> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Notifications overview

> How TimeTracker notifies you about work: the Inbox, email, categories, channels, and why you are never notified about your own actions.

TimeTracker tells you when something needs you – a task assigned, a timesheet
waiting for approval, an invoice gone overdue. This page explains how that
system works so you can tune it instead of muting it.

## What notifications are

A **notification** is one message about one thing that happened. It has a
trigger, a set of recipients, and one or more channels it travels on.

There are three channels:

| Channel     | Where it lands                                                           | Who controls it   |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- |
| **In-app**  | Your [Inbox](/notifications/inbox), reached from the bell in the top bar | You               |
| **Email**   | Your account email address                                               | You               |
| **Webhook** | An HTTP endpoint your team owns                                          | An Owner or Admin |

<Note>
  **"Inbox" means notifications only.** It is not a task inbox. Your tasks live
  under [My tasks](/tasks/my-tasks).
</Note>

## The one rule that explains most questions

**You are never notified about your own action.**

The person who performed an action is removed from that action's recipient list.
Sarah Lin assigns a task to Jonas Bergman – Jonas is notified, Sarah is not.
Sarah assigns a task to herself – nobody is notified at all.

If the only would-be recipient is the person who acted, no notification record is
created. There is nothing to find later, because nothing was ever sent.

<Tip>
  This is the answer to "why didn't I get an email?" nine times out of ten. Check
  whether you were the one who did the thing.
</Tip>

There are a few messages the system raises *on your behalf* – your own daily
reminders, an export you asked for, a security alert about your own account, and
billing notices to Owners and Admins. Those deliberately reach you even though
you set them in motion. They are marked **self** in the
[notification types reference](/notifications/notification-types).

## Categories, not individual switches

You do not switch a single notification type on or off. You switch a
**category** on or off, per channel. There are seven.

| Category                 | What it covers                                          |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Work assigned to you** | Tasks assigned, due soon, overdue, and @mentions        |
| **Approvals**            | Timesheets, time off, and timecard decisions            |
| **Daily reminders**      | The morning, evening and deadline checks                |
| **Money**                | Invoices, payments, and budget thresholds               |
| **Project changes**      | Scope requests and other project-level activity         |
| **Account**              | Invitations, membership and workspace changes           |
| **Security**             | Sign-in and access alerts. Mostly delivered regardless. |

This keeps the settings screen short. Seven rows, two channel columns, done.

## Settings live on the person

Your notification settings belong to **you**, not to the workspace. If Sarah Lin
works in both Northwind Studio and a second workspace, she sets her preferences
separately in each.

There are two places, and they do different jobs:

| Screen                           | Who uses it              | What it sets                      |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------ | --------------------------------- |
| **Your profile → Notifications** | Everyone, for themselves | What reaches *you*                |
| **Settings → Notifications**     | Owner and Admin          | The starting point for *everyone* |

A workspace default is a **default, not a lock**. Your own switch always wins.

The full order, highest wins:

| Level | What it is                                                        | Can you change it?          |
| ----- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| 1     | **Built into the product** – the invite email and security alerts | No                          |
| 2     | **Your own choice**                                               | Yes – this is your setting  |
| 3     | **Workspace default**                                             | Yes, your choice above wins |
| 4     | **The product default**                                           | Yes, everything above wins  |

If you have never touched your settings, level 3 or 4 applies and you receive the
normal set. Nothing is silently off.

<Note>
  Daily reminders work slightly differently. A reminder is on only if **both** the
  workspace and you have it on. An admin switching a reminder slot off is a floor
  you cannot raise. See [Reminders](/notifications/reminders).
</Note>

<Info>
  Three things ignore every preference: the invitation email sent to a new person,
  and the two security alerts – **email address changed** and **unusual sign-in**.
  An invite that cannot email is useless, and a security alert you never see
  defeats its purpose.
</Info>

## What decides whether a message reaches you

Four gates run in order. All four must pass.

