Apprise-API

If you’ve ever wanted a single unified way to send notifications across multiple services — from basic email to push notifications on your phone — then you’ll love Apprise-API. This Docker image creates a RESTful API for Apprise, a powerful library that supports over 60+ services including Discord, Telegram, Slack, Pushbullet, and even obscure ones like Gotify or Rocket.chat!

Why Use Apprise-API?

Apprise by itself is a command-line tool or Python library. But with Apprise-API, you get an always-running container that can accept HTTP POST requests for multi-platform notifications. This is a perfect addition for home automation setups, personal dashboards, status alerting from uptime monitors, and so much more. Wrap it with some basic authentication and you’ve got a versatile notifications microservice!

Setting Up Apprise-API with Docker Compose

LinuxServer.io maintains a fantastic image that’s lightweight and works out-of-the-box. Here’s a simple example docker-compose.yml to get you going:

version: '3.8'
services:
  apprise-api:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/apprise-api:latest
    container_name: apprise-api
    environment:
      - PUID=1000 # Change to match your user id
      - PGID=1000 # Change to match your group id
      - TZ=Europe/London # Change to your time zone
    ports:
      - 8000:8000
    restart: unless-stopped

Save this as docker-compose.yml, navigate to the folder and run:

docker-compose up -d

Your Apprise-API service is now running on port 8000!

Using Apprise-API

Once up, sending a notification is as simple as using a tool like curl or Postman to send a POST request to:

http://:8000/notify

With a basic JSON payload like this:

{
  "urls": "discord://your_webhook_url",
  "title": "Test Notification",
  "body": "This is a test message sent using Apprise-API."
}

You can add multiple services in the urls field separated by spaces. It’s incredibly easy to integrate into bash scripts, Home Assistant automations, or monitoring tools like Uptime Kuma.

Security Considerations

Since the API is unauthenticated by default, be cautious about exposing it directly to the Internet. Consider adding a reverse proxy like NGINX with basic auth or using firewalls and VPN tunnels to protect access.

For more setup options and environment variables, the detailed documentation can be found at LinuxServer.io Apprise-API Docs.

Conclusion

Apprise-API takes the headache out of notifications. It’s simple to configure, highly compatible, and a great tool for any self-hoster who likes staying on top of what’s going on in their homelab. Whether it’s alerting you to a system error or letting you know when a backup finishes, Apprise-API has you covered.

Happy selfhosting, and I will see you in the next post!

selfhoster

apprise-api