attention-required/REFERENCE.md

Attention Required: configuration reference

This file is for an AI agent (or a script) asked to change how this machine reacts to notifications, for example "shake the screen and play a sound when the build fails", "let only messages from my boss through while I am in a meeting", or "make the deliveroo nudge stronger". Everything below is exact; nothing needs a GUI.

Where things are

What	Where
The configuration, the only thing to edit	~/.config/attention-required/rules.json
Command line	attention-required (on PATH after ./install.sh, else ~/.config/omarchy/plugins/alanfortlink.attention-required/bin/attention-required)
User-written effects	~/.config/attention-required/effects/<name> (executable)
Machine-readable effect catalog with ranges	attention-required effects (JSON)
Paused flag	~/.local/state/attention-required/paused (exists = paused)

The file is watched: a saved change is live within a second, no restart. Run attention-required status afterwards and check configError is empty.

The rules file

{
  "version": 1,
  "whileDnd": true,
  "letThrough": true,
  "defaults": { "nudge": { "intensity": 6 } },
  "rules": [
    {
      "name": "deliveries",
      "enabled": true,
      "words": ["deliveroo", "/order #\\d+/"],
      "match": "any",
      "fields": ["summary", "body"],
      "apps": ["Google Chrome"],
      "effects": ["nudge", { "type": "banner", "duration": 6, "position": "center" }],
      "cooldown": 5
    }
  ]
}

Top level:

Key	Type	Default	Meaning
version	1	required	Only 1 exists.
whileDnd	bool	true	Rules still fire while notifications are silenced (Do Not Disturb).
letThrough	bool	true	A notification a rule matched while silenced is posted again so its toast shows.
defaults	object	{}	Per effect type, options applied to every rule that does not set them: {"nudge": {"speed": 15}}.
rules	array	[]	Evaluated in order; every matching rule fires (no first-match stop).

A rule:

Key	Type	Default	Meaning
name	string	rule-N	Unique; used by the CLI and in logs.
enabled	bool	true	false keeps the rule without using it.
words	string[]	[]	Case-insensitive substrings looked for in the notification. A string of the form /pattern/flags is a JavaScript regular expression (flags default to i). Empty means every notification.
match	"any" | "all"	any	One word is enough, or every word must be present.
fields	string[]	["summary","body"]	Where words are looked for: summary (title), body (markup stripped), app.
apps	string[]	[]	Case-insensitive substrings of the sending app's name as it arrives on D-Bus ("chrome" matches Google Chrome). Empty means any app. Web apps in Chromium browsers send under the browser's name. attention-required status lists names actually seen (topApps).
effects	(string | object)[]	["nudge"] if the key is absent	What runs, in order. A string is an effect with default options; an object is {"type": ..., option: value, ...}. An explicit [] matches but does nothing.
cooldown	number ≥ 0	3	Seconds during which the rule will not fire again.

Matching: the rule must pass apps (if any) and words (if any). A rule with neither matches every notification. Silenced notifications are matched too unless whileDnd is false. A notification updated in place by its sender (same replaces-id) is re-evaluated but a rule fires once per notification.

Effects

attention-required effects prints the catalog as JSON: for every effect its type, rows (numeric options: key, min, max, step, fallback, unit) and options (type: "enum" with values, or type: "text"). Values outside a range are clamped when the effect runs. Every effect has duration, intensity and speed where they make sense. Summary:

type	duration	intensity	speed	other options
nudge	seconds, 0.1..30 (1)	how far the picture moves, 0.1..100 (1.5)	new positions per second, 1..1000 (200)
flash	seconds, 0.1..60 (1)	glow opacity 0.01..1 (0.9)	pulses per second 0.1..30 (3)	thickness px 1..2000 (64); color: accent, urgent, foreground or any CSS color
banner	seconds it stays 0.1..300 (3)	size 0.2..6 (1)	slide speed 0.2..50 (4)	position: top, center, bottom; color; text template
airplane	flight seconds 0.5..120 (7)	size 0.2..10 (1)		altitude 0..1 from the top (0.2); direction: ltr, rtl; text template
confetti	seconds it keeps coming 0.1..60 (1)	amount 0.05..20 (1)	launch power 0.1..10 (1)	style: cannons (bottom corners, up), burst (centre), rain (top)
blink	seconds 0.1..30 (1)	darkness 0.01..1 (0.6)	blinks per second 0.2..30 (2)
sound	seconds to fit repeats 0..30; 0 is natural speed (0)	volume 0..2 (1)	repeat 1..50 (1)	sound: message, bell, warning, complete, or phone
focus				window: a window class or title to focus instead of the sending app
command				run: a shell command, run as the user with AR_APP, AR_SUMMARY, AR_BODY, AR_RULE, AR_KEY, AR_URGENCY and every effect option as AR_OPT_<NAME> in the environment

