SnoreToast Documentation

SnoreToast is a command-line application used to create Windows Toast notifications on Windows 8 or later. It allows developers to trigger desktop notifications with custom titles, messages, images, buttons, and text inputs.

By default, if no --appID is provided, SnoreToast creates a shortcut to snoretoast.exe in the Start Menu, and notifications will be branded as 'SnoreToast'. To brand notifications as your own application, you must register an application entry in the Start Menu using the -install command and then reference that specific AppID in subsequent calls.

When using the -p or --image option, images must adhere to the following constraints imposed by the Windows Toast notification system:

• Format: .png only.
• Dimensions: Maximum 1024x1024 pixels.
• File Size: Must be <= 200kb.

To interact with a notification after it has been displayed (such as closing it), you must assign it a unique ID when it is created using the -id flag. You can then use the -close command with that ID to dismiss the notification programmatically.

# Create a notification with a specific ID
SnoreToast -t "Persistent" -m "Don't close me" -id "my_unique_id"

# Close that specific notification later
SnoreToast -close "my_unique_id"

You can use the -install command to create a Start Menu shortcut that points to a specific application and associates it with a specific AppID for notifications.

# Syntax: SnoreToast -install <name> <application> <appID>
SnoreToast -install "My App" "C:\Path\To\App.exe" "com.example.myapp"

To ensure notifications are branded with your application's identity rather than 'SnoreToast', follow these two steps:

1. Register your application: Create a Start Menu entry that links your executable to a specific AppID using the -install flag.
2. Use the AppID: When calling snoretoast.exe to show a notification, pass the same AppID using the --appID flag.

Example Registration:

snoretoast.exe --install "MyApp\MyApp.lnk" "C:\myApp.exe" "My.APP_ID"

Example Notification:

snoretoast.exe --appID "My.APP_ID" -t "Hello" -m "World"

To ensure notifications are correctly associated with a specific application (and appear in the Action Center under that app's identity), you can use the -install command. This creates a Windows shortcut that links an executable to an AppID.

Syntax: snoretoast.exe -install "<path_to_shortcut>" "<path_to_executable>" "<AppID>"

snoretoast.exe -install "C:\Users\Me\Desktop\MyApp.lnk" "C:\Program Files\MyApp\app.exe" "MyCompany.MyApp"

You can assign a unique identifier to a notification using the -id flag. This allows you to programmatically close a specific notification later using the -close flag.

1. Create a notification with an ID: snoretoast.exe -t "Title" -m "Message" -id "my_unique_id"

2. Close that specific notification: snoretoast.exe -close "my_unique_id"

snoretoast.exe -t "Loading" -m "Please wait..." -id "loader_01"
# ... later ...
snoretoast.exe -close "loader_01"

If you are using an NSIS installer, you can use the provided macro to handle shortcut creation. The macro checks if the OS is at least Windows 8; if so, it uses snoretoast.exe -install to register the AppID and shortcut. Otherwise, it falls back to a standard CreateShortCut command.

!include LogicLib.nsh
!include WordFunc.nsh

Function SnoreWinVer
    ReadRegStr $R0 HKLM "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" CurrentVersion
    ${VersionCompare} "6.2" $R0 $R0
    ${If} $R0 == 1
        Push "NotWin8"
    ${Else}
        Push "AtLeastWin8"
    ${EndIf}
FunctionEnd

!macro SnoreShortcut path exe appID
    Call SnoreWinVer
    Pop $0
    ${If} $0 == "AtLeastWin8"
        nsExec::ExecToLog '"${SnoreToastExe}" -install "${path}" "${exe}" "${appID}"'
    ${Else}
        CreateShortCut "${path}" "${exe}"
    ${EndIf}
!macroend

When using the -p flag to display images in a toast, the images must adhere to the following constraints imposed by the Windows Toast notification system:

• Format: Must be .png.
• Dimensions: Maximum of 1024x1024 pixels.
• File Size: Must be <= 200kb.

SnoreToast returns specific exit codes to indicate the outcome of a notification interaction: