GitHub notifications are an incoming stream of events across all
active repos. They arrive two ways: the web inbox at
github.com/notifications and email. Global settings are at
github.com/settings/notifications.
Watch levels
By default you are subscribed as "participating": you receive events only for threads you were part of (you opened the issue, left a comment, were mentioned). This is the minimum.
The Watch button on a repo raises the level:
- Participating only: default, minimum.
- All Activity: all issues and PRs in the repo.
- Custom: you choose categories: Issues, PRs, Releases, Discussions, Security alerts.
- Ignore: receive nothing, not even for your own activity.
The most useful Custom combination is Releases only. It turns Watch into "notify me when a new version is out" with no noise from Issues or PRs.
Filters in the inbox
is:unread # unread
is:unread reason:mention # @me was mentioned
is:unread reason:review-requested # review was requested
org:acme # from a specific org
repo:acme/web # from a specific repo
At minimum, remember is:unread reason:mention: that is "what you
must respond to."
Email vs. web
Most experienced users turn off email notifications for everything
except mention and review_requested. Configure this at
github.com/settings/notifications. Everything else lives in the
web inbox, where you can close it thread by thread with "mark as
done."
Email works well if you have filters set up in Gmail or similar, with labels. Without filters, GitHub email notifications quickly become noise.
Cleaning up subscriptions
github.com/notifications/subscriptions lists all the repos you
are watching. There are usually dozens of old repos you subscribed
to at some point and forgot.
A practical routine: go through the list every six months and turn off Watch on everything you no longer use. The noise drops sharply.
Pitfalls
- Participating cannot be turned off completely. If you are the author of an issue or PR, you are automatically subscribed. You can manually "Unsubscribe" on a specific thread.
- Watch is not the same as Star. Star is a public bookmark, not a subscription. Starring a repo does not give you notifications.
- Email from GitHub Apps can be separate. Dependabot, for example, sends alerts by email independently of your GitHub notification settings. That is under Personal Settings -> Notifications in a different section.