web-push
Why
Web push requires that push messages triggered from a backend be done via the Web Push Protocol and if you want to send data with your push message, you must also encrypt that data according to the Message Encryption for Web Push spec.
This module makes it easy to send messages and will also handle legacy support for browsers relying on GCM for message sending / delivery.
Install
Installation is simple, just install via npm.
npm install web-push --save
Usage
The common use case for this library is an application server using a GCM API key and VAPID keys.
const webpush = require('web-push');
// VAPID keys should be generated only once.
const vapidKeys = webpush.generateVAPIDKeys();
webpush.setGCMAPIKey('<Your GCM API Key Here>');
webpush.setVapidDetails(
'mailto:example@yourdomain.org',
vapidKeys.publicKey,
vapidKeys.privateKey
);
// This is the same output of calling JSON.stringify on a PushSubscription
const pushSubscription = {
endpoint: '.....',
keys: {
auth: '.....',
p256dh: '.....'
}
};
webpush.sendNotification(pushSubscription, 'Your Push Payload Text');Using VAPID Key for applicationServerKey
When subscribing to push messages, you'll need to pass your VAPID key, which you can do like so:
registration.pushManager.subscribe({
userVisibleOnly: true,
applicationServerKey: '<Your Public Key from generateVAPIDKeys()>'
});Command Line
You can install web-push globally and use it for sending notifications
and / or generating VAPID keys.
Install like so:
npm install web-push -g
Then you can run the following commands:
Usage:
web-push send-notification --endpoint=<url> [--key=<browser key>] [--auth=<auth secret>] [--payload=<message>] [--encoding=<aesgcm | aes128gcm>] [--ttl=<seconds>] [--vapid-subject=<vapid subject>] [--vapid-pubkey=<public key url base64>] [--vapid-pvtkey=<private key url base64>] [--proxy=<http proxy uri>] [--gcm-api-key=<api key>]
web-push generate-vapid-keys [--json]
Example of send notification:
> web-push generate-vapid-keys --json
> {"publicKey":"BGtkbcjrO12YMoDuq2sCQeHlu47uPx3SHTgFKZFYiBW8Qr0D9vgyZSZPdw6_4ZFEI9Snk1VEAj2qTYI1I1YxBXE","privateKey":"I0_d0vnesxbBSUmlDdOKibGo6vEXRO-Vu88QlSlm5j0"}The subscription value:
{
"endpoint": "https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send/d61c5u920dw:APA91bEmnw8utjDYCqSRplFMVCzQMg9e5XxpYajvh37mv2QIlISdasBFLbFca9ZZ4Uqcya0ck-SP84YJUEnWsVr3mwYfaDB7vGtsDQuEpfDdcIqOX_wrCRkBW2NDWRZ9qUz9hSgtI3sY",
"expirationTime": null,
"keys": {
"p256dh": "BL7ELU24fJTAlH5Kyl8N6BDCac8u8li_U5PIwG963MOvdYs9s7LSzj8x_7v7RFdLZ9Eap50PiiyF5K0TDAis7t0",
"auth": "juarI8x__VnHvsOgfeAPHg"
}
}The command example:
web-push send-notification \
--endpoint=https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send/d61c5u920dw:APA91bEmnw8utjDYCqSRplFMVCzQMg9e5XxpYajvh37mv2QIlISdasBFLbFca9ZZ4Uqcya0ck-SP84YJUEnWsVr3mwYfaDB7vGtsDQuEpfDdcIqOX_wrCRkBW2NDWRZ9qUz9hSgtI3sY \
--key=BL7ELU24fJTAlH5Kyl8N6BDCac8u8li_U5PIwG963MOvdYs9s7LSzj8x_7v7RFdLZ9Eap50PiiyF5K0TDAis7t0 \
--auth=juarI8x__VnHvsOgfeAPHg \
--vapid-subject=mailto:example@qq.com \
--vapid-pubkey=BGtkbcjrO12YMoDuq2sCQeHlu47uPx3SHTgFKZFYiBW8Qr0D9vgyZSZPdw6_4ZFEI9Snk1VEAj2qTYI1I1YxBXE \
--vapid-pvtkey=I0_d0vnesxbBSUmlDdOKibGo6vEXRO-Vu88QlSlm5j0 \
--payload=HelloAPI Reference
sendNotification(pushSubscription, payload, options)
const pushSubscription = {
endpoint: '< Push Subscription URL >',
keys: {
p256dh: '< User Public Encryption Key >',
auth: '< User Auth Secret >'
}
};
const payload = '< Push Payload String >';
const options = {
gcmAPIKey: '< GCM API Key >',
vapidDetails: {
subject: '< \'mailto\' Address or URL >',
publicKey: '< URL Safe Base64 Encoded Public Key >',
privateKey: '< URL Safe Base64 Encoded Private Key >'
},
timeout: <Number>
TTL: <Number>,
headers: {
'< header name >': '< header value >'
},
contentEncoding: '< Encoding type, e.g.: aesgcm or aes128gcm >',
urgency:'< Default is "normal" >',
topic:'< Use a maximum of 32 characters from the URL or filename-safe Base64 characters sets. >',
proxy: '< proxy server options >',
agent: '< https.Agent instance >'
}
webpush.sendNotification(
pushSubscription,
payload,
options
);Note:
sendNotification()you don't need to define a payload, and this method will work without a GCM API Key and / or VAPID keys if the push service supports it.