<Steps>
  <Step title="The app is on">
    Time Clock notifications cannot fire if the Time Clock app is off. See
    [Apps and modules](/concepts/apps-and-modules).
  </Step>

  <Step title="You are a recipient">
    Each notification type has its own rule for who receives it – the assignee,
    the approver, the project's manager, every Owner and Admin. The actor is
    always removed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="You can see the thing">
    Your role, capabilities and supervision scope decide what reaches you. A
    Member does not get told about an invoice they cannot open.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The channel is on for that category">
    The six-level precedence above resolves to a yes or a no per channel.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Priority

Every notification carries a priority. Most are **normal**. A few are **high** –
approval escalations, payment action required, and the two security alerts. High
priority means the message is more prominent, not that it travels differently.

## Example

Priya Raman is the Project Manager at Northwind Studio. Sarah Lin submits her
week for Bluebird Coffee – Website Redesign and routes it to Priya.

1. Sarah is the actor, so Sarah gets nothing.
2. Priya was named as the approver, so Priya is the only recipient.
3. Priya has the **Approvals** category on for in-app and email, so she gets both.
4. Priya does not act on it. After **24 hours** an escalation pings Priya again.
5. Still nothing after **72 hours**, so Maya Ellis (Owner) and Tom Whitfield
   (Admin) are pulled in.
6. Priya approves. Now Sarah is the recipient of **timesheet approved**, and
   Priya – the actor this time – gets nothing.

## How long notifications are kept

| Type                        | Kept for |
| --------------------------- | -------- |
| Security alerts             | 365 days |
| Most notifications          | 90 days  |
| Exports and daily reminders | 30 days  |

Removing an old notification never touches the task, timesheet or invoice it was
about.

## Permissions

| Action                                    | Capability                 | Roles        |
| ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------- | ------------ |
| Read your Inbox, set your own preferences | None                       | Everyone     |
| Set workspace notification defaults       | `workspace.updateSettings` | Owner, Admin |
| Create webhook endpoints                  | `webhook.manage`           | Owner, Admin |

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why did I not get an email about my own action?">
    Because you did it. The person who performs an action is excluded from its
    recipients. This is deliberate and applies to nearly every notification type.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is the Inbox a task list?">
    No. In TimeTracker, "Inbox" means notifications only. Your assigned work is
    under [My tasks](/tasks/my-tasks).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My admin changed a default. Did that overwrite my settings?">
    No. A workspace default only applies to people who have not made their own
    choice, and it never rewrites anyone's saved switches. Your own setting always
    beats a default. Daily reminders are the one exception – see
    [Reminders](/notifications/reminders).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I mute everything?">
    You can switch every category off on both channels, except the three
    mandatory messages – the invite email and the two security alerts. Muting
    approvals while you are an approver is a good way to hold up a team's week,
    so turn email off and keep in-app on instead.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where do I change my settings?">
    Open your profile and pick the **Notifications** tab. If you land on
    **Settings → Notifications** without permission to be there, the page offers
    a **Go to my profile** button that takes you to the right place.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do my settings carry across workspaces?">
    No. Preferences are per person **per workspace**. Set them in each workspace
    you belong to.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

**Nothing arrives at all.** Check your email address on
[your profile](/account/your-profile), then check
[your notification settings](/notifications/your-notification-settings) for a
category you switched off. See also
[Email not arriving](/troubleshooting/email-not-arriving).

**Too much arrives.** Turn the email channel off for the noisiest category and
keep in-app on, or switch to a [digest](/notifications/digests).

**A whole family of notifications is missing.** The app that owns it may be
turned off in **Settings → Apps**.

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Inbox" icon="inbox" href="/notifications/inbox">
    Read, filter and clear your in-app notifications.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your notification settings" icon="sliders" href="/notifications/your-notification-settings">
    Choose what reaches you, and on which channel.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workspace defaults" icon="building" href="/notifications/workspace-notification-defaults">
    Set the starting point for everyone in the workspace.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Notification types" icon="list" href="/notifications/notification-types">
    Every notification, its trigger, and its recipients.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Email notifications" icon="envelope" href="/notifications/email-notifications">
    What emails look like and how delivery works.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reminders" icon="alarm-clock" href="/notifications/reminders">
    The daily checks and how to schedule them.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>