Notifications

Listen to Episode 10: Notifications and Mentions - a conversational audio overview of this chapter. Listen before reading to preview the concepts, or after to reinforce what you learned.

Managing Your GitHub Notification Inbox

GitHub notifications are how GitHub tells you when something needs your attention. This guide teaches you to keep the inbox useful - not overwhelming - using only your keyboard and screen reader.

Workshop Recommendation (Chapter 9)

For this workshop, Chapter 9 is a guided practice chapter, not a graded automation chapter.

• No Actions-based validation: Notification settings and inbox actions are account-level behaviors and are not reliably validated by the Learning Room PR bot.
• Keep it teachable and simple: Focus on one clear routine students can repeat daily.
• Use a consistent pattern: Demonstrate once, then have students complete a short guided walkthrough.

Why this chapter has no bot-graded challenge

• The current validation workflow checks PR and markdown quality, not personal notification preferences.
• Notification state changes (watch level, mute, done, saved) are not part of repository file changes.
• A forced graded check here would create busywork instead of meaningful skill practice.

Guided Walkthrough Challenge (No Automation Check)

Use this as the chapter exercise. It should take about 5-8 minutes.

Goal

Set up a useful notification workflow so students can keep up with reviews, mentions, and assignments without inbox overload.

Student Steps

1. Open the workshop repository and set Watch to Participating and @mentions.
2. Open the notifications inbox: https://github.com/notifications.
3. Activate the Review requested filter.
4. Activate the Assigned filter.
5. Open one notification and return to inbox.
6. Perform one inbox action on a non-critical thread:
   • M to mute, or
   • E to mark done.

Expected Outcome

• Student can find review requests quickly.
• Student can find assigned work quickly.
• Student can reduce noise with one inbox action.

Facilitator Verification (Lightweight)

Ask each student to report the following verbally or in chat:

1. Their selected watch level.
2. Which two filters they used.
3. Which inbox action they tested (M or E).

This keeps Chapter 9 practical and consistent without adding grading overhead.

If You Get Stuck

1. Reload the notifications page and reapply one filter at a time.
2. If inbox is empty, switch to Done and practice action flow there.
3. If shortcuts conflict with screen reader mode, focus the notification row and retry.
4. Ask facilitator to model one inbox action live, then repeat.

Learning Moment

Notification management protects focus. You can stay responsive without drowning in updates.

What Generates a Notification?

GitHub sends you a notification when:

Notification Subscription Levels

For each repository, you choose how many notifications to receive:

Changing your watch settings for a repo

Recommended setting for most repos: “Participating and @mentions only” - you stay in the loop on what involves you without noise.

The Notifications Inbox

Navigate to your inbox: https://github.com/notifications or press G then N (GitHub keyboard shortcut).

Screen reader note: The G N shortcut uses two sequential key presses (not simultaneous). Press G, release it, then press N. This works in Browse Mode.

# Check your notification status (opens the GitHub notification inbox)
gh api notifications --jq '.[].subject.title' | head -20

# View PRs that need your review (most common notification reason)
gh search prs --review-requested @me --state open

# View issues assigned to you
gh issue list --assignee @me --state open

# Check PR status for a specific notification
gh pr view 42 --repo owner/repo

Page structure

[Filters sidebar on left]     ← Unread / Participating / @Mentions / Assigned / etc.
[Notification list in center] ← Each notification is a row
[Detail pane on right]        ← Preview the notification (can be disabled)

Navigating the notification list

What is announced per notification

"microsoft/vscode - Add keyboard shortcut for accessible view - @username mentioned you - 2 hours ago"

Components: repo/org | thread title | event type | timestamp

Inbox Actions - Keyboard Shortcuts

These shortcuts work when a notification is focused in the inbox:

Screen reader note: These are GitHub's own keyboard shortcuts. In Browse Mode, some of these letters are also navigation keys. To use these shortcuts reliably, make sure focus is on the notification row (tab to it) rather than in browse/reading mode.

Filtering the Inbox

The left sidebar has quick filters. Use Tab or K to navigate to them:

Filtering by repository or organization

At the top of the notification list there is a filter/search field:

Managing Notifications at Scale

The "mark all as done" workflow

After a busy day or coming back from time away, clear your inbox methodically:

1. Open Notifications inbox
2. Tab to "Mark all as done" button → Enter (clears everything at once)
3. Then use the "Done" filter to retrieve any you want to revisit

Muting a noisy thread

If a thread generates too many notifications:

Dealing with @mentions you didn't expect

If you were @mentioned in an unfamiliar thread:

1. Read the thread for context before responding
2. If it seems like a mistake, a simple "I don't think this mention was meant for me - feel free to remove it!" is enough
3. Unsubscribe after reading if you don't need to stay in the loop

Notification Settings - Per Your Account

Global notification preferences are at https://github.com/settings/notifications.

