Bark Skill
Send push notifications to iOS devices via the Bark app. The Bark key is stored in ~/.bark/key.
Key Setup
Key file: ~/.bark/key (plain text, just the key string).
If the file doesn't exist or is empty, ask the user for their Bark key and write it to ~/.bark/key.
API Overview
- Base URL:
https://api.day.app/ - Method: GET or POST
- Required: Bark key (from
~/.bark/key), body text - Optional: title, subtitle, URL, icon, sound, group, level, etc.
Quick Send (GET)
Send a simple notification:
GET https://api.day.app/{key}/{body}
Send with title:
GET https://api.day.app/{key}/{title}/{body}
Send with title and subtitle:
GET https://api.day.app/{key}/{title}/{subtitle}/{body}
POST Request (Recommended for multi-line / special chars)
Use POST + --data-urlencode for plain text, newlines, and special characters:
KEY=$(cat ~/.bark/key)
curl -s -X POST "https://api.day.app/$KEY" \
-d "title=Notification Title" \
--data-urlencode "body=First line
Second line
Third line"
Notes:
- Use
-d "title=..."and--data-urlencode "body=..."to separate title and body - Newlines in body are literal line breaks (press Enter, not
\nas a string) --data-urlencodeauto URL-encodes, no manual handling needed for Chinese or special chars- Do not use
-d "body=multiline content"— newlines won't be preserved in form-data
Parameters
| Param | Description |
|---|---|
title |
Notification title, slightly larger than body |
subtitle |
Subtitle |
body |
Notification body, use \n for line breaks |
url |
URL to open when notification is tapped |
group |
Message group for grouping notifications |
icon |
Push icon (iOS 15+) |
sound |
Notification sound, e.g. alarm, birdsong |
level |
active (default, lights up screen immediately) / timeSensitive (shows during Focus mode) / passive (adds to list without lighting screen) |
criticalAlert |
true to play sound even in Do Not Disturb (use with caution) |
How to Use
- Read key from
~/.bark/key - If key file doesn't exist or is empty, ask user for their Bark key and write it to
~/.bark/key - Build the request with the key and user-provided parameters
- Execute via exec/curl
- Confirm notification received
Example
Key stored in ~/.bark/key: yourkey
Title: Meeting Reminder
Body: Team sync at 3pm tomorrow
curl -s -X POST "https://api.day.app/yourkey" \
-d "title=Meeting Reminder" \
--data-urlencode "body=Team sync at 3pm tomorrow"
Notes
- If user doesn't have a Bark key, tell them to install the Bark app and copy the test URL from the app
- Default public server is
api.day.app; Bark also supports self-hosted servers - For critical alerts (
level=critical), the device will play sound even in Do Not Disturb - Sound will loop for 30 seconds if
call=1parameter is used