Input
Push Subscription
The first argument must be an object containing the details for a push subscription.
The expected format is the same output as JSON.stringify'ing a PushSubscription in the browser.
Payload
The payload is optional, but if set, will be the data sent with a push message.
This must be either a string or a node Buffer.
Note: In order to encrypt the payload, the pushSubscription must have a keys object with p256dh and auth values.
Options
Options is an optional argument that if defined should be an object containing any of the following values defined, although none of them are required.
- gcmAPIKey can be a GCM API key to be used for this request and this
request only. This overrides any API key set via
setGCMAPIKey(). - vapidDetails should be an object with subject, publicKey and privateKey values defined. These values should follow the VAPID Spec.
- timeout is a value in milliseconds that specifies the request's socket timeout. On timeout, the request will be destroyed and the promise will be rejected with a meaningful error. It's a common misconception that a socket timeout is the timeout to receive the full response. So if you have a socket timeout of 1 second, and a response comprised of 3 TCP packets, where each response packet takes 0.9 seconds to arrive, for a total response time of 2.7 seconds, then there will be no timeout. Once a socket 'timeout' triggers the request will be aborted by the library (by default undefined).
- TTL is a value in seconds that describes how long a push message is retained by the push service (by default, four weeks).
- headers is an object with all the extra headers you want to add to the request.
- contentEncoding is the type of push encoding to use (e.g. 'aes128gcm', by default, or 'aesgcm').
- urgency is to indicate to the push service whether to send the notification immediately or prioritize the recipient’s device power considerations for delivery. Provide one of the following values: very-low, low, normal, or high. To attempt to deliver the notification immediately, specify high.
- topic optionally provide an identifier that the push service uses to coalesce notifications. Use a maximum of 32 characters from the URL or filename-safe Base64 characters sets.
- proxy is the HttpsProxyAgent's constructor argument that may either be a string URI of the proxy server (eg. http://< hostname >:< port >) or an "options" object with more specific properties.
- agent is the HTTPS Agent instance which will be used in the
https.requestmethod. If theproxyoptions defined,agentwill be ignored!
Note: As of this writing, if a push notification request contains a VAPID
subjectreferencing anhttps://localhostURI (set either using theoptionsargument or via the globalsetVapidDetails()method), Safari's push notification endpoint rejects the request with aBadJwtTokenerror.
Returns
A promise that resolves if the notification was sent successfully with details of the request, otherwise it rejects.
In both cases, resolving or rejecting, you'll be able to access the following values on the returned object or error.
- statusCode, the status code of the response from the push service;
- headers, the headers of the response from the push service;
- body, the body of the response from the push service.
generateVAPIDKeys()
const vapidKeys = webpush.generateVAPIDKeys();
// Prints 2 URL Safe Base64 Encoded Strings
console.log(vapidKeys.publicKey, vapidKeys.privateKey);Input
None.
Returns
Returns an object with publicKey and privateKey values which are URL Safe Base64 encoded strings.
Note: You should create these keys once, store them and use them for all future messages you send.
setGCMAPIKey(apiKey)
webpush.setGCMAPIKey('Your GCM API Key');Input
This method expects the GCM API key that is linked to the gcm_sender_id in
your web app manifest.
You can use a GCM API Key from the Google Developer Console or the Cloud Messaging tab under a Firebase Project.
Returns
None.
setVapidDetails(subject, publicKey, privateKey)
webpush.setVapidDetails(
'mailto:user@example.org',
process.env.VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY,
process.env.VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY
);Globally sets the application's VAPID subject, public key, and private key, to be used in subsequent calls to sendNotification() and generateRequestDetails() that don't specifically override them in their options argument.
Input
The setVapidDetails method expects the following input:
- subject: the VAPID server contact information, as either an
https:ormailto:URI (as per the VAPID spec). - publicKey: the VAPID public key.
- privateKey: the VAPID private key.
Returns
None.
encrypt(userPublicKey, userAuth, payload, contentEncoding)
const pushSubscription = {
endpoint: 'https://....',
keys: {
p256dh: '.....',
auth: '.....'
}
};
webPush.encrypt(
pushSubscription.keys.p256dh,
pushSubscription.keys.auth,
'My Payload',
'aes128gcm'
)
.then(encryptionDetails => {
});Encrypts the payload according to the Message Encryption for Web Push standard.
(sendNotification will automatically encrypt the payload for you, so if you use sendNotification you don't need to worry about it).
Input
The encrypt() method expects the following input:
- userPublicKey: the public key of the receiver (from the browser).
- userAuth: the auth secret of the receiver (from the browser).
- payload: the message to attach to the notification.
- contentEncoding: the type of content encoding to use (e.g. aesgcm or aes128gcm).
Returns
This method returns an object with the following fields:
- localPublicKey: The public key matched the private key used during encryption.
- salt: A string representing the salt used to encrypt the payload.
