> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://novu-c5de82d9-docs-homepage-redesign.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Novu?

> Open-source communication infrastructure for transactional notifications and agent conversations. Workflows, Inbox, ACI, and 60+ provider integrations.

Novu is open-source communication infrastructure for products that need to reach users reliably and hold conversations with them. It gives you two complementary capabilities on one platform:

* **Transactional notifications**: Orchestrate multi-channel workflows for in-app, email, chat, push, and SMS with a unified API, drag-and-drop workflow builder, and customizable [`<Inbox />`](/platform/inbox) component.
* **Agent conversations**: Connect AI agents to Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, email, Telegram, and other channels through [Agent Communication Infrastructure (ACI)](/agents/get-started/what-is-aci), without rebuilding webhooks, identity, and delivery for every platform.

Use either capability on its own, or connect them. Agents can trigger existing workflows from a conversation thread, workflows can send messages on behalf of an agent, and a user who replies to a workflow message can start an agent conversation.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card icon="bell" href="/platform" title="Notification platform">
    Workflows, subscribers, channels, and the Inbox component for transactional and lifecycle messaging.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="bot" href="/agents" title="Agents overview">
    Connect custom code or managed agents to messaging platforms with ACI for conversational use cases.
  </Card>
</Columns>

Novu is designed to fit and scale with your existing system. Trusted by startups and enterprises for its developer-first design and cost-effective scalability, it delivers notifications and agent replies reliably without unnecessary complexity.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card icon="rocket" href="/platform/quickstart/nextjs" title="Notification quickstart">
    Get started with workflows and the Inbox component in minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="zap" href="/agents/managed-agent/quickstart" title="Agents quickstart">
    Connect your first agent to Slack and send a message in under five minutes.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Why use Novu for notification infrastructure?

Novu is designed to provide a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use communication solution that helps teams save time, reduce complexity, and improve user engagement across multiple platforms. Here's what sets it apart from other notification and agent infrastructure solutions:

### The only fully open-source notification infrastructure

* **Backed by a growing open-source community**. Novu is 100% open-source, with a rich community of creative minds constantly contributing to improve its capabilities.
* **Built with an API-first approach**. Developers can deeply customize workflows and automate notifications through Novu APIs.
* **Easily integrates with existing tools**. Novu works with modern development stacks, enabling smooth adoption without disrupting workflows.

### Agent communication infrastructure for conversational products

* **One agent, many channels**. Connect the same agent brain to Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, email, Telegram, and other supported platforms through ACI.
* **Infrastructure separate from intelligence**. ACI handles webhooks, identity, conversation state, and delivery so you can focus on your LLM, tools, and business logic.
* **Custom code or managed agents**. Run your own agent with the agent SDK, or configure a [managed agent](/agents/managed-agent/overview) without custom server code.

### Best-in-class in-app notification inbox

* **Simplifies in-app notifications**. Developers can integrate real-time notifications in any web or mobile app with six lines of code.
* **Offers full customization**. Developers can use hooks and headless libraries to modify the look and feel of the inbox UI.
* **Empowers users with preferences**. The [`<Inbox />`](/platform/inbox) built-in preference management lets your users control how they receive notifications.

### True omnichannel notification management

* **Unifies all notification channels**. Developers can manage email, in-app, push, SMS, and chat notifications from a single API.
* **Optimizes delivery strategies**. Novu enables multi-step workflows, ensuring users receive messages in the most effective channel.
* **Reduces notification overload**. The digest feature consolidates updates (for example, "10 new likes on your post"), improving user experience.

### Flexible workflow automation: no-code or code-first

* **No-code workflow automation**. The drag-and-drop workflow builder makes notification automation accessible to your non-technical teams via the Novu's dashboard.
* **Provides ultimate control with code-first workflows**. [The Novu Framework SDK](/platform/sdks) lets developers define workflows in code, integrate with CI/CD, and add custom automation logic.
* **Consistent notification experience across teams**. Standardizes notification patterns, preventing each team from implementing separate, inconsistent solutions.

### Advanced features for power users

* **Extends functionality with the Novu Framework SDK**. Developers can integrate custom workflows beyond Novu's default capabilities.
* **Enhances real-time engagement**. Subscriber presence tracking detects if a user is online before sending notifications.
* **Supports multi-tenancy**. Ideal for SaaS businesses managing multiple customer accounts.

### Cost-effective with clear, transparent pricing

* **Eliminates unpredictable costs**. Fixed pricing ensures startups and enterprises can scale without hidden fees.
* **Offers a free tier for easy adoption**. Independent developers and small businesses can get started at no cost.

