Configure Bark Notifications

Bark is an open-source iOS notification app. Bitpongo uses it to deliver trade results, strategy events, and operational alerts. Notification sound and urgency are selected automatically according to the event type.

:::warning Keep the push URL private

A Bark push URL contains a Device Key that can send notifications to your device. Treat the complete URL as a secret. Do not post it in screenshots, logs, issues, source code, or public chat.

:::

Configure Bark as a Bitpongo user

1. Install and open Bark

Install Bark from the iOS App Store and open it once so that it can register for notifications. Allow notifications when iOS asks for permission.

2. Copy the Bark test URL

In Bark, copy the test URL displayed on the main screen. It looks similar to:

https://api.day.app/YOUR_DEVICE_KEY/Test

Copy the complete address. Do not replace the Device Key and do not add custom sound or call=1 parameters. Bitpongo applies a consistent notification policy for each event type.

3. Save it in Bitpongo

1. Sign in to Bitpongo.
2. Open Me.
3. Select Notifications.
4. Paste the copied address into Bark push URL.
5. Keep notifications enabled and select Save.

The saved address is encrypted by the server. After saving, Bitpongo only shows a masked address and never returns the complete Device Key to the app.

4. Send a test notification

Select Test on the Bark notification page. A successful test uses a normal notification sound and does not enable continuous ringing.

If no notification arrives:

1. Confirm that Bark has notification permission in iOS Settings.
2. Open Bark and verify that its own test URL works.
3. Paste a newly copied complete URL into Bitpongo and test again.
4. Check Focus mode, notification summaries, volume, and network connectivity.

Disable or remove Bark

• Turn off the notification switch and save to pause delivery without replacing the saved address.
• Select Delete Bark settings to remove the address. Pending notifications for that user are skipped and are not delivered after Bark is enabled again.

Notification behavior

Bitpongo decides the Bark level, sound, and group centrally. Query parameters copied from a test URL do not override this policy.

Event	Delivery behavior
Scheduler fatal error or order requiring manual review	Critical alert, alarm sound, maximum volume, and continuous ringing
Trade failure or sustained market outage	Time-sensitive alarm without continuous ringing
Skipped or delayed strategy execution	Time-sensitive notification without continuous ringing
Successful trade	Active notification with the minuet sound
Asset snapshot failure	Active notification
Service recovery or startup	Passive notification; startup notification is disabled by default

Continuous ringing is reserved for events that require immediate operator attention. A normal trade failure does not ring continuously.

Configure Bark for a Bitpongo deployment

This section is for server administrators. Users should configure Bark through the app instead.

1. Generate the credential encryption key

Generate an independent 32-byte key encoded as Base64:

openssl rand -base64 32

Store the output in a secret manager and inject it as BARK_CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_KEY. Do not reuse the JWT secret and do not commit the generated value.

:::danger Preserve this key

The key encrypts user Bark Device Keys. Keep the same value across deployments and backups. Replacing or losing it prevents the server from decrypting existing user Bark settings; affected users must then save their Bark URLs again.

:::

2. Configure environment variables

Use the following deployment template:

BARK_USER_NOTIFICATIONS_ENABLED=true
BARK_ADMIN_PUSH_URL=https://api.day.app/YOUR_ADMIN_DEVICE_KEY
BARK_ALLOWED_HOSTS=api.day.app
BARK_ALLOW_PRIVATE_HOSTS=false
BARK_CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_KEY=YOUR_32_BYTE_BASE64_KEY
BARK_NOTIFY_ON_STARTUP=false
BARK_DISPATCH_ENABLED=true
APP_PUBLIC_URL=https://your-bitpongo.example.com

Variable	Purpose
BARK_USER_NOTIFICATIONS_ENABLED	Allows users to save and receive notifications through their own Bark URLs.
BARK_ADMIN_PUSH_URL	Optional administrator Bark URL for scheduler, market, infrastructure, and manual-review alerts. Leave it empty to disable administrator delivery.
BARK_ALLOWED_HOSTS	Comma-separated exact Bark host names or host:port entries. The default is api.day.app.
BARK_ALLOW_PRIVATE_HOSTS	Allows explicitly listed private-network hosts when set to true. Keep it false for the public Bark service.
BARK_CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Required 32-byte Base64 key used to encrypt user Device Keys.
BARK_NOTIFY_ON_STARTUP	Sends a passive administrator startup notification when enabled.
BARK_DISPATCH_ENABLED	Runs the outbox dispatcher that sends queued business notifications.
APP_PUBLIC_URL	Optional public Bitpongo URL attached to supported notifications.

BARK_ADMIN_PUSH_URL and BARK_CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_KEY are secrets. Supply them through deployment secrets or a protected .env file, not through source control or image build arguments.

3. Apply the Docker configuration

After changing the environment, recreate the API container:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate api
docker compose ps
docker compose logs --tail=100 api

The deployment fails fast when the encryption key is missing or is not a valid 32-byte Base64 value, including when user notifications are disabled.

Self-hosted Bark server

For a public HTTPS Bark server, add its exact host name:

BARK_ALLOWED_HOSTS=api.day.app,bark.example.com
BARK_ALLOW_PRIVATE_HOSTS=false

For a reviewed private-network deployment, list the exact host or host:port and explicitly allow private destinations:

BARK_ALLOWED_HOSTS=bark.internal.example:8443
BARK_ALLOW_PRIVATE_HOSTS=true

Bitpongo accepts HTTPS targets only, rejects loopback, link-local, and private addresses by default, and does not follow cross-host redirects.

Common deployment errors

Bark 凭据加密密钥必须是 32-byte Base64

The encryption key is empty, malformed, or decodes to a value other than 32 bytes. Generate a new value with openssl rand -base64 32, store it without extra quotes or spaces, and recreate the API container.

Do not replace a working production key merely to resolve formatting in a new deployment. First recover the value already used to encrypt existing settings.

The test works, but business notifications do not arrive

Confirm that BARK_DISPATCH_ENABLED=true and that the user notification switch is enabled. The test endpoint sends immediately, while trade and strategy events are delivered through the notification outbox and may be retried after a temporary Bark failure.

A self-hosted URL is rejected

Confirm that the URL uses HTTPS, the exact host or host:port appears in BARK_ALLOWED_HOSTS, and private hosting is explicitly enabled only when the target resolves to a private address.

Privacy and reliability

• API responses return only a masked Bark address.
• Device Keys are encrypted before storage.
• Notification failures do not roll back trades, strategies, snapshots, or reconciliation results.
• Business notifications are queued, deduplicated, and retried after temporary failures.
• Deleting an account removes its Bark setting and skips undelivered user notifications.