set up ntfy.damus.io server (android)

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ntfy Server Setup

Quickest: Docker

  docker run -d --name ntfy -p 80:80 \
    -v /var/cache/ntfy:/var/cache/ntfy \
    binwiederhier/ntfy serve

Production: Package + Reverse Proxy

  # Install (Debian/Ubuntu)
  curl -fsSL https://archive.ntfy.sh/apt/ntfy.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/ntfy.gpg
  echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/ntfy.gpg] https://archive.ntfy.sh/apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ntfy.list
  sudo apt update && sudo apt install ntfy
  sudo systemctl enable --now ntfy

  Minimal Config: /etc/ntfy/server.yml

  base-url: "https://ntfy.damus.io"
  listen-http: ":80"
  behind-proxy: true
  cache-file: "/var/cache/ntfy/cache.db"

Key Points for Damus

Aspect	Setting
Authentication	Not needed (topics are random hashes)
Rate limiting	Default is fine, adjust if needed
Reverse proxy	Required for HTTPS (Caddy or nginx)
Scaling	Handles millions of connections, increase LimitNOFILE

Verify

  # Terminal 1: Subscribe
  curl -s ntfy.damus.io/test/json

  # Terminal 2: Publish
  curl -d "hello" ntfy.damus.io/test

Sources:

• https://docs.ntfy.sh/install/
• https://docs.ntfy.sh/config/

[linear]

SER-85

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notepush Configuration

Once ntfy is running, configure notepush to use it:

NTFY_SERVER_URL=https://ntfy.damus.io

This tells notepush where to send Android push notifications. The NIP-42 device registration (client ↔ notepush) is separate from the ntfy transport - no auth needed on ntfy since topics are derived from user pubkeys.