## Notifications and agents, together

Transactional workflows and agent conversations share the same Novu account, subscribers, and channels. ACI extends the workflow system; it does not replace it.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card icon="network" href="/agents/get-started/what-is-aci" title="What is ACI?">
    Learn how Agent Communication Infrastructure connects agents to messaging platforms.
  </Card>

  <Card icon="brain-circuit" href="/agents/get-started/mental-model" title="Mental model">
    See how inbound messages flow from a channel through Novu to your agent and back.
  </Card>
</Columns>

### Conversation to workflow

From an agent thread, your handler can call `ctx.trigger()` to start any existing workflow. For example, a user asks in Slack for a report by email, and the agent triggers a workflow that delivers it.

### Workflow to conversation

Workflows can send messages on behalf of an agent across email, chat, and other channels. When a user replies to that message, Novu can open a new agent conversation and continue the thread in context.

### One platform for both patterns

* Escalation emails, CSAT surveys, and on-call alerts from inside a conversation.
* Digest or notification replies that hand off to an agent for follow-up.
* Shared subscriber identity across notifications and agent threads.

Learn more in [Conversations and workflows](/agents/custom-code-agent/concepts#conversations-and-workflows) and [Signals](/agents/custom-code-agent/setup-your-agent/signals).

## Common Use Cases

Here is how developers, startups, and enterprises are currently using Novu in real-world projects:

### Transactional notifications

* Order confirmations and shipping updates for e-commerce.
* Password reset emails and authentication alerts for SaaS platforms.
* Payment failure or subscription renewal reminders.

### Agent and conversational experiences

* Support agents that answer questions in Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, or email.
* Internal operations agents that triage requests, collect information, and route work.
* Workflow agents that trigger notifications, approvals, or escalations from within a conversation.
* Multi-channel agents that need one communication interface across several providers.

### In-app notification feeds

* Show unread notifications directly in the app using Novu's Inbox component.
* Customize the notification UI with hooks and headless components.
* Deliver updates, such as mentions, comments, or system alerts.

### Digest and summary notifications

* "10 people liked your post" (similar to Facebook).
* A weekly report summarizing account activity.
* A daily task reminder for productivity apps.

### Multi-step notification workflows

* Step 1: Send an in-app notification → Step 2: If unread in 24 hours, send an email → Step 3: If still unread, send an SMS reminder.
* Delay and schedule notifications using Novu's workflow automation.

### Multi-channel notification delivery

* Notify VIP customers via SMS while sending regular users an email.
* Route system alerts to Slack or Microsoft Teams for internal teams.
* Let users opt-in to specific channels (for example, receive marketing updates via email but urgent alerts via push notifications).

### Customizable notification management

* Let users enable/disable notification channels (email, SMS, push).
* Offer per-event notification settings (for example, only notify me when tagged in a comment).
* Manage user preferences with Novu's built-in preference center.

## Next steps

Choose where you want to start:

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card icon="https://mintcdn.com/novu-c5de82d9-docs-homepage-redesign/MQszelfdJHp3CgNw/images/icons/nextjs.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=MQszelfdJHp3CgNw&q=85&s=5ec58e3684000a16139f4ff526919f2d" title="Next.js" href="/platform/quickstart/nextjs" description="Get started with our pre-built UI component in Next.js" width="24" height="24" data-path="images/icons/nextjs.svg" />

  <Card icon="https://mintcdn.com/novu-c5de82d9-docs-homepage-redesign/MQszelfdJHp3CgNw/images/icons/react.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=MQszelfdJHp3CgNw&q=85&s=966a4f8a5227c74ab646870b79618e6f" title="React" href="/platform/quickstart/react" description="Get started with our pre-built UI component in React" width="24" height="24" data-path="images/icons/react.svg" />

  <Card icon="https://mintcdn.com/novu-c5de82d9-docs-homepage-redesign/MQszelfdJHp3CgNw/images/icons/remix.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=MQszelfdJHp3CgNw&q=85&s=48e1028e749ab0be235e9ca91e3a7fea" title="Remix" href="/platform/quickstart/remix" description="Get started with our pre-built UI component in Remix" width="24" height="24" data-path="images/icons/remix.svg" />

  <Card icon="bot" title="Agents quickstart" href="/agents/managed-agent/quickstart" description="Connect your first agent to Slack and send a message" />
</Columns>

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What makes Novu different from other notification platforms?">
    Novu is fully open source and unifies transactional notifications and agent conversations on one platform. It supports no-code workflows, code-first workflows with the Novu Framework, a drop-in Inbox component, and Agent Communication Infrastructure (ACI) for multi-channel agents.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I self-host Novu?">
    Yes. Novu can be self-hosted for full control over your notification infrastructure. See the [self-hosting guide](/community/self-hosting-novu/overview) for deployment options.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Which channels can I send notifications through?">
    Novu supports in-app (Inbox), email, SMS, push, and chat. Connect your preferred providers through the [Integrations store](/platform/integrations).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>