- cipherText: The encrypted payload as a Buffer.
getVapidHeaders(audience, subject, publicKey, privateKey, contentEncoding, expiration)
const parsedUrl = url.parse(subscription.endpoint);
const audience = parsedUrl.protocol + '//' +
parsedUrl.hostname;
const vapidHeaders = vapidHelper.getVapidHeaders(
audience,
'mailto: example@web-push-node.org',
vapidDetails.publicKey,
vapidDetails.privateKey,
'aes128gcm'
);The getVapidHeaders() method will take in the values needed to create an Authorization and Crypto-Key header.
Input
The getVapidHeaders() method expects the following input:
- audience: the origin of the push service.
- subject: the mailto or URL for your application.
- publicKey: the VAPID public key.
- privateKey: the VAPID private key.
- contentEncoding: the type of content encoding to use (e.g. aesgcm or aes128gcm).
Returns
This method returns an object with the following fields:
- localPublicKey: The public key matched the private key used during encryption.
- salt: A string representing the salt used to encrypt the payload.
- cipherText: The encrypted payload as a Buffer.
generateRequestDetails(pushSubscription, payload, options)
const pushSubscription = {
endpoint: '< Push Subscription URL >';
keys: {
p256dh: '< User Public Encryption Key >',
auth: '< User Auth Secret >'
}
};
const payload = '< Push Payload String >';
const options = {
gcmAPIKey: '< GCM API Key >',
vapidDetails: {
subject: '< \'mailto\' Address or URL >',
publicKey: '< URL Safe Base64 Encoded Public Key >',
privateKey: '< URL Safe Base64 Encoded Private Key >',
}
TTL: <Number>,
headers: {
'< header name >': '< header value >'
},
contentEncoding: '< Encoding type, e.g.: aesgcm or aes128gcm >',
urgency:'< Default is normal "Defult" >',
topic:'< Use a maximum of 32 characters from the URL or filename-safe Base64 characters sets. >',
proxy: '< proxy server options >'
}
try {
const details = webpush.generateRequestDetails(
pushSubscription,
payload,
options
);
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}Note: When calling
generateRequestDetails()the payload argument does not need to be defined, passing in null will return no body and exclude any unnecessary headers. Headers related to the GCM API Key and / or VAPID keys will be included if supplied and required.
Input
Push Subscription
The first argument must be an object containing the details for a push subscription.
The expected format is the same output as JSON.stringify'ing a PushSubscription in the browser.
Payload
The payload is optional, but if set, will be encrypted and a Buffer
will be returned via the payload parameter.
This argument must be either a string or a node Buffer.
Note: In order to encrypt the payload, the pushSubscription must have a keys object with p256dh and auth values.
Options
Options is an optional argument that if defined should be an object containing any of the following values defined, although none of them are required.
- gcmAPIKey can be a GCM API key to be used for this request and this
request only. This overrides any API key set via
setGCMAPIKey(). - vapidDetails should be an object with subject, publicKey and privateKey values defined. These values should follow the VAPID Spec.
- TTL is a value in seconds that describes how long a push message is retained by the push service (by default, four weeks).
- headers is an object with all the extra headers you want to add to the request.
- contentEncoding is the type of push encoding to use (e.g. 'aesgcm', by default, or 'aes128gcm').
- urgency is to indicate to the push service whether to send the notification immediately or prioritize the recipient’s device power considerations for delivery. Provide one of the following values: very-low, low, normal, or high. To attempt to deliver the notification immediately, specify high.
- topic optionally provide an identifier that the push service uses to coalesce notifications. Use a maximum of 32 characters from the URL or filename-safe Base64 characters sets.
- proxy is the HttpsProxyAgent's constructor argument that may either be a string URI of the proxy server (eg. http://< hostname >:< port >) or an "options" object with more specific properties.
Returns
An object containing all the details needed to make a network request, the object will contain:
- endpoint, the URL to send the request to;
- method, this will be 'POST';
- headers, the headers to add to the request;
- body, the body of the request (As a Node Buffer).
Browser Support
| Browser | Push without Payload | Push with Payload | VAPID | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | ✓ v42+ | ✓ v50+ | ✓ v52+ | In v51 and less, the `gcm_sender_id` is needed to get a push subscription. |
| Edge | ✓ v17+ (April 2018) | ✓ v17+ (April 2018) | ✓ v17+ (April 2018) | |
| Firefox | ✓ v44+ | ✓ v44+ | ✓ v46+ | |
| Opera | ✓ v39+ * | ✓ v39+ * | ✗ |
* Opera supports push on Android but not on desktop.
The `gcm_sender_id` is needed to get a push subscription. |
| Safari | ✓ v16+ | ✓ v16+ | ✓ v16+ | Safari 16 in macOS 13 or later |
| Samsung Internet Browser | ✓ v4.0.10-53+ | ✓ v5.0.30-40+ | ✗ | The `gcm_sender_id` is needed to get a push subscription. |
Help
MDN
There's an example on MDN.
Also, the Service Worker Cookbook is full of Web Push examples using this library.
Running tests
Prerequisites:
- Java JDK or JRE (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html)
To run tests:
npm test
