@henryqw/pi-bark

Get Bark notifications when Pi finishes or needs your input. Use /copyb to send Pi’s latest response to your device.

Install

pi install npm:@henryqw/pi-bark

Setup

1. Open the Bark App and copy its test URL.
2. Take the Device Key from the URL.
3. Run /set-bark in Pi.

For Bark’s public server:

/set-bark your-device-key

For a self-hosted Bark server:

/set-bark your-device-key https://bark.example.com

A test URL such as https://api.day.app/your-device-key/Test contains the Device Key after the host. Do not include sample push content such as /Test.

Treat the Device Key as a secret. Anyone with it can send push notifications to your device.

Works with

Use

Run /copyb with no arguments to copy Pi’s latest response to your clipboard and send it to your Bark device.

The / commands are for people using Pi; run pi-bark-key in a terminal.

/copyb copies the last agent message to your clipboard. It then sends a Bark V2 push request to <serverUrl>/push.

Without push encryption, the JSON request uses Bark’s standard parameter names:

{
  "device_key": "your-device-key",
  "body": "the last agent message"
}

The body value is the same text that Pi’s /copy command selects. /copyb trims leading and trailing whitespace from the combined response; markdown, code blocks, internal spacing, and line breaks stay unchanged.

Automatic status notifications

After setup, pi-bark sends two status-only notifications:

• Pi needs input when Pi opens a blocking user prompt, including ask_question.
• Pi finished after the agent has fully settled and will not continue automatically.

Each notification includes Pi’s current session name. Herdr shows the same name when pi-herdr-tools is active. pi-bark does not call Herdr or read Herdr state.

An unset session name appears as Unnamed. Status notifications do not include prompts or agent output. No notification is sent when a prompt closes.

Automatic notifications are enabled by default. Disable them only in the current CWD:

/bark off

Use on to enable the current CWD explicitly. Use inherit to remove its override. The CWD then follows the global default.

Change that default for all CWDs without an override:

/bark default off

These settings do not affect /copyb. CWD overrides live in pi-bark’s global config, not in project files.

Flow

Config

Package-owned: ~/.pi/agent/config/pi-bark/config.json

Config changes take effect on the next command or status event; Pi does not need to restart. A status notification already queued uses the settings read when its event occurred.

Push encryption

Push encryption is optional. It prevents the Bark server and Apple Push Notification service from reading push content.

Once configured, pi-bark encrypts every push it sends. This includes /copyb and both automatic status notifications.

Set up encryption

1. Configure your Bark Device Key with /set-bark.

2. Generate and save a Custom Encryption Key:

   npx --yes --package=@henryqw/pi-bark -- pi-bark-key

   npx temporarily downloads the package and runs its pi-bark-key executable. The command saves the key to pi-bark’s config and prints it once.

3. Open Bark App → Push Encryption.

4. Enter these settings:

   Setting	Value
   Algorithm	AES256
   Mode	GCM
   Padding	noPadding
   Key	The generated 32-character key

   The generated ASCII key is 32 characters and 32 bytes.

5. If Bark requires an IV, enter any 12 ASCII characters, such as 000000000000.

6. Save the Bark settings.

7. Run /copyb in Pi. Bark should show the exact last agent message instead of Decryption Failed.

The saved IV is only a placeholder for older Bark versions. pi-bark creates a fresh 12-byte IV for each push and sends it with the ciphertext. Bark uses that per-push IV instead of the saved value.

Do not paste the command output into shared logs. The Custom Encryption Key can decrypt your push content.

The GCM authentication tag is appended to the ciphertext before Base64 encoding, as Bark requires.

Replace or disable the key

The command refuses to overwrite an existing key. Replace it only when you also update the Bark App:

npx --yes --package=@henryqw/pi-bark -- pi-bark-key --force

Disable push encryption in pi-bark with:

npx --yes --package=@henryqw/pi-bark -- pi-bark-key --disable

Disable Push Encryption in the Bark App too. Otherwise its settings no longer match pi-bark.

The config file has this shape:

{
  "serverUrl": "https://api.day.app",
  "deviceKey": "your-device-key",
  "encryption": {
    "algorithm": "AES256",
    "mode": "GCM",
    "padding": "noPadding",
    "key": "your-32-character-custom-key"
  },
  "statusNotifications": {
    "defaultEnabled": true,
    "cwdOverrides": {
      "/srv/quiet-project": false
    }
  }
}

Set encryption to null when push encryption is disabled.

• A missing config stays missing until a command or the key script writes it.
• /set-bark preserves Push Encryption and status notification settings.
• The server URL must use HTTP or HTTPS. It cannot contain a query or fragment delimiter. Prefer HTTPS: HTTP sends the Device Key and, without push encryption, notification content unencrypted over the network. Push encryption does not protect the Device Key.
• Config writes are private and atomic.
• Pi commands never print the Device Key, server URL, or Custom Encryption Key.

Limits and recovery

Bark and Apple Push Notification service limit notification payload sizes. This extension does not truncate push content. Bark returns an error when a message is too large.

/copyb waits up to 15 seconds for the Bark server. If the push request fails after the clipboard copy, your clipboard still contains the message.

Invalid config files cause a visible error and remain unchanged. Fix or move the malformed file, then retry the command.

See Bark’s Push Encryption documentation for the encryption model.