Customizing Notifications

Info:

Customizing push content is optional, as Activity Feeds provides well-designed default templates. Just make sure to enable push notifications for the event types you plan to support.

Once push notifications are enabled for your app, you can customize the templates to match your app's needs. This lets you control how notifications appear on users' devices for activities, reactions, comments, and other feed events.

Push Notification Templates

Activity Feeds supports templating for both Firebase and APNs. Configuring templates is optional — if no custom templates are provided, Activity Feeds will automatically use default templates for Firebase and APNs.

Default Templates

Activity Feeds uses specific default templates for different notification types. Here are the actual templates used by the system:

Comment Added - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "body": "{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}",
    "title": "{{#if isMentionedInComment}}{{ sender.name }} mentioned you in a comment{{else}}{{#if isActivityOwner}}{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity{{else}}{{ sender.name }} commented on an activity you were mentioned in{{/if}}{{/if}}",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
    "comment_id": "{{ comment.id }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high"
  },
  "apns": {
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{#if isMentionedInComment}}{{ sender.name }} mentioned you in a comment{{else}}{{#if isActivityOwner}}{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity{{else}}{{ sender.name }} commented on an activity you were mentioned in{{/if}}{{/if}}",
          "body": "{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}"
        },
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      }
    }
  }
}

Comment Added - APN Template

{
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{#if isMentionedInComment}}{{ sender.name }} mentioned you in a comment{{else}}{{#if isActivityOwner}}{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity{{else}}{{ sender.name }} commented on an activity you were mentioned in{{/if}}{{/if}}",
        "body": "{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}"
      },
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
      "comment_id": "{{ comment.id }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Activity Added - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "body": "{{ truncate activity.text 150 }}",
    "title": "{{#if isMentioned}}{{ sender.name }} mentioned you in an activity{{else}}{{ sender.name }} posted a new activity{{/if}}",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high"
  },
  "apns": {
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{#if isMentioned}}{{ sender.name }} mentioned you in an activity{{else}}{{ sender.name }} posted a new activity{{/if}}",
          "body": "{{ truncate activity.text 150 }}"
        },
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      }
    }
  }
}

Activity Added - APN Template

{
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{#if isMentioned}}{{ sender.name }} mentioned you in an activity{{else}}{{ sender.name }} posted a new activity{{/if}}",
        "body": "{{ truncate activity.text 150 }}"
      },
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Activity Reaction Added - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your activity",
    "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
    "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high"
  },
  "apns": {
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
          "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your activity"
        },
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      }
    }
  }
}

Activity Reaction Added - APN Template

{
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
        "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your activity"
      },
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
      "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Comment Reaction Added - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your comment",
    "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
    "comment_id": "{{ comment.id }}",
    "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high"
  },
  "apns": {
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
          "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your comment"
        },
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      }
    }
  }
}

Comment Reaction Added - APN Template

{
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
        "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your comment"
      },
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
      "comment_id": "{{ comment.id }}",
      "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Follow Created - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "title": "{{ sender.name }} started following you",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "source_fid": "{{ follow.source_feed.FID }}",
    "target_fid": "{{ follow.target_feed.FID }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high"
  },
  "apns": {
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{ sender.name }} started following you"
        },
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      }
    }
  }
}

Follow Created - APN Template

{
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{ sender.name }} started following you"
      },
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "source_fid": "{{ follow.source_feed.FID }}",
      "target_fid": "{{ follow.target_feed.FID }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Activity Reaction - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your activity",
    "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
    "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high"
  },
  "apns": {
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
          "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your activity"
        },
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      },
      "stream": {
        "sender": "stream.feeds",
        "type": "{{ event_type }}",
        "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
        "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
        "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
        "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Activity Reaction - APN Template

{
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
        "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your activity"
      },
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
      "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Comment Reaction - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your comment",
    "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
    "comment_id": "{{ comment.id }}",
    "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high"
  },
  "apns": {
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
          "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your comment"
        },
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      },
      "stream": {
        "sender": "stream.feeds",
        "type": "{{ event_type }}",
        "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
        "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
        "comment_id": "{{ comment.id }}",
        "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
        "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Comment Reaction - APN Template

{
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{ sender.name }}",
        "body": "Reacted :{{ reaction.type }}: to your comment"
      },
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "activity_id": "{{ activity.id }}",
      "comment_id": "{{ comment.id }}",
      "reaction_type": "{{ reaction.type }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Notification Feed Updated - Firebase Template

