Skip to main content

Notifications

Prisma Calendar includes a comprehensive notification system that alerts you before events start, helping you stay on top of your schedule. The system integrates seamlessly with your vault indexing and supports flexible per-event customization.

Overview​

The notification system provides:

  • Desktop notifications with event details
  • Rich modal interface showing complete event information
  • Flexible timing with separate settings for timed events and all-day events
  • Per-event overrides via frontmatter properties
  • Snooze functionality for timed events
  • Automatic tracking to prevent duplicate notifications

Basic Setup​

Enabling Notifications​

Notifications are enabled by default. To toggle them:

  1. Go to Settings → Prisma Calendar → [Your Calendar] → Notifications
  2. Toggle Enable notifications
  3. When enabled, you'll be prompted for notification permissions if needed

Default Notification Times​

Configure default notification times for your events:

Timed Events (with specific start/end times)​

  • Default minutes before: How many minutes before the event to notify
  • Examples:
    • 0 = Notify when event starts
    • 15 = Notify 15 minutes before event
    • 60 = Notify 1 hour before event
  • Leave empty for no default notification

All-Day Events (date-only events)​

  • Default days before: How many days before the event to notify
  • Examples:
    • 0 = Notify on the day of the event (at midnight)
    • 1 = Notify 1 day before (at midnight)
    • 7 = Notify 1 week before
  • Leave empty for no default notification

Per-Event Customization​

Override Default Times​

Each event can override the calendar's default notification time using frontmatter properties:

Timed Events​

---
Title: Important Meeting
Start Date: 2025-02-15T14:00
End Date: 2025-02-15T15:00
Minutes Before: 30  # Override: notify 30 minutes before
---

All-Day Events​

---
Title: Project Deadline
Date: 2025-03-01
All Day: true
Days Before: 3  # Override: notify 3 days before
---

Disable Notifications for Specific Events​

To disable notifications for a single event, you can either:

  1. Don't set the property: If no default is configured, the event won't trigger notifications
  2. Set to empty/null: Remove the Minutes Before or Days Before property
  3. Mark as already notified: Set Already Notified: true to prevent future notifications

How Notifications Work​

Notification Timing​

When an event enters the notification window:

  1. System notification appears with event title and time
  2. Notification modal opens showing:
    • Event title and timing information
    • Start date/time
    • File path (clickable)
    • Event properties
    • Action buttons
  3. Already Notified property is automatically set to true in frontmatter
  4. Event is removed from the notification queue

Notification Modal​

The modal provides rich event information:

  • Timing Info: Shows how soon the event is ("In 15 minutes → at 2:00 PM")
  • Event Details: Start time, file location
  • Event Properties: All configured display properties
  • Additional Properties: Other frontmatter properties
  • Action Buttons:
    • Open Event: Opens the event file
    • Snooze: Postpones notification (timed events only)
    • Dismiss: Closes the notification

Snooze Functionality​

What is Snooze?​

Snooze postpones a notification for a configurable duration. The notification will re-appear after the snooze period.

Availability​

  • ✅ Available: Timed events (events with specific start/end times)
  • ❌ Not Available: All-day events

How Snooze Works​

When you press the Snooze button:

  1. The Already Notified property is reset to false
  2. The Minutes Before value is recalculated so the notification triggers exactly X minutes from now
  3. The file is automatically re-indexed
  4. The notification will appear again after the snooze duration

Smart Calculation​

The snooze system uses intelligent calculation to ensure notifications always appear at the right time:

Example Scenario:

  • Event starts at 08:30
  • Current time is 11:00 (event already started 2.5 hours ago)
  • You press Snooze (15-minute default)

What Happens:

Original Minutes Before: -44 (doesn't matter, recalculated)
Calculation: Set notification for (current time + 15 minutes)
New Minutes Before: -165
Result: Notification at 11:15 (exactly 15 minutes from now)

This works for both:

  • Future events: Adjusts relative to event start time
  • Past events: Calculates from current time, allowing snooze to work even for events that have already started

Configuring Snooze Duration​

  1. Go to Settings → Prisma Calendar → [Your Calendar] → Notifications
  2. Find Snooze duration (minutes)
  3. Set your preferred duration (default: 15 minutes, range: 1-120)

Notification Settings Reference​

SettingTypeDefaultDescription
Enable notificationsToggletrueMaster switch for all notifications
Default minutes beforeNumber(empty)Default notification time for timed events (minutes)
Minutes before propertyTextMinutes BeforeFrontmatter property name for per-event timed notification overrides
Default days beforeNumber(empty)Default notification time for all-day events (days)
Days before propertyTextDays BeforeFrontmatter property name for per-event all-day notification overrides
Play notification soundTogglefalseWhether to play system sound with notifications
Snooze durationSlider15How many minutes to snooze notifications (1-120)
Already notified propertyTextAlready NotifiedFrontmatter property used to track notification status

Notification Properties​

Frontmatter Properties​

The notification system uses these frontmatter properties:

---
# Notification timing (per-event overrides)
Minutes Before: 30        # For timed events
Days Before: 1            # For all-day events

# Notification tracking (automatically managed)
Already Notified: false   # Set to true after notification shows
---

Property Behavior​

  • Minutes Before / Days Before:

    • Can be positive (before event) or negative (after event start)
    • Decimals are supported for precise timing (e.g., 15.5 minutes)
    • Overrides calendar default when present

  • Already Notified:

    • Automatically set to true when notification is triggered
    • Prevents duplicate notifications
    • Reset to false when you snooze
    • Can be manually reset to false to get notified again

Use Cases​

Meeting Reminders​

---
Title: Team Standup
Start Date: 2025-02-15T09:00
Minutes Before: 10  # 10-minute warning
---

Important Deadlines​

---
Title: Project Proposal Due
Date: 2025-03-01
All Day: true
Days Before: 3  # 3-day advance notice
---

Last-Minute Events​

---
Title: Quick Call
Start Date: 2025-02-15T14:30
Minutes Before: 0  # Notify right when it starts
---

Multi-Stage Reminders​

For important events, create multiple entries:

---
Title: Important Presentation - 1 Week Warning
Date: 2025-03-15
Days Before: 7
---

---
Title: Important Presentation - Final Reminder
Start Date: 2025-03-15T10:00
Minutes Before: 60
---