NOTIFYD(8)

📦
version 3.12.3 · 6 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💌 NOTIFYD(8) — the Cyrus IMAP notification server, bestie edition 💌

okay so this is the manual page for notifyd, part of the Cyrus IMAP docs, and honestly? she's a whole vibe. she's the little daemon in the group chat who actually delivers the messages. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

notifyd — that's the Cyrus notification server, fr fr. she handles the notifs so other daemons don't have to. iconic behaviour honestly 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

notifyd [ -C config-file ] [ -U uses ] [ -T timeout ] [ -D ]

that's it. that's the whole summon-her incantation. ✨

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so notifyd is a daemon, meaning she's out here living her life in the background, started up from master(8). her whole job? handling notification requests on behalf of lmtpd(8). like, lmtpd slides into her DMs with a request, and notifyd takes it and actually performs the notification using whatever method the request specified. she's the one who sends the message. the main character energy is real. 👑

bestie, listen, this part is important: for notifyd to run properly you must set proto=udp in her cyrus.conf(5) services entry. the docs also recommend prefork=1. no cap, do both. 💀

notifyd reads her config options out of the imapd.conf(5) file — unless you tell her otherwise with -C.

and the notifysocket option? that's the one that specifies the Unix domain socket she listens on for notifications. that's her lil doorstep where the notifs get delivered. 🎀

💖 OPTIONS 💖

  • -C config-file — use the config file config-file instead of the default imapd.conf(5). like, "no thanks default, I brought my own." 💅
  • -U uses — the maximum number of times the process should be used for new connections before shutting down. default is 250. she's got stamina but even she has limits. 🫶
  • -T timeout — the number of seconds the process will wait for a new connection before shutting down. note that a value of 0 (zero) will disable the timeout entirely. default is 60. ⏳
  • -D — run the external debugger specified in debug_command. yes she's getting debugged. it's giving "under observation." 🔍

🌈 NOTIFICATION METHODS 🌈

these are the flavours of notif delivery. pick your fighter:

  • null — ignore the notification request entirely. ghosted. 💀
  • log — log the notification to syslog. (this one's for testing, bestie, not for the real thing.) 📝
  • mailto — email the notification. heads up: this method can ONLY be used in a Sieve 'notify' action, because it requires a mailto: URL to be specified as an :option. no mailto URL? no service. periodt. 📧
  • zephyr — send the notification as a zephyrgram. and if you're using it in a Sieve 'notify' action, you can specify additional recipients as :options. extra credits, extra recipients. ✨
  • external — send the notification via an external program. the path to that program is specified using the notify_external option in the configuration file. outsourcing, but make it classy. 🧚

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/imapd.conf
  • /etc/cyrus.conf

the two sacred texts. 💜

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

go read those too, bestie, iykyk. 📚

👑 AUTHOR 👑

The Cyrus Team, Nic Bernstein (Onlight). legends only, honestly. 🫶

1993–2026, The Cyrus Team

and that's the whole page!! tysm for reading, she ate and left no crumbs 🍓

sign-off: this darling little manual is Cyrus IMAP version 3.12.3, dated Jul 15, 2026. mwah. 💖 🌈 ✨

📦 where this page comes from