> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bodhveda.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Notifications

> What are notifications in Bodhveda?

A **notification** is a message sent to a recipient about an event. Notifications can be:

* **Direct**: Sent to a specific recipient.
* **Broadcast**: Sent to all recipients subscribed to a target.

Notifications include a payload (custom data) and are categorized by their target.

A direct notification can also fan out to **email** by including an `email` block on the send — see [mediums](/docs/concepts/mediums). Email is direct-only; broadcasts remain in-app.

On a direct send the `payload` is **optional**: omit it and Bodhveda delivers the email without creating an in-app notification (an [email-only send](/docs/concepts/mediums#email-only-sends)). A send must carry at least one of `payload` or `email`. Broadcasts always require a `payload`.

### Status

Every notification carries a `status` — the **in-app** outcome, resolved asynchronously after the send is accepted:

| Status           | Meaning                                                             |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `enqueued`       | Accepted; the worker has not resolved it yet.                       |
| `delivered`      | Written to the recipient's inbox.                                   |
| `muted`          | The recipient's preferences disallowed it.                          |
| `quota_exceeded` | The project was over its plan limit.                                |
| `failed`         | Delivery failed.                                                    |
| `not_requested`  | The send carried no `payload`, so no in-app delivery was requested. |

`not_requested` is the odd one out: it is set **when the send is accepted** and never changes, because there is nothing to resolve. Those notifications are hidden from the recipient's feed, unread count, and mark-all-read — but they still carry the email delivery outcome, so you can retrieve one by `id` to see whether the email sent.

Each *other* medium's outcome lives on its own delivery record rather than on this scalar — retrieve a notification by `id` to read the `email` outcome alongside `status`.

A direct notification will always be delivered to the recipient unless the recipient has unsubscribed that target.

A broadcast notification will only be delivered to the recipients who are subscribed to the target.

#### How does Bodhveda determine if a recipient should receive a broadcast notification or not?

Let's assume a broadcast was sent for a new comment that was made on post with id `12345`. The target used for this broadcast is `posts:12345:new_comment`.

Bodhveda will lookup recipients who have subscribed to this target via either `posts:12345:new_comment` or via `posts:any:new_comment` target.

`any` has special behaviour in Bodhveda. Learn more about [targets](/docs/concepts/targets) and [preferences](/docs/concepts/preferences).