Free macOS menu-bar app · Runs 100% locally

Hear it the moment your AI agent needs you.

Agent Notifier gives you a sound, a spoken announcement, and a native banner the instant your AI coding agent finishes a task or stops to ask for permission — so you can look away from the terminal and get real work done.

Claude Code · Cursor (Beta) · Codex (Beta)  ·  Runs entirely on your Mac

Long agent runs steal your attention

You kick off an AI coding agent, then sit there watching a terminal — because the moment it finishes, or stops to ask permission, is the moment you need to act. Agent Notifier watches for you.

Modern coding agents can run for minutes at a time. During that stretch you either stare at the screen or wander off and miss the moment it needs you. Come back too late and the agent has been idle — waiting on a yes/no it asked five minutes ago.

Agent Notifier closes that gap. It tells you the instant something changes, and keeps nudging you until you respond, so a paused agent never sits forgotten.

  • You alt-tab back every 30 seconds "just to check."
  • An agent asked for permission and has been waiting, idle, since.
  • A long build finished ages ago and you didn't notice.
  • You run several agents at once and lose track of which needs you.

Everything you need to stop watching the terminal

Alerts you can hear, hear spoken, and see — tuned per event and kept local to your Mac.

  • A distinct sound per state

    Pick a different alert for "finished" and "waiting for input" from 14 built-in system sounds — so you know what happened without looking.

  • Spoken announcements

    Have your Mac say it out loud. Set a custom phrase and voice per event using native text-to-speech — no accounts, no cloud.

  • Native banners with context

    A macOS notification shows the agent's own last message, and an "Open Session" action jumps you straight back to that terminal.

  • Keeps reminding you

    When an agent is waiting for input, Agent Notifier nudges you on an interval (default 3 minutes) until you respond — a paused agent never gets forgotten.

  • Works across agents

    Claude Code is fully supported; Cursor and Codex are supported in Beta. One menu-bar app watches them all.

  • 100% local & private

    The app makes no network connections. No accounts, no analytics, no telemetry, no data collection. Your settings and a short recent list stay on your Mac.

How it works

Agent Notifier plugs into each agent's own hook system — the extension points the agents already ship. No third-party tools, no background daemons.

1

Install Agent Notifier

Download the app and launch it. It lives quietly in your menu bar as a bell.

2

Install hooks in one click

Pick your agent (Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex) and let Agent Notifier add the hooks to its config for you. It backs up the file first.

3

Your agent fires a hook

When the agent finishes a response or pauses to ask for input, its native hook signals Agent Notifier locally — nothing leaves your Mac.

4

You get the alert

Sound, spoken phrase, and a banner fire the way you configured them. On Claude Code, if it's waiting on your input, Agent Notifier keeps reminding you until you act.

Uses each agent's native hooks — no external interception tools, no always-on helper process.

Supported agents

One-click hook installation for each. More providers as their hook systems mature.

Claude Code

Fully supported

The full experience: "finished" and "waiting for input" events, plus the keep-reminding loop while an agent is paused.

Cursor

Beta

Hook installation for Cursor's agent. Beta — "finished" and subagent notifications only; no "waiting for input" alerts or reminder loop yet.

Codex

Beta

Hook installation for OpenAI's Codex CLI. Beta — "finished" notifications only; no "waiting for input" alerts or reminders.

Everything stays on your Mac

Privacy isn't a setting in Agent Notifier — it's the architecture. The app makes no network connections at all.

  • No analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, ads, or update checks.
  • No accounts and no sign-in. Nothing to create, nothing to log in to.
  • Just your settings and a short in-memory "Recent" list (last 10, cleared when you quit).
  • Backs up your agent config before editing it, and uninstalls surgically.

Frequently asked questions

Which agents does it work with?

Claude Code is fully supported. Cursor and Codex are supported in Beta — the hooks install, but the integration is newer and may be less complete than Claude Code. More agents may follow as their hook systems mature.

Is it really free?

Yes. Agent Notifier is free to download and use. There are no accounts, no subscriptions, and no in-app purchases.

Does it send my data anywhere?

No. The app makes no network connections whatsoever — no analytics, telemetry, or crash reporting. Agent events are delivered to the app locally on your Mac and are only used to show your alert and a short in-memory recent list. Nothing is transmitted off your device.

Does it need special permissions?

Only optional ones. macOS Notifications are optional (sound and spoken alerts work without them), and "Launch at Login" is optional. It does not use Accessibility or Input Monitoring.

Is it on the Mac App Store?

No. Because Agent Notifier needs to write your agent's config files (to install hooks), it can't be sandboxed the way the App Store requires. It's distributed as a direct download, signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple.

Will it change my agent's config?

Yes — that's how it works. It installs hooks into your agent's config file, but it writes a timestamped backup first, only touches its own entries, and offers a clean, surgical uninstall that removes exactly what it added.

Enjoying Agent Notifier?

Agent Notifier is free — and staying that way. If it's earned a place in your toolkit, toss a coin to its developer to keep it maintained, updated, and ad-free.

Support the app

Secure checkout via Stripe · One-time, no account needed