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Claude Code notifications on Mac: know when it’s done or needs you

Claude Code stops twice: when it finishes, and when it needs your permission. If you are in another window, you miss both. Here are two ways to hear about it on a Mac: a free hook you set up in two minutes, and Isle.

Option 1: a free hook (two minutes)

Claude Code runs hooks, commands it calls at moments like these. Two of them are what you want:

• Stop fires when Claude finishes responding.
• Notification fires when Claude needs you. Its matcher picks which kind: permission_prompt when it asks to use a tool, idle_prompt when it has been waiting for your input.

Paste this into ~/.claude/settings.json (all your projects) or .claude/settings.json (one project). If the file already has a "hooks" key, merge these two events into it.

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          { "type": "command", "command": "osascript -e 'display notification \"Claude finished\" with title \"Claude Code\" sound name \"Glass\"'" }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "Notification": [
      {
        "matcher": "permission_prompt",
        "hooks": [
          { "type": "command", "command": "osascript -e 'display notification \"Claude needs you\" with title \"Claude Code\" sound name \"Ping\"'" }
        ]
      },
      {
        "matcher": "idle_prompt",
        "hooks": [
          { "type": "command", "command": "osascript -e 'display notification \"Claude needs you\" with title \"Claude Code\" sound name \"Ping\"'" }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

It uses osascript, which comes with macOS, so there is nothing to install. Change Glass and Ping to any sound in /System/Library/Sounds. Run /hooks in Claude Code to check they loaded.

No banner? macOS credits these notifications to Script Editor. Open System Settings › Notifications › Script Editor and allow them.

What the hook can’t do

• The banner says that Claude stopped, not what it did or what it is asking.
• It disappears after a few seconds. Miss it, and you are back to checking terminals.
• To answer, you still have to find the right window and tab.

Option 2: Isle, in the notch

Isle is a Mac app that turns the notch into an island. Its AI module watches your Claude Code and Codex sessions, with no hooks to set up: it reads the session files Claude Code already keeps on your Mac, and they stay there.

• You see the step, not just the stop. Each session’s card shows your request and what Claude is doing right now, like “Editing main.swift” or “Running the tests”.
• Islet tells you. Isle’s mascot speaks up when a request starts, when it finishes, and when a session is waiting for you. Its icon pulses in the notch.
• The notice waits for you. It stays in Islet’s bubble until you close or resolve it, and every notice is kept in Islet’s Notes.
• Answer from the notch. In Terminal and iTerm, the card gets Allow and Deny. In other apps that run Claude Code, like the Claude app or Codara, you get a field to reply.
• Jump to the session. Click its card and Isle brings the window forward, selecting the tab in Terminal, iTerm, Ghostty and cmux.
• Usage limits too. A ring per account shows how much of your 5-hour and weekly limits is left. How the AI module works.

Isle costs US$ 14.99 once, for up to 3 Macs, after a 3-day free trial with every feature. It requires macOS 26. Besides AI, it has music, a timer, a file shelf and screenshots.

Which one should you use?

• The hook if a sound and a banner are enough, you work in one terminal, and you want something free.
• Isle if you run several sessions at once, want to know what each is doing without switching windows, or want to answer from where you are.
• Comparing notch apps for AI coding? See Isle next to Vibe Island, or all the notch apps we compared.

Questions

Does this work for Codex too?

The hook above is Claude Code’s. Isle follows Codex sessions as well, and shows Codex usage limits as a ring.

Can I use the hook and Isle together?

Yes. They don’t touch each other. Most people drop the hook once Islet is doing the telling.

Does it work on an external display?

Yes. Without a notch, Islet waits in a small pill at the top of the screen; hover it and the whole island appears.