Text templates (banner, airplane) take {summary}, {body}, {app}, {rule}; empty means the summary (the banner also shows the body then).

Custom effects: an executable at ~/.config/attention-required/effects/<name> is used for effect type <name>, with the same environment as command. Options given on the effect object arrive as AR_OPT_<KEY> (upper-cased).

Changing things

Prefer the CLI for single changes; edit the file for anything larger.

attention-required list                                   # table of rules
attention-required export                                 # the file, to stdout
attention-required add NAME --words a,b --apps Slack --effects nudge,flash --cooldown 10 [--all]
attention-required patch NAME '{"effects":[{"type":"banner","duration":10}],"cooldown":0}'   # merge keys into a rule
attention-required remove NAME | enable NAME | disable NAME
attention-required set nudge intensity 6                  # top-level defaults for an effect
attention-required import FILE                            # replace the whole file (old one kept as .bak)
attention-required toggle | on | off                      # pause or resume every effect

Editing the file directly: read it, change it, write it back whole and valid. Keep keys you do not understand; the popup and other tools may have added them. jq is the safe way:

f=~/.config/attention-required/rules.json
jq '.rules += [{"name":"build","words":["build failed"],"apps":["Ghostty"],"effects":[{"type":"flash","color":"urgent"},"sound"]}]' "$f" > "$f.new" && mv "$f.new" "$f"

Checking the result

attention-required status          # configError, rules count, what fired last, app names seen
attention-required simulate "Slack" "boss: are you there?" "need the numbers asap"   # runs a made-up notification through the rules, effects included
attention-required test '{"type":"nudge","intensity":6,"speed":15}'                # runs one effect with these options
notify-send -a "Slack" "boss" "asap"   # a real notification (with Do Not Disturb on, use -a: a bare notify-send is dropped by the desktop)

simulate returns matched: <rule names> or no rule matched.

Scenarios

Build failures get a red flash and a chime, everything else stays quiet

attention-required add build --words "build failed,tests failed,error:" --apps Ghostty --effects flash,sound
attention-required patch build '{"effects":[{"type":"flash","color":"urgent","duration":2},"sound"],"cooldown":10}'

Meeting mode: silence everything, let only the boss on Slack through

omarchy toggle notification silencing        # Do Not Disturb on (the bell in the bar does the same)
attention-required add boss --words "Alice" --apps Slack --effects banner,focus

With whileDnd and letThrough on (the defaults), Alice's messages fire the rule, are shown as a toast, and everything else stays hidden.

Deliveries: nudge harder, show a big card, bring the browser forward

attention-required patch deliveries '{"words":["deliveroo","rider","your order"],"apps":["Google Chrome"],"effects":[{"type":"nudge","intensity":6,"speed":15,"duration":1.5},{"type":"banner","position":"center","duration":8},"focus"]}'

Say it out loud with your own effect

mkdir -p ~/.config/attention-required/effects
cat > ~/.config/attention-required/effects/speak <<'EOF'
#!/usr/bin/env bash
exec spd-say -- "$AR_SUMMARY"
EOF
chmod +x ~/.config/attention-required/effects/speak
attention-required patch boss '{"effects":["banner","speak"]}'

Pause during a screen share, resume after

attention-required off
attention-required on

Limits worth knowing

• Words are matched against the notification's title and body only (add "app" to fields to match the app name too). Bodies have markup stripped.
• The nudge changes two Hyprland options for the duration of the shake and restores them. It needs the Lua-configured Hyprland that Omarchy 4 ships.
• Notification fields are clipped (summary 2000, body 8000 characters) before matching; bus messages over 256 KB are ignored.
• A command effect runs whatever run says. Do not write one from untrusted input.