Show desktop notifications from apps as popups on a Wayland desktop.
Good to know
Needs a compositor with the layer-shell protocol, such as Sway or Hyprland.
mako
A lightweight notification daemon for Wayland
Unclaimed
Built by @emersion on GitHub. This page was written by @iluxav from public sources, last updated for v1.11.0 (2026-03-26), and may lag behind new releases.
Maintain mako? Claim itShow desktop notifications on Wayland, style them per app or urgency, keep a history, and dismiss or act on them from the command line.
What you can do with it
Style or hide notifications differently by app, urgency or other fields.
Group notifications that share fields, such as the same app, into one popup.
Show app icons and images sent with notifications.
Good to know
Needs gdk-pixbuf at build time.
Dismiss notifications, list them, invoke their actions and reload the config from the command line.
Load the configuration from a file you choose.
Restore notifications that expired or were dismissed.
Choose what left, middle and right clicks or a touch do on a notification.
Show all 11
Switch between modes such as do-not-disturb that change or hide notifications.
Replace a script's previous notification instead of stacking a new one, such as a volume indicator.
Include other config files from the main config.
Good to know
The path must be absolute or start with ~/.
Before you upgrade
Newest firstv1.10.02025-03-16
makoctl list and history now print human-readable text; scripts that parsed their JSON must call busctl directly instead.
Read the evidence
v1.10.02025-03-16
makoctl set-mode no longer exists; use makoctl mode -s <name>.
v1.7.12022-07-06
makoctl set-mode <name> is deprecated; use makoctl mode -s <name>.
v1.52021-05-03
Command-line style flags such as --font or --anchor are replaced by --key=value, equivalent to a key=value line in the config.
Release history 9
v1.11.02026-03-26
Get the notification list and history as JSON again for scripts.
Details
makoctl list -j and makoctl history -j print JSON. New Notifications D-Bus property with a change signal. Ships an OpenRC user init script.
Also: The '(n more)' notification now respects invisible=1; several crash fixes.
v1.11.0.
Improved: Dismiss notifications, list them, invoke their acti…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.10.02025-03-16
Split the mako config into several files with include.
Details
New include=<path> directive, per-edge border-size, icon-border-radius. makoctl was rewritten in C: list and history now print human-readable text instead of JSON, and busctl and jq are no longer needed. makoctl set-mode is gone. New Modes D-Bus property.
v1.10.0.
Added: Include other config files from the main config.Improved: Show desktop notifications from apps as popups on a…Action required: Dismiss notifications, list them, invoke their acti…Action required / inferred: Switch between modes such as do-not-disturb that ch…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.9.02024-05-12
Toggle do-not-disturb with one command bound to a key.
Details
makoctl mode -t <name> toggles a mode. makoctl dismiss --no-history (and the dismiss --no-history binding action) skips history. Supports the cursor-shape-v1 protocol.
v1.9.0; building needs wayland-scanner 1.14.91 or newer.
Improved: Switch between modes such as do-not-disturb that ch…Improved: Restore notifications that expired or were dismisse…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.8.02023-06-01
List the notifications you already dismissed from the command line.
Details
New makoctl history. makoctl invoke takes an action name, and makoctl list shows desktop-entry and urgency.
v1.8.0.
Improved: Restore notifications that expired or were dismisse…Improved: Dismiss notifications, list them, invoke their acti…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.7.12022-07-06
Keep several modes active at once and add or remove them one by one.
Correction: Only the makoctl set-mode command was deprecated (removed in v1.10.0); modes and do-not-disturb remain supported through makoctl mode.
Correction: Retyped from deprecated: only the makoctl set-mode command was deprecated; modes and do-not-disturb still work through makoctl mode.
Details
makoctl mode lists active modes; mode -s replaces them, -a and -r add and remove one. makoctl set-mode is deprecated. New outer-margin option and HiDPI cursors. Groups v1.7 and v1.7.1.
v1.7.1; the AppArmor profile is no longer shipped.
Improved: Switch between modes such as do-not-disturb that ch…Behavior changed: Switch between modes such as do-not-disturb that ch…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.62021-07-11
Turn on a do-not-disturb mode that hides notifications until you switch it off.
Details
Modes: [mode=name] criteria apply only when that mode is active, switched with makoctl set-mode. New exec <command> binding action and on-notify binding, for example to play a sound. Synchronous hints let a script replace its earlier notification.
v1.6.
Added: Switch between modes such as do-not-disturb that ch…Improved: Choose what left, middle and right clicks or a touc…Added / inferred: Replace a script's previous notification instead of…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.52021-05-03
Bring back notifications you dismissed or that expired.
Details
Expired and dismissed notifications go to a history buffer (history, max-history) that makoctl restore brings back. New on-button-left/middle/right and on-touch bindings, regex criteria for summary and body, icon-location, text-alignment, and anchor/output criteria so notifications can go to different screens and edges. makoctl takes -n <id>, and dismiss -g dismisses a group.
v1.5; can build with basu instead of systemd or elogind.
Added: Restore notifications that expired or were dismisse…Added: Choose what left, middle and right clicks or a touc…Improved: Style or hide notifications differently by app, urg…Improved: Dismiss notifications, list them, invoke their acti…Action required / inferred
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.4.12020-01-12
Pick a notification action from a menu program such as dmenu or wofi.
Details
New makoctl menu runs a menu program with the notification's actions and invokes the chosen one. New -c/--config flag for a config file path. Several simultaneous touches are tracked.
v1.4.1.
Improved: Dismiss notifications, list them, invoke their acti…Added: Load the configuration from a file you choose.
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v1.42019-07-19
Starting point
Starting point
Show desktop notifications on a Wayland desktop, styled from a config file.
Details
State of mako at v1.4: notifications over D-Bus drawn with layer-shell, options for anchor, output, layer, font, colors, size, margins, borders, icons, actions, timeouts and grouping, criteria sections to style by app or urgency, and makoctl with dismiss, invoke, list and reload.
Build with meson; needs wayland, pango, cairo, sd-bus from systemd or elogind, gdk-pixbuf for icons, and a D-Bus user session.
Added: Show desktop notifications from apps as popups on a…Added: Style or hide notifications differently by app, urg…Added: Group notifications that share fields, such as the…Added: Show app icons and images sent with notifications.Added: Dismiss notifications, list them, invoke their acti…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)