Web Push Notifications

Send Web Push notifications from a Node.js backend using the web-push npm library (VAPID authentication, payload encryption). Covers generating VAPID keys, subscribing browsers, sending notifications, CLI usage, browser compatibility, and common pitfalls.

Send push notifications to browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari) using the web-push npm library, which implements the Web Push Protocol with VAPID authentication and payload encryption per Message Encryption for Web Push.

Use Cases

Use when working with Push API subscriptions, browser push notifications, VAPID key management, Web Push Protocol implementation, or web-push npm package integration.

Quick Start

const webpush = require('web-push');

// 1. Generate VAPID keys ONCE, store permanently
const vapidKeys = webpush.generateVAPIDKeys();

// 2. Set credentials
webpush.setGCMAPIKey('<Your GCM API Key Here>');
webpush.setVapidDetails(
  'mailto:[e-mail]',
  vapidKeys.publicKey,
  vapidKeys.privateKey
);

// 3. Subscribe in the browser (client-side)
// registration.pushManager.subscribe({
//   userVisibleOnly: true,
//   applicationServerKey: vapidPublicKey
// });

// 4. Send from server
const pushSubscription = {
  endpoint: 'https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send/...',
  keys: { p256dh: '...', auth: '...' }
};

await webpush.sendNotification(pushSubscription, 'Hello World');

Core Workflows

Generate VAPID Keys

Generate once, store permanently. The public key is used as applicationServerKey in the browser. Never regenerate for the same application — you'll break existing subscriptions.

const vapidKeys = webpush.generateVAPIDKeys();
// { publicKey: '...', privateKey: '...' }

Set Credentials

webpush.setVapidDetails(
  'mailto:[e-mail]',  // mailto: or https: URI
  process.env.VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY,
  process.env.VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY
);

Subscribe in the Browser

// Client-side Service Worker
registration.pushManager.subscribe({
  userVisibleOnly: true,
  applicationServerKey: urlBase64ToUint8Array(publicKey)
});
// Returns PushSubscription → send to server and store

Send a Notification

await webpush.sendNotification(pushSubscription, 'Hello World', {
  // vapidDetails overrides global setVapidDetails
  TTL: 60,             // seconds push service retains (default: 4 weeks)
  urgency: 'high',     // very-low | low | normal | high
  topic: 'updates',    // coalesce notifications, max 32 URL-safe base64 chars
  contentEncoding: 'aes128gcm',  // default; 'aesgcm' for legacy
  timeout: 5000,       // socket timeout in ms
});

Encrypt Without Sending

const encrypted = await webpush.encrypt(
  subscription.keys.p256dh,
  subscription.keys.auth,
  'My Payload',
  'aes128gcm'
);
// { localPublicKey, salt, cipherText }

Generate Request Details Without Sending

const details = webpush.generateRequestDetails(
  pushSubscription,
  payload,
  { vapidDetails: {...}, contentEncoding: 'aes128gcm' }
);
// { endpoint, method: 'POST', headers, body: Buffer }

CLI Usage

# Install
npm install web-push -g

# Generate VAPID keys
web-push generate-vapid-keys --json

# Send notification
web-push send-notification \
  --endpoint=https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send/... \
  --key=<p256dh> --auth=<auth_secret> \
  --vapid-subject=mailto:[e-mail] \
  --vapid-pubkey=<pub> --vapid-pvtkey=<priv> \
  --payload="Hello" [--ttl=<seconds>] [--encoding=aesgcm|aes128gcm]

Critical Pitfalls

• VAPID keys: Generate ONCE. Store them. Never regenerate for the same app — breaks existing subscriptions.
• Safari + localhost: Safari rejects VAPID with BadJwtToken if subject is https://localhost. Use mailto: instead.
• Payload encryption: The PushSubscription MUST include keys.p256dh and keys.auth. Without them, only empty payloads work.
• Encoding: aes128gcm (default) for modern browsers; aesgcm only for legacy Chrome < 50 and Opera.

Browser Compatibility

Browser	Push w/o Payload	Push w/ Payload	VAPID
Chrome	v42+	v50+	v52+
Edge	v17+	v17+	v17+
Firefox	v44+	v44+	v46+
Safari	v16+ (macOS 13)	v16+	v16+
Opera	v39+ (Android)	v39+ (Android)	✗
Samsung	v4+	v5+	✗

Full API Reference

See references/webpush.md for all functions (sendNotification, generateVAPIDKeys, setGCMAPIKey, setVapidDetails, encrypt, getVapidHeaders, generateRequestDetails) with detailed parameter tables and return types.