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-pl_notification
-==========
+# pl-notification
+
+`pl-notification` is a _[ChRIS plugin](https://chrisproject.org/)_ to send notifications through mail / Slack /Element.
+
+usage: `notifcation [-t TITLE] [-c CONTENT] [-s SLACK_URL] [-e ELEMENT_ROOM] [-E ELEMENT_TOKEN] [--element-host ELEMENT_HOST] [-r RCPT] [-S SENDER] [-M MAIL_SERVER]
+                    inputdir outputdir`
+
+Alternatively, we can create a `[inputdir]/.notification.yaml` and setup the configuration.
+
+## Abstract
+
+Sometimes we would like to be notified in various scenarios in the ChRIS environment. Some typical scenarios are system monitoring and task monitoring.
+`pl-notification` is a _[ChRIS plugin](https://chrisproject.org/)_ to send notifications through mail / Slack / Element.
+
+## Installation
+
+`pl-notification` is a _[ChRIS plugin](https://chrisproject.org/)_, meaning it can
+run from either within _ChRIS_ or the command-line.
+
+## Local Usage
+
+To get started with local command-line usage, use [Apptainer](https://apptainer.org/)
+(a.k.a. Singularity) to run `pl-notification` as a container:
+
+```shell
+apptainer exec docker://fnndsc/pl-notification notification [--args values...] input/ output/
+```
+
+To print its available options, run:
+
+```shell
+apptainer exec docker://fnndsc/pl-notification notification --help
+```
+
+## Examples
+
+To post some message (optionally with title) to some Slack channel:
+```shell
+notification -t 'the title' -c 'test from pl-notification' -s [slack-url from Slack Incoming Webhooks] inputdir outputdir
+```
+
+To post some message (optionally with title) to some Element room:
+```shell
+notification -t 'the title' -c 'test from pl-notification' -e [full room ID (!something:domain.tld) from Room Info -> Settings -> Advanced -> Internal room ID] -E [access token from Settings -> Help & About -> Advanced -> AccessToken] inputdir outputdir
+```
+
+To send some message with title through Email:
+```shell
+notification -t 'the title' -c 'test from pl-notification' -r [comma separated valid email recipent addresses] [-S [valid email sender address]] [-M [email server]] inputdir outputdir
+```
+
+Different methods can be sent simultaneously with the combined command:
+```shell
+notification -t 'the title' -c 'test from pl-notification' -s [slack-url] -e [room ID] -E [access token] -r [email recipents] [-S [email sender]] [-M [email server]] inputdir outputdir
+```
+
+## Development
+
+### Building
+
+Build a local container image:
+
+```shell
+docker build -t localhost/fnndsc/pl-notification .
+```
+
+### Running
+
+Mount the source code `notification.py` into a container to try out changes without rebuild.
+
+```shell
+docker run --rm -it --userns=host -u $(id -u):$(id -g) \
+    -v $PWD/notification.py:/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/notification.py:ro \
+    -v $PWD/in:/incoming:ro -v $PWD/out:/outgoing:rw -w /outgoing \
+    localhost/fnndsc/pl-notification notification /incoming /outgoing
+```
+
+### Testing
+
+Run unit tests using `pytest`.
+
+## Release
+
+Steps for release can be automated by [Github Actions](.github/workflows/ci.yml).