Electron Notification API and Linux Desktop Environments: Controlling Alert Noise

Goal

Developers want to suppress audible alerts from Electron notifications while still delivering visual cues, especially when the app runs across macOS, Windows, and various Linux desktop environments.

Constraints & Uncertainty

The silent flag in Electron’s Notification API is honored on macOS and Windows but is often ignored on many Linux DEs, and the badge property is only supported on macOS and Windows. The autoUpdater module triggers system‑level notifications that remain under the control of the OS, with no cross‑platform API to suppress them. An unresolved design decision is whether Electron should expose a unified muteAllNotifications flag that would silence all native notifications regardless of platform.

Open Questions

• Should Electron provide a muteAllNotifications flag to suppress all native alerts, and how would this interact with user‑configured privacy settings?
• What mechanisms can reliably silence notifications on Linux DEs that do not respect the silent flag?
• How does powerSaveBlocker affect notification sound playback, and can it be leveraged to enforce silence?