Yes, AI agents can notify you when a coding task is complete if the surrounding runner or orchestration system exposes task events and connects them to a notification channel. The key is defining “complete” precisely. A stopped process, generated diff, and verified result are different states.
Create distinct events for started, waiting for input, approval required, failed, timed out, cancelled, and completed. Define completed as meeting stated acceptance checks, such as tests, linting, a clean build, and a saved diff. The notification should include the task ID, repository and revision, final status, changed-file summary, checks run, failures, and a link or route to review the output. Do not put source code, secrets, or sensitive logs into a broad chat channel. Add retry and deduplication behavior so a transient messaging failure does not create missing or repeated alerts.
Test the negative paths. Stop a run, make a check fail, remove network access, and require an approval. Confirm that each state produces the correct message and that silence cannot be mistaken for success.
Use notifications to direct attention, not to authorize merging or deployment automatically. Begin with one low-risk queue and a private channel. Once event semantics are trustworthy, completion alerts can support overnight or remote work without requiring constant screen watching.
