GitHub - abishekvenkat/drrdrr: Free, no app, no db, CLI > Phone Notifications

2 min read Original article ↗

Minimal personal PWA + Web Push bridge for sending notifications from a terminal to an installed mobile web app, with no server-side database.

Demo

side_by_side.mp4

How it works

  1. The installed PWA subscribes the phone to Web Push.
  2. You copy the subscription JSON from the phone and save it on your Mac.
  3. POST /v1/:VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY sends a message and that subscription to Web Push.
  4. The service worker shows the notification and stores it locally in IndexedDB with a timestamp.

Local development

  1. Generate VAPID keys:

    npx web-push generate-vapid-keys

  2. Create .env.local from .env.example.

  3. Set a strong API_TOKEN for send requests.

  4. Install dependencies:

  5. Run with Vercel dev:

Deploy

  1. Import this folder into Vercel.
  2. Add the same environment variables in Vercel project settings.
  3. Deploy.
  4. Open the deployed URL on iPhone Safari.
  5. Use Share -> Add to Home Screen.
  6. Launch the installed app and tap Enable Push.
  7. Tap Copy Subscription JSON and save that JSON on your Mac as subscription.json.

The app uses the provided drricon-light PNG/SVG assets for the manifest, home screen icon, and notification icon.

Send a notification

DRRDRR_BASE_URL=https://drrdrr.vercel.app \
DRRDRR_VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=YOUR_VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY \
DRRDRR_API_TOKEN=YOUR_API_TOKEN \
DRRDRR_SUBSCRIPTION_FILE=./subscription.json \
node scripts/push.mjs "Hello from Node"

Notes

  • On iOS, Web Push requires iOS 16.4+ and an installed Home Screen web app.
  • The send API now requires both the public VAPID key in the path and a private bearer token in the Authorization header.
  • The server is stateless. If the phone's push subscription changes, copy the new subscription JSON back to your Mac.