Key settings to review:

Navigate this settings page:

H → navigate to each settings section heading
F or E → navigate form fields within each section
Tab → move between options within a form group

Starring vs. Watching - What Is the Difference?

New contributors often confuse these two. They appear next to each other on every repository page and do completely different things.

Starring a Repository

Starring is GitHub's equivalent of a bookmark + public endorsement. The star count on a repository is a community signal of popularity. Many maintainers watch their star count as a rough measure of interest.

Watching a Repository

Common Mistake: Accidental Watching

When you comment on an issue or PR in a repository, GitHub automatically subscribes you to that thread - but not the whole repository. However, if you once click "Watch" on a busy repository (say, a popular open source project), you will receive a notification for every issue opened and every comment posted - potentially hundreds per day.

How to silence a repository you accidentally over-subscribed to

Step 1: Navigate to the repository
Step 2: B → Find "Unwatch" button → Enter
Step 3: Select "Participating and @mentions"
Step 4: Enter to confirm

This immediately reduces notifications from that repository to only threads you personally participated in.

Recommended Watching Strategy for This Workshop

Screen Reader Tips for the Notification Inbox

NVDA

• The notification list is complex - use Tab to navigate individual rows rather than Browse Mode arrow keys
• After marking notifications done (press E), the next notification automatically receives focus
• Use NVDA+F7 → Links to get a filtered list of notification titles to scan quickly

JAWS

• Like NVDA, use Tab for row navigation in the inbox
• Insert+F6 (Headings list) to jump between date group headings (Today, This Week, etc.)
• The inbox updates in real time - JAWS will announce new notifications as they arrive

VoiceOver

• Use VO+U → Landmarks → Main to reach the notification list quickly
• VO+Space to activate a row, VO+Escape to return to the list
• With Quick Nav on, H navigates the date group headings

The GitHub Mobile App - A Reference Note

GitHub has an iOS and Android app that supports push notifications. While the app itself is not covered as a primary tool in this workshop, it is worth knowing:

• Push notifications can alert you to review requests even when you're away from your computer
• The mobile app does work with iOS VoiceOver and Android TalkBack
• For primary contribution work, the desktop browser experience remains more fully featured

Try It: Tame Your Inbox

Time: 2 minutes | What you need: Browser, signed in to GitHub

Go to github.com/notifications and practice:

1. Scan your inbox - Press H and Tab to navigate through notifications. Each one shows the repo name, type (issue/PR), and title.
2. Mark one as done - Find a notification you've already read. Press E to mark it as done. It disappears from the list.
3. Configure watching - Go to the Learning Room repository. Press D to landmarks, find the repo nav area, then look for the "Watch" or "Unwatch" button (B to scan buttons). Choose your preferred watch level.

You're done. You now control what GitHub tells you about and what it doesn't.

What success feels like: Your inbox has fewer items, and you chose what to watch. Notifications work for you now, not against you.

Day 2 Amplifier - Accessibility Agents: @daily-briefing

Manage your notification inbox manually before using any agent. The signal-versus-noise judgment you develop - what to act on, what to watch, what to mute - is the same judgment the agent applies when prioritizing its output. Without that judgment, you cannot evaluate whether the agent's prioritization is correct or whether it surfaced the things that actually matter to you.

Once you have mastered manual notification management:

• In VS Code - @daily-briefing morning briefing delivers the same information as your notification inbox, organized by priority and actionability, with the ability to reply, close, and merge from inside Copilot Chat
• In your repo - Fork accessibility-agents and every collaborator on your project can run @daily-briefing against your shared repository; the whole team stays aligned from a single command with no inbox required
• In the cloud - GitHub Agentic Workflows can run on a schedule and post a team digest to a designated issue each morning, surfacing what needs attention before anyone opens their notifications

Your notification discipline today becomes the standard the agent enforces at scale tomorrow.

Next: Day 2 Agenda Back: Labels, Milestones, and Projects Related: Culture & Etiquette | Working with Issues