{
  "data": {
    "sender": "stream.feeds",
    "type": "{{ event_type }}",
    "title": "{{ notification_title }}",
    "body": "{{ notification_body }}",
    "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
    "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
  },
  "android": {
    "priority": "high",
    "collapse_key": "notification_feed_{{ aggregated_activity.group }}"
  },
  "apns": {
    "headers": {
      "apns-collapse-id": "notification_feed_{{ aggregated_activity.group }}"
    },
    "payload": {
      "aps": {
        "alert": {
          "title": "{{ notification_title }}",
          "body": "{{ notification_body }}"
        },
        "badge": {{ notification_status.unseen_count }},
        "sound": "default",
        "mutable-content": 1,
        "content-available": 0,
        "category": "stream.feeds"
      }
    }
  }
}

Notification Feed Updated - APN Template

{
  "collapse_id": "notification_feed_{{ aggregated_activity.group }}",
  "payload": {
    "aps": {
      "alert": {
        "title": "{{ notification_title }}",
        "body": "{{ notification_body }}"
      },
      "badge": {{ notification_status.unseen_count }},
      "sound": "default",
      "mutable-content": 1,
      "content-available": 0,
      "category": "stream.feeds"
    },
    "stream": {
      "sender": "stream.feeds",
      "type": "{{ event_type }}",
      "fid": "{{ feed.fid }}",
      "receiver_id": "{{ receiver.id }}"
    }
  }
}

Context Variables

Activity Feeds uses the Handlebars templating language to render push notification payloads for both Firebase and APN providers. This allows you to create dynamic, personalized notifications with conditional logic and data interpolation.

Activity Feeds provides the following variables in the template rendering context:

Name	Type	Description
`event_type`	string	The type of event (comment_added, activity_added, etc.)
`sender`	object	The user who triggered the notification
`receiver`	object	The user receiving the notification
`activity`	object	The activity object containing id, text, and other data
`comment`	object	Comment object (for comment-related notifications)
`reaction`	object	Reaction object (for reaction-related notifications). Contains: `type`, `id`, etc.
`feed`	object	The feed where the event occurred. Contains: `fid`, etc.
`follow`	object	Follow relationship object (for follow notifications). Contains: `source_feed.FID`, `target_feed.FID`, etc.
`notification_title`	string	Generated title for notification feed updates
`notification_body`	string	Generated body for notification feed updates
`notification_status`	object	Contains unseen_count and unread_count
`aggregated_activity`	object	Aggregated activity object for notification feeds. Contains: `group`, etc.

Template Conditional Variables

The templates also include conditional variables for better messaging:

Name	Type	Description
`isMentionedInComment`	boolean	True if user is mentioned in the comment
`isActivityOwner`	boolean	True if user owns the activity being commented on
`isMentioned`	boolean	True if user is mentioned in the activity

Configuring Templates

Via API

The Upsert Push Template REST endpoint allows you to enable push notifications for specific event types and optionally define custom templates. Activity Feeds supports event types like comment_added, activity_added, activity_reaction, and more.

Enabling Push with Default Template

{
  "enable_push": true,
  "event_type": "comment_added",
  "push_provider_type": "firebase",
  "push_provider_name": "firebase"
}

Enabling Push with Custom Template

{
  "enable_push": true,
  "event_type": "comment_added",
  "push_provider_type": "firebase",
  "push_provider_name": "firebase",
  "template": "{\"data\":{\"sender\":\"stream.feeds\",\"type\":\"{{ event_type }}\",\"body\":\"{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}\",\"title\":\"{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity\",\"fid\":\"{{ feed.fid }}\",\"activity_id\":\"{{ activity.id }}\",\"comment_id\":\"{{ comment.id }}\",\"receiver_id\":\"{{ receiver.id }}\"},\"android\":{\"priority\":\"high\"},\"apns\":{\"payload\":{\"aps\":{\"alert\":{\"title\":\"{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity\",\"body\":\"{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}\"},\"sound\":\"default\",\"mutable-content\":1,\"content-available\":0,\"category\":\"stream.feeds\"}}}}"
}

Available Fields:

Field Name	Type	Description
`enable_push`	Boolean	Indicates whether push notifications are enabled for this event type.
`event_type`	String (comment_added, activity_added, activity_reaction_added, comment_reaction_added, follow_created, notification_feed_updated)	The type of event used to apply the corresponding custom push configuration.
`push_provider_type`	String	The type of push provider (firebase, apn)
`push_provider_name`	String	The name of the configured push provider instance. Can be left empty if you're not using multi-bundle support.
`template`	String	The push notification template as a stringified JSON object.

