Notifications

Configuration

Notifications

Deprecation Notice

Watchtower v2 Legacy Notification Deprecation

Deprecated configuration options will be removed with the release of Watchtower v2.

Use the the NOTIFICATION URL with the appropriate Shoutrrr URL scheme instead.

Notification URL

Configures the notification service URL(s).

             Argument: --notification-url
 Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_URL
                   Type: String (comma-separated or space-separated)
               Default: None

This option can also reference a file, in which case the contents of the file are used.

Multiple Notification URLs

To send notifications to multiple services simultaneously, you can:

Use comma-separated URLs: --notification-url="discord://xxx,telegram://yyy"
Specify the flag multiple times: --notification-url=discord://xxx --notification-url=telegram://yyy

See Configuring Multiple Notification URLs for detailed examples.

CLI Flags vs Environment Variables

The CLI flag can be called multiple times as CLI arguments; however, defining the environment variable multiple times will NOT work and only the last value will be used.

This is because CLI flags use a StringArray type that supports multiple invocations, while environment variables are simple key-value pairs that get overwritten when defined multiple times. For environment variables, use comma-separated or space-separated values.

Notification Split by Container

Send separate notifications for each updated container instead of grouping them.

            Argument: --notification-split-by-container
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_SPLIT_BY_CONTAINER
                Type: Boolean
             Default: false

When disabled (default), notifications are grouped for all updated containers in a single session. When enabled, a separate notification is sent for each container update.

Notification Template

Sets the Go template used for formatting notification messages.

            Argument: --notification-template
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_TEMPLATE
                Type: String
             Default: See default templates below

Notification Template File

Specifies the path to a file containing the Shoutrrr text/template for notification messages.

             Argument: --notification-template-file
 Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_TEMPLATE_FILE
                 Type: String
              Default: None

If both the notification-template and notification-template-file configuration options are specified, then the file-based template takes precedence over the inline template.

New Feature

This is a new feature and is not yet fully documented in the main configuration reference. It is intentionally omitted from the deprecation notice.

Notification Report

Enables the session report as the notification template data, including container statuses and logs.

            Argument: --notification-report
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_REPORT
                Type: Boolean
             Default: false

Notifications Level

The log level used for sending notifications. Possible values: panic, fatal, error, warn, info or debug.

            Argument: --notifications-level
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATIONS_LEVEL
                Type: String
             Default: info

Notifications Hostname

Custom hostname for notification titles.

            Argument: --notifications-hostname
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATIONS_HOSTNAME
                Type: String
             Default: None

Notifications Delay

Delay before sending notifications, expressed in seconds.

            Argument: --notifications-delay
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATIONS_DELAY
                Type: Integer
             Default: None

Notification Title Tag

Title prefix tag for notifications.

            Argument: --notification-title-tag
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_TITLE_TAG
                Type: String
             Default: None

Notification Skip Title

Do not pass the title param to notifications.

            Argument: --notification-skip-title
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_SKIP_TITLE
                Type: Boolean
             Default: false

Notification Log Stdout

Write notification logs to stdout instead of logging (to stderr).

            Argument: --notification-log-stdout
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_LOG_STDOUT
                Type: Boolean
             Default: false

Disable Startup Message

Suppresses the info-level notification sent when Watchtower starts.

            Argument: --no-startup-message
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NO_STARTUP_MESSAGE
                Type: Boolean
             Default: false

Deprecated Configuration Options

/// details | The following legacy configuration options and examples are deprecated and will be removed with the release of Watchtower v2. type: warning

General Options

Notifications

Specifies the notification services to use (comma-separated). Legacy providers (email, slack, etc.) are deprecated.

            Argument: --notifications, -n
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATIONS
                Type: String (comma-separated or multiple flags)
             Default: None

SMTP

Email From

The e-mail address from which notifications will be sent.

            Argument: --notification-email-from
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_FROM
                Type: String
             Default: None

Email To

The e-mail address to which notifications will be sent.

            Argument: --notification-email-to
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_TO
                Type: String
             Default: None

Email Server

The SMTP server (IP or FQDN) to send notifications through.

            Argument: --notification-email-server
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_SERVER
                Type: String
             Default: None

Email Server TLS Skip Verify

Skip verification of the server certificate when using TLS.

            Argument: --notification-email-server-tls-skip-verify
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_SERVER_TLS_SKIP_VERIFY
                Type: Boolean
             Default: false

Email Server User

The username for the SMTP server if it requires authentication.

            Argument: --notification-email-server-user
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_SERVER_USER
                Type: String
             Default: None

Email Server Password

The password for the SMTP server if it requires authentication.

            Argument: --notification-email-server-password
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_SERVER_PASSWORD
                Type: String
             Default: None

This option can also reference a file, in which case the contents of the file are used.

Email Subject Tag

Subject prefix tag for notifications via mail.

            Argument: --notification-email-subjecttag
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_SUBJECTTAG
                Type: String
             Default: ""

Email Server Port

The port the SMTP server listens on.

            Argument: --notification-email-server-port
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_SERVER_PORT
                Type: Integer
             Default: 25

Email Delay

The delay (in seconds) between sending notifications if multiple containers are updated at once.

            Argument: --notification-email-delay
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL_DELAY
                Type: Integer
             Default: None

Gotify

Gotify URL

The URL of the Gotify instance.

            Argument: --notification-gotify-url
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_GOTIFY_URL
                Type: String
             Default: None

Gotify Token

Sets the Gotify token for notifications.

            Argument: --notification-gotify-token
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_GOTIFY_TOKEN
                Type: String
             Default: None

This option can also reference a file, in which case the contents of the file are used.

Gotify TLS Skip Verify

Skip verification of the server certificate when using TLS.

            Argument: --notification-gotify-tls-skip-verify
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_GOTIFY_TLS_SKIP_VERIFY
                Type: Boolean
             Default: false

Deprecated: Use disabletls=yes query parameter in the gotify:// URL instead.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams Hook

Sets the Microsoft Teams webhook URL for notifications.

            Argument: --notification-msteams-hook
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_MSTEAMS_HOOK_URL
                Type: String
             Default: None

The value of --notification-msteams-hook must be an absolute URL using the https:// scheme (including the host). Relative URLs and non-HTTPS schemes are rejected at runtime.

This option can also reference a file, in which case the contents of the file are used.

Slack

Slack Hook URL

Sets the Slack webhook URL for notifications.

            Argument: --notification-slack-hook-url
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_SLACK_HOOK_URL
                Type: String
             Default: None

Slack Identifier

Custom name under which messages are sent.

            Argument: --notification-slack-identifier
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_SLACK_IDENTIFIER
                Type: String
             Default: watchtower

Use the botname query parameter in the slack:// URL instead.

Slack Channel

A string which overrides the webhook’s default channel (optional).

            Argument: --notification-slack-channel
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_SLACK_CHANNEL
                Type: String
             Default: None

This option can also reference a file, in which case the contents of the file are used.

Slack Icon Emoji

An emoji code string to use in place of the default icon.

            Argument: --notification-slack-icon-emoji
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_SLACK_ICON_EMOJI
                Type: String
             Default: None

Use the icon_emoji query parameter in the slack:// or discord:// URL instead.

Slack Icon URL

An icon image URL string to use in place of the default icon.

            Argument: --notification-slack-icon-url
Environment Variable: WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_SLACK_ICON_URL
                Type: String
             Default: None

Use the icon_url query parameter in the slack:// or discord:// URL instead.

///

Last updated on August 13, 2026

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