Notifications: destinations, rules and write approval
Get Nebula notifications on your phone or in Slack, Discord or Telegram DMs, choose which events reach you, and turn on write approval for risky actions.
You can get Nebula's updates outside the app - on your phone, by email, or as a Slack, Discord or Telegram DM - and choose exactly which events get through. Your Inbox in the app is separate: it always shows the messages that mention you and the reply threads you're in, whatever your rules say.
Destinations
Destinations are the places Nebula can reach you beyond the app. Email is always available as a destination. The others appear as Connected once they're set up.
| Destination | What you get | How it's switched on |
|---|---|---|
| Messages to your account email, previewing the message (and its thread, for a reply), with Open in Nebula to jump to it in the desktop or mobile app | Always available | |
| Mobile | Push notifications from the Nebula mobile app | Enable it on your phone |
| Slack DM | DMs from the Nebula Slack bot | The Nebula Slack bot is connected |
| Discord DM | DMs from the Nebula Discord bot | The Nebula Discord bot is connected |
| Telegram DM | DMs from the Nebula Telegram bot | The Nebula Telegram bot is connected |
Open Settings → Workspace → Notifications. Destinations shows each one as Connected or Not connected.
Open Settings → Notifications, under Workspace Settings. Destinations has a Connect button for each chat app that isn't connected yet.
Turn on push on your phone
Nebula doesn't turn on push by itself when you sign up, so switch it on once on each phone.
In the mobile app, open Settings → Notifications.
Under Destinations, find Mobile and tap Enable.
Allow notifications when your phone asks. The row changes to Connected.
If you see "Push notifications could not be enabled on this device.", you probably declined your phone's prompt earlier. Allow notifications for Nebula in your phone's own settings, then tap Enable again.
Rules
A rule sends one kind of event to the destinations you pick. An event with no rule isn't sent anywhere, so Nebula starts you with rules for the events that matter most: mentions, approvals, call invites, apps that need reconnecting and device problems.
In Notifications, choose Add rule.
Pick the Event, such as Approval needed or Task failed.
Under Deliver via, tick one or more destinations. A new rule starts with Email ticked, and a rule with nothing ticked stays Inbox only.
Choose Add rule. Edit or delete it from the same list any time.
These are the events most people route somewhere:
| Event | When it fires |
|---|---|
| Mention | Someone mentions you |
| Approval needed | A task is waiting for your approval |
| Task completed / Task failed | A task finishes or runs into an error |
| Job completed / Job failed | A scheduled task's run finishes or fails |
| Reconnect needed | A connected app needs you to sign in again |
| Call invite | Someone invites you to a call |
| Channel archiving soon / Channel archived | A channel nobody has used is about to be, or has been, archived |
The Event list also covers channels, apps, devices, agents and scheduled tasks being created, changed or removed. Billing alerts, workspace invites and the notice that someone accepted your invite always reach you, so they aren't offered as rules.
The two channel-archive events start as Inbox only rules with no destinations, so a quiet channel never buzzes your phone. Add a destination yourself if you want them to travel.
Route Approval needed to your phone. A task that's waiting on you then reaches you wherever you are, instead of sitting until you next open the app.
Write approval: the safety gate
The safety gate holds a write that looks risky or unexpected until you reply, and tells you why. Nothing is left running while it waits - the task ends with what it wanted to do. It's off by default, and each person turns it on for themselves.
Open Settings → Account → Profile and, under Write approval, turn on Write approval safety gate.
Open Settings → Profile, under User Settings, and turn on Safety gate in the Write Approval section.
With the gate on, actions that only read run as normal. When a write looks dangerous or doesn't match what you asked for, it doesn't run. The task stops and tells you, in plain words, what it wanted to do and why. Reply in the task to tell it to go ahead or to change course, and the work picks up from there.
A browser action declared irreversible is still checked against your request, even with the gate off. It may be refused or require your approval.
| Gate off | Gate on | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads | Run | Run |
| Ordinary writes | Run | Run |
| A write that looks risky or off-brief | Usually runs; irreversible actions are still checked | Stops and asks you in the task, or is refused outright |
| The same write in work nobody is watching, like a scheduled run | Usually runs; irreversible actions are still checked | Is refused, and the run reports it |
Tools on your Always allowed list, under Write approval, skip the check except for shell commands and actions declared irreversible. To put one back under the gate, choose Remove next to it on desktop, or tap the ✕ on its chip on mobile. With the safety gate on, shell commands that are not read-only are checked even if their tool is on that list. Read-only shell execution is exempt.
Actions on a device are approved separately, with a card in the chat. Choosing Always allow there adds the action to Device access in the same settings page, where you can remove it the same way. See Tasks.
Common questions
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