Example

Node.js

// Enable push notifications for comment_added events with custom template
const response = await client.upsertPushTemplate({
  enable_push: true,
  event_type: "feeds.comment.added",
  push_provider_type: "firebase",
  push_provider_name: "firebase",
  template: JSON.stringify({
    data: {
      sender: "stream.feeds",
      type: "{{ event_type }}",
      body: "{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}",
      title: "{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity",
      fid: "{{ feed.fid }}",
      activity_id: "{{ activity.id }}",
      comment_id: "{{ comment.id }}",
      receiver_id: "{{ receiver.id }}",
    },
    android: {
      priority: "high",
    },
    apns: {
      payload: {
        aps: {
          alert: {
            title: "{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity",
            body: "{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}",
          },
          sound: "default",
          "mutable-content": 1,
          "content-available": 0,
          category: "stream.feeds",
        },
      },
    },
  }),
});

Retrieving Push Templates

You can retrieve existing push templates using the getPushTemplates method:

Node.js

// Retrieve push templates for a specific provider
client.getPushTemplates({
  push_provider_type: "firebase",
  push_provider_name: "firebase",
});

Limitations

There are some limitations that Stream imposes on the push notification handlebars template to make sure no malformed payloads are being sent to push providers.

1: Custom Arrays Can't Be Indexed

For example, given the context:

{
  "sender": {
    "name": "Bob",
    "some_array": ["foo", "bar"]
  }
}

And the template:

"title": {{ sender.some_array.[0] }}

The rendered payload will be:

"title": ""

2: Interpolating Whole Lists and Objects Isn't Allowed

For example, given the context:

{
  "sender": {
    "name": "bob",
    "some_array": ["foo", "bar"],
    "address": {
      "street": "willow str"
    }
  }
}

And the template:

"title": "{{ sender.some_array }} {{ sender.address }}"

The rendered payload will be:

"title": "[] {}"

3: Unquoted fields that aren't in the context will be rendered as empty strings

For example, given the context:

{
  "sender": {
    "name": "bob"
  }
}

And the template:

"title": {{ sender.missing_field }}

The rendered payload will be:

"title": ""

Advanced Use Cases

For advanced use cases (e.g. conditional rendering, data validation, etc), Stream provides handlebars helper functions that can be used in Activity Feeds templates.

Helper Functions

name	type	description
json	function	renders passed parameter as JSON (e.g `{"activity":{{{ json activity }}}}` )
each	function	For loop. Use this to access the current variable, @index for the current index and @first and @last as convenience booleans
if	function	If function. Tests trueness of given parameter. Supports else statement. (e.g `{{#if sender.name}}{{ sender.name }}{{/if}}` )
unless	function	Unless function. Tests falseness of given parameter. Supports else statement. (e.g `{{#unless sender.name}}Missing name{{/unless}}` )
equal	function	Equality check function. Tests equality of the given 2 parameters. Supports else statement. (e.g `{{#equal event_type "comment_added" }}Comment{{else}}Other{{/equal}}` )
unequal	function	Inequality check function. Tests inequality of the given 2 parameters. Supports else statement.
ifLt	function	If less than. Supports else statement.
ifLte	function	If less than or equal. Supports else statement.
ifGt	function	If greater than. Supports else statement.
ifGte	function	If greater than or equal. Supports else statement.
truncate	function	Truncate given text to given length (e.g `{{ truncate activity.text 150 }}`)

Function Parameters

These helper functions can be combined to create sophisticated conditional logic in your notification templates. They are particularly useful for:

Conditional messaging based on event types
Data validation and fallback values
Text truncation for different screen sizes
Complex logic for personalized notifications

Examples

Example 1: Conditional Event Type Messaging

{
  "aps": {
    "alert": {
      "title": "{{#equal event_type 'comment_added'}}New Comment{{else}}{{#equal event_type 'activity_reaction'}}New Reaction{{else}}Activity Update{{/equal}}{{/equal}}",
      "body": "{{ sender.name }}: {{#if comment}}{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}{{else}}{{ truncate activity.text 150 }}{{/if}}"
    }
  }
}

Example 2: Advanced Conditional Logic

{
  "data": {
    "title": "{{#if isMentionedInComment}}{{ sender.name }} mentioned you{{else}}{{#if isActivityOwner}}{{ sender.name }} commented on your activity{{else}}{{ sender.name }} commented{{/if}}{{/if}}",
    "body": "{{#unless comment.text}}No comment text{{else}}{{ truncate comment.text 150 }}{{/unless}}"
  }
}