Notifications
ACOS keeps your team informed without requiring a separate chat tool. Every assignment change, @mention, and approaching deadline generates a scoped notification — visible in the bell icon in the top bar and on the /notifications/ page.
How Notifications Work
Notifications are generated server-side by specific events — task assignments, @mentions in comments, and daily due-date checks. They are scoped to your organization: you only see notifications that are relevant to you within your team's account.
The notification bell in the top bar polls every 60 seconds and updates the unread count badge automatically. You don't need to refresh the page. Clicking the bell opens a dropdown with your most recent notifications.
Notification Types
| Type | Trigger | Who receives it |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | A task is assigned to you (or reassigned to you) | The new assignee |
| @Mention | Someone types @yourname in a task comment | The mentioned person |
| Due tomorrow | A task assigned to you is due the following day | The task assignee — sent nightly |
@Mentions in Task Comments
To mention a teammate in a task comment, type @ and start typing their name. A dropdown appears with matching team members from your organization. Click a name or press Enter to insert the mention.
- The dropdown searches all active members in your organization — not just those assigned to the project.
- You can @mention someone who isn't on the project; they'll still receive the notification.
- A single comment can include multiple @mentions.
- Notifications for @mentions are generated immediately when the comment is saved.
- Editing a saved comment does not re-trigger notifications for existing @mentions.
- Deleting a comment does not retract the notification that was already sent.
Notification Bell & Badge
The bell icon sits in the top bar to the right of the search bar. When you have unread notifications, a number badge appears on the bell showing the count.
Bell dropdown
Clicking the bell opens a compact dropdown showing your most recent notifications with type, content, and relative time. Clicking a notification in the dropdown marks it as read and navigates you to the relevant task if applicable.
Mark all read
A "Mark all read" link at the bottom of the dropdown clears the unread count badge without requiring you to open each notification individually.
The bell polls the server every 60 seconds. If a teammate @mentions you, you'll see it within a minute — no page refresh needed.
Notifications Page
The full notification history is available at /notifications/, accessible from the sidebar. It shows all notifications with four filter tabs:
All
Every notification — read and unread.
Unread
Only notifications you haven't seen yet.
Mentions
Only @mention notifications.
Tasks
Only assignment and due-date notifications.
Clicking any notification on this page marks it as read. The "Mark all read" button in the top right clears all at once.
Polling & Real-time Updates
ACOS uses polling rather than WebSockets for notification delivery. The bell in the top bar checks for new notifications every 60 seconds. This keeps the infrastructure simple and reliable across all hosting environments without requiring persistent connections.
In practice, the maximum delay between a notification being generated (e.g. someone @mentions you) and it appearing in your bell is 60 seconds. For most asynchronous team communication, this is well within the expected response window.
Notification Preferences
Notification preferences are managed in Settings → Profile. You can control which notification types you receive. Changes take effect immediately — future events will respect your updated preference; existing notifications are not deleted.
Marketing email preferences (onboarding drip, product updates) are a separate toggle in the same Settings → Profile section and are not related to in-app notifications.
Roles & Permissions
| Action | Member | Manager | Admin | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receive assignment notifications | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Receive @mention notifications | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Receive due-tomorrow reminders | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View own notifications | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View others' notifications | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Notifications are always private. No role can see another user's notification feed. Admins and Owners can see system-level alerts on the dashboard, but individual notification histories remain per-user.
FAQ
Can I get email notifications instead of in-app ones?
Not currently. Notifications are in-app only. Email delivery for task-level events is on the roadmap but not yet available. Invoice payment reminders (a separate feature) do use email.
I was mentioned in a comment but didn't get a notification. Why?
Check that the @mention was inserted using the autocomplete dropdown — plain text that happens to start with @ (e.g. typing "@omar" without selecting from the dropdown) does not generate a notification. The mention must be saved as a structured reference to trigger delivery.
Can I turn off due-tomorrow reminders?
Yes. Go to Settings → Profile and toggle off task due-date reminders. This affects only your account — other team members' preferences are unchanged.
How long are notifications kept?
Notifications are retained indefinitely until you delete your account. The /notifications/ page shows your full history with no truncation.
What happens to notifications if I'm removed from a project?
Existing notifications remain visible. New events on that project will no longer generate notifications for you once you're removed.