PushManager: subscribe() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since March 2023.

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

The subscribe() method of the PushManager interface subscribes to a push service.

It returns a Promise that resolves to a PushSubscription object containing details of a push subscription. A new push subscription is created if the current service worker does not have an existing subscription.

Syntax

js
subscribe(options)

Parameters

options Optional

An object containing optional configuration parameters. It can have the following properties:

userVisibleOnly

A boolean indicating that the returned push subscription will only be used for messages whose effect is made visible to the user.

applicationServerKey

A Base64-encoded string or ArrayBuffer containing an ECDSA P-256 public key that the push server will use to authenticate your application server. If specified, all messages from your application server must use the VAPID authentication scheme, and include a JWT signed with the corresponding private key. This key IS NOT the same ECDH key that you use to encrypt the data. For more information, see "Using VAPID with WebPush".

Note: This parameter is required in some browsers like Chrome and Edge. They will reject the Promise if userVisibleOnly is not set to true.

Return value

A Promise that resolves to a PushSubscription object.

Examples

js
this.onpush = (event) => {
  console.log(event.data);
  // From here we can write the data to IndexedDB, send it to any open
  // windows, display a notification, etc.
};

navigator.serviceWorker.register("serviceworker.js");

// Use serviceWorker.ready to ensure that you can subscribe for push
navigator.serviceWorker.ready.then((serviceWorkerRegistration) => {
  const options = {
    userVisibleOnly: true,
    applicationServerKey,
  };
  serviceWorkerRegistration.pushManager.subscribe(options).then(
    (pushSubscription) => {
      console.log(pushSubscription.endpoint);
      // The push subscription details needed by the application
      // server are now available, and can be sent to it using,
      // for example, the fetch() API.
    },
    (error) => {
      // During development it often helps to log errors to the
      // console. In a production environment it might make sense to
      // also report information about errors back to the
      // application server.
      console.error(error);
    },
  );
});

Responding to user gestures

subscribe() calls should be done in response to a user gesture, such as clicking a button, for example:

js
btn.addEventListener("click", () => {
  serviceWorkerRegistration.pushManager
    .subscribe(options)
    .then((pushSubscription) => {
      // handle subscription
    });
});

This is not only best practice — you should not be spamming users with notifications they didn't agree to — but going forward browsers will explicitly disallow notifications not triggered in response to a user gesture. Firefox is already doing this from version 72, for example.

Specifications

Specification
Push API
# dom-pushmanager-subscribe

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
subscribe
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 42 (Release date: 2015-04-14)
footnote
footnote The options parameter with a applicationServerKey value is required.
Edge – Full support
Edge 17 (Release date: 2018-04-30)
footnote
footnote The options parameter with a applicationServerKey value is required.
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 44 (Release date: 2016-01-26)
footnote
footnote From Firefox 72 onwards, can only be called in response to a user gesture such as a click event.
Opera – Full support
Opera 29 (Release date: 2015-04-28)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 16 (Release date: 2022-09-12)
footnote
footnote Notifications are supported on macOS Ventura and later.
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 42 (Release date: 2015-04-15)
footnote
footnote The options parameter with a applicationServerKey value is required.
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 48 (Release date: 2016-08-02)
footnote
footnote From Firefox Android 79 onwards, can only be called in response to a user gesture such as a click event.
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 29 (Release date: 2015-04-28)
footnote
footnote The options parameter with a applicationServerKey value is required.
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 16.4 (Release date: 2023-03-27)
footnote
footnote Notifications are supported in web apps saved to the home screen.
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 4 (Release date: 2016-03-11)
footnote
footnote The options parameter with a applicationServerKey value is required.
WebView Android – No support
WebView Android
footnote No support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote
footnote Notifications are supported in web apps saved to the home screen.

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
See implementation notes.