Tired of staring at GitHub Copilot? I built an extension to ping my smart watch when it's done

Erman HAVUÇ — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:30:17 +0000

We all know the feeling. You give GitHub Copilot a huge task, like a massive multi-file edit, and then you just sit there waiting.

Sometimes, tasks I thought would take a long time finished in 30 seconds. Other times, I would walk away to get a coffee, only to come back and realize Copilot had been waiting for my terminal input the whole time. It was super frustrating because all that waiting time was totally wasted.

I need more FREEDOOOOOM!

I started looking into how I could get live notifications sent directly to my phone (and my smart watch) so I could actually step away from my desk. While looking around, I noticed that the GitHub Copilot Chat logs are visible in the Output section.

It turns out Copilot logs exactly when a tool loop starts and stops. I realized I could just write a script to watch those local files.

And I discovered ntfy. It is an amazing open source tool that lets you send push notifications to your phone using a simple HTTP POST request. It was exactly what I needed.

Copilot Ntfy Notifier

I put these two things together and built my very first VS Code extension under MrCarrotLabs. It is called Copilot Ntfy Notifier.

It passively watches your local Copilot logs. The second a job completes, it sends a push notification to your phone via ntfy. It even tells you the name of the workspace, the model name and how long the job took. Everything stays private since it only reads local files.

If Copilot stops because it is waiting for a clarifying question or waiting for terminal input, the extension detects that break in the loop and pings your phone. You will never leave your desk and accidentally leave the AI hanging again.

How to try it

If you want to reclaim your coffee breaks, it takes about two minutes to set up:

Install the extension: Get it from the VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX.

Get the ntfy app: Download it on your iOS from App Store or Android phone from Play Store.

Pick a topic: In the mobile app, create a unique topic name (like hello-darkness-my-old-friend).

Connect VS Code: Open the command palette, run Copilot Ntfy: Set ntfy Topic, and enter that same name.

That is it! Now you can walk away from your desk and let your phone tell you when the AI is ready for your review.

This is my first published extension, so if you try it out, I would love to hear your feedback in the comments!

DEV Community: Erman HAVUÇ

Tired of staring at GitHub Copilot? I built an extension to ping my smart watch when it's done

I need more FREEDOOOOOM!

Copilot Ntfy Notifier

How to try it