Example configuration

Commented default configuration

#
# mako - configuration file example (unofficial, 2026-03-26)
# See mako(5) man page for more information.
#
# All default values are used in this example.
# CRITERIA information are not included in this example.
# MODES information are not included in this example.
#

#
# GLOBAL CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#

# Set maximum number of expired notifications to keep in the history buffer to
# n. If the buffer is full, newly expired notifications replace the oldest ones.
# If 0, history is disabled.
max-history=5

# Sorts incoming notifications by time and/or priority in ascending(+) or
# descending(-) order.
sort=-time

# Includes a config at the specified path. The path must be absolute or
# otherwise start with ~/.
#
# mako can't parse option 'include=none' (default in the man page) currently.
#include=none

#
# BINDING OPTIONS
#
# Supported actions: none, dismiss [--no-history], dismiss-all, dismiss-group,
# invoke-action <action>, invoke-default-action, exec <command>.
# See BINDING OPTIONS for more information.
#

# Performs the action when the left pointer button is pressed.
on-button-left=invoke-default-action

# Performs the action when the middle pointer button is pressed.
on-button-middle=none

# Performs the action when the right pointer button is pressed.
on-button-right=dismiss

# Performs the action when tapped via a touch device.
on-touch=dismiss

# Performs the action when the notification is opened.
on-notify=none

#
# STYLE OPTIONS
#
# font: For more information on Pango font descriptions, see:
# https://docs.gtk.org/Pango/type_func.FontDescription.from_string.html#description
# color: See COLORS for more information.
# directional: See DIRECTIONAL VALUES for more information.
# format: See FORMAT SPECIFIERS for more information.
#

# Set font to font, as a Pango font description.
font=monospace 10

# Set background color to color.
background-color=#285577FF

# Set text color to color.
text-color=#FFFFFFFF

# Set width of notification popups.
width=300

# Set maximum height of notification popups. Notifications whose text takes up
# less space are shrunk to fit.
height=100

# Set outer-margin of each edge to the size specified by directional. This
# margin applies to the outside of the whole notification list.
outer-margin=0

# Set margin of each edge to the size specified by directional. This margin
# applies to each individual notification. Note that it applies in addition to
# outer-margin, meaning first and last notifications will use the sum of both
# margins.
margin=10

# Set padding on each side to the size specified by directional.
padding=5

# Set popup border size to px pixels.
border-size=2

# Set popup border color to color.
border-color=#4C7899FF

# Set popup corner radius on each side to the size specified by directional.
border-radius=0

# Set popup progress indicator color to color. To draw the progress indicator on
# top of the background color, use the over attribute. To replace the background
# color, use the source attribute (this can be useful when the notification is
# semi-transparent).
#
# Progress can be indicated in a notification by setting a hint, "value" to an
# integer between 0 and 100 inclusive.
progress-color=over #5588AAFF

# Show icons in notifications.
icons=1

# Set maximum icon size to px pixels.
max-icon-size=64

# Paths to search for icons when a notification specifies a name instead of a
# full path. Colon-delimited. This approximates the search algorithm used by the
# XDG Icon Theme Specification, but does not support any of the theme metadata.
# Therefore, if you want to search parent themes, you'll need to add them to the
# path manually.
#
# The path should be the root of the icon theme, the categories and resolutions
# will be searched for the most appropriate match.
#
# /usr/share/icons/hicolor and /usr/share/pixmaps are always searched.
icon-path=""

# Position of the icon relative to the displayed text. Valid options are left,
# right, top and bottom.
icon-location=left

# Sets icon corner radius to px pixels.
icon-border-radius=0

# If 1, enable Pango markup. If 0, disable Pango markup. If enabled, Pango
# markup will be interpreted in your format specifier and in the body of
# notifications.
markup=1

# Applications may request an action to be associated with activating a
# notification. Disabling this will cause mako to ignore these requests.
actions=1

# If set, mako will save notifications that have reached their timeout into the
# history buffer instead of immediately deleting them. max-history determines
# the size of the history buffer.
history=1

# Set notification format string to format. See FORMAT SPECIFIERS for more
# information. To change this for grouped notifications, set it within a grouped
# criteria.
#
# Default when grouped: (%g) <b>%s</b>\n%b
format=<b>%s</b>\n%b

# Set notification text alignment.
text-alignment=left

# Set the default timeout to timeout in milliseconds. To disable the timeout,
# set it to zero.
default-timeout=0

# If set, mako will ignore the expire timeout sent by notifications and use the
# one provided by default-timeout instead.
ignore-timeout=0

# A comma-separated list of criteria fields that will be compared to other
# visible notifications to determine if this one should form a group with them.
# All listed criteria must be exactly equal for two notifications to group.
group-by=none

# Set maximum number of visible notifications to n. Older notifications will be
# hidden. If -1, all notifications are visible.
max-visible=5

# Show notifications on the specified output. If empty, notifications will
# appear on the focused output.
#
# Requires the compositor to support the Wayland protocol xdg-output-unstable-v1
# version 2.
output=""

# Arrange mako at the specified layer, relative to normal windows. Supported
# values are background, bottom, top, and overlay. Using overlay will cause
# notifications to be displayed above fullscreen windows, though this may also
# occur at top depending on your compositor.
layer=top

# Show notifications at the specified position on the output. Supported values
# are top-right, top-center, top-left, bottom-right, bottom-center, bottom-left,
# center-right, center-left and center.
anchor=top-right

Example configuration

sort=-time
layer=overlay
background-color=#2e3440
width=300
height=110
border-size=2
border-color=#88c0d0
border-radius=15
icons=0
max-icon-size=64
default-timeout=5000
ignore-timeout=1
font=monospace 14

[urgency=low]
border-color=#cccccc

[urgency=normal]
border-color=#d08770

[urgency=high]
border-color=#bf616a
default-timeout=0

[category=mpd]
default-timeout=2000
group-by=category