This project implements a notification service using Laravel that allows users to subscribe to various notification types and receive notifications via email and WebSocket.

• PHP: Ensure PHP 8.2 is installed and properly configured.
• Composer: Required for managing PHP dependencies.
• Laravel: This project is built using Laravel framework version 11.9.
• Pusher PHP Server: Version 7.2 is used for handling WebSocket communication.

Clone the repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/ibukunoreofe/laravel-notification-service.git
cd laravel-notification-service

Copy the example .env file and update the environment variables with your specific configuration:

cp .env.example .env

Ensure that your database connection and mail settings are correctly configured, and add the following for WebSocket setup:

BROADCAST_CONNECTION=pusher
PUSHER_APP_ID=app-id
PUSHER_APP_KEY=app-key
PUSHER_APP_SECRET=app-secret
PUSHER_APP_CLUSTER=mt1
PUSHER_SCHEME=http
PUSHER_HOST=echo-server
PUSHER_PORT=6001
PUSHER_ENCRYPTED=false

docker-compose up --build --detach --remove-orphans

docker compose exec -it laravel.test bash

docker compose exec -it laravel.test bash

Endpoint:

POST /api/notifications/subscribe

Request Body:

{
  "user_id": 1,
  "notification_type": "news"
}

Description: This endpoint allows a user to subscribe to a specific notification type (e.g., news, alerts, updates).

Endpoint:

POST /api/notifications/unsubscribe

Request Body:

{
  "user_id": 1,
  "notification_type": "news"
}

Description: This endpoint allows a user to unsubscribe from a specific notification type.

Endpoint:

POST /api/notifications/send

Request Body:

{
  "notification_type": "alert",
  "title": "System Alert",
  "message": "An important system alert has been triggered."
}

Description: This endpoint sends a notification to all users who are subscribed to the specified notification type.

Endpoint:

GET /api/notifications/{user_id}

Request Parameters:

• user_id: The ID of the user whose notifications you want to view.

Description: This endpoint retrieves all notifications sent to a specific user.

You can also test the WebSocket functionality using Postman. Here’s how:

1. Open Postman and select the WebSocket Request.

2. Connect to the WebSocket using the URL:

   
   ws://localhost:6001/app/my-app-key?protocol=7&client=js&version=4.3.1&flash=false
           
   

3. Replace my-app-key with the key you've set in the .env file.

Once connected, you can subscribe to a specific channel by sending the following JSON:

{
  "event": "pusher:subscribe",
  "data": {
    "auth": "",
    "channel": "notifications.alert"
  }
}

After subscribing, use the Send Notification API endpoint to trigger a notification. The notification should be received in real-time in the Postman WebSocket client.

Using wscat for Testing WebSocket Connections You can use wscat, a WebSocket client for the command-line, to test your WebSocket connections.

npm install -g wscat

wscat -c ws://localhost:6001/app/app-key?protocol=7&client=js&version=4.3.1&flash=false

Replace app-key with your actual Pusher app key.

Once connected, you can subscribe to channels and listen for events.

{
  "event": "pusher:subscribe",
  "data": {
    "auth": "",
    "channel": "<channel>"
  }
}

Replace my-app-key with your actual Pusher app key.

Once connected, you can subscribe to channels and listen for events.

Listen for Events:

After subscribing, any event broadcasted on the channel will be received by wscat.

Open Postman and go to the WebSocket testing feature.

ws://localhost:6001/app/my-app-key?protocol=7&client=js&version=4.3.1&flash=false

{
  "event": "pusher:subscribe",
  "data": {
    "auth": "",
    "channel": "notifications.alert"
  }
}

The Project is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.