Automated notifications when new content is added to your media library keep you and other users informed without needing to manually check for updates. This guide covers setting up this automation.
Why Automated Notifications Are Useful
For a media server with automated content acquisition/organization, notifications close the loop — letting users know new content is ready to watch without requiring them to periodically check the library manually.
Using Built-In Webhook Support
Both Jellyfin and Plex support webhook notifications for various events (new media added, playback started, and others) — configure these in the respective platform's notification/webhook settings, pointing at your desired notification endpoint.
Building a Simple Notification Receiver
app.post('/webhook/media-added', async (req, res) => {
const event = req.body;
if (event.event === 'library.new') {
await sendNotification({
title: 'New content added',
message: `${event.item.name} is now available`,
});
}
res.status(200).send();
});See How to Design and Secure Webhook Endpoints for the general webhook receiving pattern — build a lightweight endpoint that receives the media server's webhook and forwards to your preferred notification channel.
Forwarding to Chat/Messaging Platforms
await fetch(DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL, {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({ content: `? New addition: ${event.item.name}` }),
});Many notification platforms accept simple webhook-based message posting — route your media server notifications there for a shared household/community notification channel.
Setting Up Mobile Push Notifications
Beyond chat platforms, consider push notification services if you want genuine mobile alerts — various self-hostable push notification gateways exist, letting you build fully self-hosted notification delivery without third-party push notification service dependency.
Filtering Which Events Trigger Notifications
if (event.item.library === 'Movies' && event.item.year >= 2020) {
await sendNotification(event);
}Not every possible event warrants a notification — filter to genuinely notification-worthy events (new content specifically, not every playback start/stop) to avoid notification fatigue.
Combining with Media Acquisition Automation
If your media acquisition itself is automated (see How to Set Up Automated Media Library Organization and Metadata), notifications complete the pipeline: content is automatically acquired, organized, and users are notified — a genuinely hands-off content management workflow.
Setting Up Digest Notifications Instead of Real-Time
0 18 * * * node send-daily-digest.jsFor libraries with frequent additions, consider a daily/weekly digest rather than real-time per-item notifications — reduces notification volume while still keeping users informed of new content, often a better user experience for high-volume libraries.
Securing Your Webhook Endpoint
See How to Design and Secure Webhook Endpoints for signature verification and general webhook security — even for a personal notification system, apply reasonable security practices, since an unsecured endpoint could be triggered by unauthorized sources.
Common Errors
Notifications not arriving despite webhook configuration — verify the media server's webhook configuration is genuinely pointing at your correct, currently-accessible endpoint URL, and check your endpoint's logs for any incoming webhook delivery attempts that might be failing silently.
Continue Reading
- How to Design and Secure Webhook Endpoints
- How to Set Up Automated Media Library Organization and Metadata
- How to Install Jellyfin Media Server on a VPS
Browse more articles in Media & Streaming Servers.
