Notification

An alert delivered to a specific member about something that happened and is relevant to them. Notifications are targeted and recipient-scoped, unlike activity which is feed-oriented.

Fields:

• recipient_identity_user_id — who receives it
• actor_identity_user_id — who caused it (optional)
• object_type / object_id — what it is about (optional)
• title — short human-readable label
• body — optional longer description
• read_at — null until the member reads it

Allowed:

• notification
• unread notification
• mark notification as read

Forbidden:

• alert (acceptable in UI prose; not the technical noun)
• message (notifications are not messages; see: message)
• ping (too informal)
• push (describes delivery mechanism, not the object)

Notes:

• Currently notifications are generated for conversation replies. Event RSVPs, event invitations, and community invitations do not yet generate notifications — this is a known gap.
• A notification is not an activity record. Activity is a public feed; notifications are private and recipient-specific.
• Notifications are marked read via POST /social/notifications/{id}/read.

Related:

• activity (distinct public feed; see: activity)
• conversation
• event
• member