PR Notifications That Actually Work

We’ve all been there: you push a PR, forget about it, and only discover days later that someone requested changes. The existing notification systems simply don’t work well for developers.

Why GitHub/GitLab Notifications Fail

The Email Problem

GitHub and GitLab notifications are primarily email-based. Here’s why that fails:

• Email overload - Important PR notifications get buried under newsletters, marketing emails, and other noise
• Delayed delivery - Batch sending means notifications arrive late
• No context - You have to click through to understand what happened
• All or nothing - Granular filtering is complicated to set up

The Web Notification Problem

Browser notifications seem like a solution, but:

• Browser must be open - Close your browser, lose your notifications
• Tab-specific - You need to have GitHub/GitLab tabs open
• Easily lost - Notifications stack and get dismissed accidentally
• No persistence - Once dismissed, they’re gone

Native Desktop Notifications: The Right Approach

PR Manager uses your operating system’s native notification system. This means notifications that:

• Work without a browser - Get notified even with all browsers closed
• Feel native - Look and behave like all other system notifications
• Are persistent - Stay in your notification center until you address them
• Go directly to the PR - Click to open the PR in PR Manager

How It Works on Each Platform

macOS

On macOS, PR Manager integrates with Apple’s Notification Center:

• Notifications appear in the top-right corner
• They persist in Notification Center until cleared
• Support for Focus modes - PR Manager respects Do Not Disturb
• Click notifications to open the PR directly

You can customize notification style in System Settings:

1. Open System Settings > Notifications
2. Find PR Manager
3. Choose between banners, alerts, or silent notifications
4. Enable/disable sounds and badges

Windows

On Windows 10 and 11, notifications integrate with the Action Center:

• Toast notifications appear in the bottom-right corner
• All notifications are stored in Action Center
• Focus Assist integration - notifications respect your work mode
• Click notifications to jump directly to the PR

Configure notifications in Windows Settings:

1. Open Settings > System > Notifications
2. Find PR Manager in the app list
3. Customize banner style, sound, and priority

The Notification Inbox

Beyond system notifications, PR Manager includes a built-in Notification Inbox - a dedicated view that collects all PR-related events:

• New PRs requiring your review
• Comments on your PRs
• Review status changes (approved, changes requested)
• CI/CD status changes
• PRs ready to merge
• Merged or closed PRs

From the inbox, you can quickly see what needs your attention and take action without digging through emails or multiple browser tabs.

Follow Individual PRs

PR Manager’s Follow feature lets you track specific PRs that matter to you. When you follow a PR, you can choose exactly what you want to be notified about:

• New commits - Someone pushed changes
• New comments - Discussion activity
• Reviews - Someone submitted a review
• Approved - PR was approved
• Changes requested - Reviewer requested changes
• Merge status changes - CI passed/failed, conflicts detected
• PR merged - The PR was merged
• Ready to merge - All checks passed and approved

This is perfect for:

• PRs you’re waiting on for your own work
• Critical PRs from team members
• Important features or bug fixes you want to track

Customizing Your Notifications

Not all PR events deserve the same attention. PR Manager lets you customize what triggers notifications in Settings > Notifications:

• Enable/disable notifications entirely
• Toggle notifications for new PRs
• Toggle notifications for new comments

Combined with the Follow feature for individual PRs, you can create a notification system that keeps you informed without overwhelming you.

Auto-Refresh: Stay Updated

PR Manager periodically refreshes your PR data in the background. You can configure:

• Refresh interval - From 30 seconds to 10 minutes
• Background refresh - Continue refreshing even when the window is hidden

This ensures your notification inbox is always current without manual refreshing.

Compare: Before and After

Before PR Manager

1. Email notification arrives (maybe) mixed with 50 other emails
2. You might see it, you might not
3. Click the email, which opens a browser
4. Navigate to the PR
5. Remember what you were doing before

After PR Manager

1. Native notification pops up immediately
2. Click it - you’re in PR Manager looking at the PR
3. Take action (approve, comment, review)
4. Return to your work with context preserved

Available on macOS and Windows

The notification system works great on both macOS and Windows, providing the same reliable experience regardless of your operating system.

Download PR Manager and never miss an important PR again.

Want to learn more about PR Manager’s features? Check out our guide on custom PR views to organize your notifications even better.