Building Gitify: Lessons from Creating a GitHub Notification Tool

Gitify started as a simple idea: I wanted better GitHub notifications on my desktop. What began as a weekend project turned into something thousands of developers use daily.

The Problem

GitHub's web notifications are fine, but I found myself constantly switching tabs to check for updates. I wanted something native, something that just worked in the background without being intrusive.

The Solution

I built Gitify using Electron, React, and TypeScript. The goal was simple: provide clean, real-time GitHub notifications without the noise.

Key features I focused on:

Native desktop notifications
Minimal, distraction-free UI
Support for multiple accounts
Customizable notification filters

Technical Challenges

Managing GitHub's API Rate Limits

The biggest challenge was GitHub's API rate limits. With thousands of users, I had to implement smart polling strategies and caching to avoid hitting limits.

const POLL_INTERVAL = 60000; // Poll every minute
const cache = new Map();

function shouldFetchNotifications(lastFetch: number): boolean {
  return Date.now() - lastFetch >= POLL_INTERVAL;
}

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Making Electron apps work smoothly across Windows, macOS, and Linux is harder than it looks. Each platform has its quirks with notifications, tray icons, and auto-updates.

What I Learned

Start with MVP: I could have spent months adding features, but I launched with the bare minimum. User feedback shaped what came next.

Performance Matters: Even simple apps need optimization. I spent considerable time making Gitify fast and responsive.

Open Source is Powerful: Opening the project to contributions led to features I never would have thought of.

The Impact

Seeing developers actually use something I built is incredibly rewarding. Gitify has helped thousands of developers stay on top of their GitHub notifications without getting overwhelmed.

What's Next

I'm constantly working on improvements:

Better filtering options
Team-specific notification grouping
Performance optimizations
New customization features

Building Gitify taught me that the best tools solve real problems simply.