Browser Push Notifications

Push notifications let Gravity Rail alert you in your browser the moment something needs your attention — even when the app is in another tab, minimized, or closed entirely. Turn them on once per browser and you'll get a system-level notification when someone sends you a direct message or when an event you care about fires in your workspace.

This guide explains how to enable push notifications, what they look like, which browsers support them, and how to turn them off if you change your mind.

When Push Notifications Help

Push notifications are most useful if you:

• Step away from the workspace tab during the day and don't want to miss a teammate's DM
• Run Gravity Rail on a second monitor and want a system alert when a chat needs human handoff
• Use a mobile browser and want notifications even when the browser app isn't in the foreground (iOS users — see the iOS note below)

If you keep the workspace open all day and watch the in-app notifications panel, you may not need push notifications. They're optional and off by default.

Enabling Push Notifications

Push notifications are enabled per browser, per device. If you want them on your work laptop and your phone, you'll enable them in each browser.

1. Open your workspace and click the bell icon in the tools sidebar to open the Notifications tab.
2. At the top of the panel, you'll see a banner that reads "Get notified in your browser". Click Enable.
3. Your browser will prompt you for permission to show notifications. Click Allow.
4. The banner switches to "Browser notifications enabled" with a green icon — you're set.

The first time you enable push notifications in a given browser, the workspace registers a subscription that lets Gravity Rail send messages to that browser. You can register subscriptions on as many browsers and devices as you want.

What You'll See

Push notifications arrive as standard browser/operating-system notifications — the same kind you get from email or chat apps.

Important: the message contents of a chat are never put into a push notification. DM notifications include the sender's name so you can decide whether to open the app right away, but they do not include what the person said. Workspace notifications carry only the short summary configured for that notification type. Either way, no patient health information (PHI) — chart data, message contents, clinical fields — is ever placed into a push payload, because push notifications travel through third-party push services (Google, Mozilla, Apple). To see the actual message or notification body, click the notification — it deep-links you into the secure app, where the content stays inside Gravity Rail's authenticated boundary.

If you click a notification while a workspace tab is already open, that existing tab is focused and brought to the front. If no tab is open, a new one is opened on the right page.

Disabling Push Notifications

You can turn off push notifications from the same panel where you enabled them.

1. Open the Notifications tab in the tools sidebar.
2. Click Disable on the green "Browser notifications enabled" banner.

This unregisters the subscription from your account on the current browser. You'll stop receiving push messages immediately. Other devices and browsers where you've enabled push notifications are not affected.

If You Blocked Notifications by Mistake

If you clicked Block on the browser permission prompt (or your browser blocks notifications by default), the panel shows "Notifications blocked" with a red icon and the Enable button is hidden. Gravity Rail can't re-prompt you — only the browser can.

To unblock:

After unblocking, return to the Notifications tab and click Enable again.

Browser Support

Push notifications use the Web Push standard. Most modern browsers support it on desktop and mobile.

iOS Note

Apple requires the workspace to be installed as a Progressive Web App (PWA) before iOS will deliver push notifications. To install:

1. Open your workspace in Safari on iOS.
2. Tap the Share button.
3. Tap Add to Home Screen.
4. Open the workspace from the new home-screen icon.
5. Enable push notifications from the Notifications tab as described above.

Push notifications won't be offered or delivered if you keep using Gravity Rail through the regular Safari tab on iOS — installation as a PWA is required by the operating system, not by Gravity Rail.

HTTPS Requirement

Push notifications only work on https:// connections (or localhost in development). If you're running Gravity Rail behind a non-HTTPS proxy, push won't work — that's a browser-level restriction.

Corporate Environments

Some corporate networks and managed devices block browser push notifications at the OS or proxy level. If the Enable button does nothing and you don't see a permission prompt, ask your IT team whether browser push is restricted on your network.

Troubleshooting

Nothing happens when I click Enable

The most common causes:

1. The browser blocked the permission silently — check the lock/site-info icon in the address bar for a notifications setting.
2. Service workers aren't registered — open browser DevTools → Application → Service Workers and confirm one is listed for your workspace. Reloading the tab usually fixes this.
3. Insecure connection — push only works over HTTPS or localhost.

I enabled push but no notifications arrive

1. Confirm your operating system isn't suppressing browser notifications. On macOS check System Settings → Notifications → your browser. On Windows check Settings → System → Notifications. On iOS the PWA must have notification permission in Settings → Notifications.
2. Confirm you're actually receiving in-app notifications (the bell icon should turn red). If even those aren't arriving, the issue is upstream of push — see Notifications and Notification Preferences.
3. Subscriptions can expire. Disable and re-enable from the Notifications tab to refresh.

I get duplicate notifications

If you have the workspace open in multiple browsers (e.g. Chrome on desktop and Safari on mobile) and have enabled push in both, each browser will receive its own notification. That's by design — disable push on devices where you don't want alerts.

Privacy and Security

• No PHI in push payloads. Push payloads are scoped to a notification trigger, the sender's name (for DMs), and a short rule-supplied summary (for workspace notifications). The actual message contents, clinical data, form fields, and any other patient health information are never put into the push payload — they stay inside the authenticated app and are revealed only after you click through.
• Subscriptions are per member. Only you can manage your push subscriptions. Workspace admins can't read or modify them.
• Click-through is authenticated. Clicking a notification opens the workspace through the normal login flow. If your session has expired, you'll be asked to sign in before the chat or notification opens.
• Revocation is immediate. Disabling push from the Notifications tab unregisters the subscription server-side; your browser will no longer receive messages from the workspace, even if it later reopens the tab.

Related

• Notifications — Configure notification rules, delivery channels, and member preferences for alerts and escalations
• Notification Preferences — Per-member SMS, email, and voice channel opt-ins
• Account & Security — Manage your workspace login and device sessions