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.439981+00:00, sha 4066ae3c16cb)
  - homepage: https://dunst-project.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:42.709423+00:00, sha 42c275d5e70e)
  - site_page: https://dunst-project.org/documentation (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:42.711961+00:00, sha a15aad0f2d72)
  - site_page: https://dunst-project.org/documentation/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:42.717604+00:00, sha 65c39989cf37)
  - site_page: https://dunst-project.org/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:42.715091+00:00, sha 0afa95864ca3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.