# Connect Dock badges

> One watch over every app that badges its Dock icon. Slack, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Mail, Messages, Discord, WhatsApp or any other app tells the notch when its count goes up, with no account or token for any of them.

Source: https://coisland.app/docs/connect-dockbadges/

## What you need

- **You need:** No token, from macOS asks for Accessibility once
- **The form asks:** Connector name
- **You can watch:** New unread, Badge over a threshold
- **Access:** Read the badges on Dock icons, never the apps behind them

To connect Dock badges you need nothing but the apps already in your Dock. CoIsland reads the badge on each Dock icon on your Mac: no account, token or sign-in for any app, and nothing leaves the Mac.

## Connect Dock badges in CoIsland

1. Open **Settings › Connectors**, click **+** and choose **Dock badges**.
2. Keep the name `dock`, or type your own.
3. Click **Test connector**. macOS shows a dialog pointing to **System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility**. Turn **CoIsland** on there, come back and click **Test connector** again. A success lists the apps in your Dock and their badges.
4. Click **Add Connector**.

Only Test asks macOS; checks never do. A company-managed Mac can block Accessibility for apps; the connector then says where the switch is.

## Choose what to watch

- **New unread** alerts when an app's badge goes up; a count going down stays quiet.
- **Badge over a threshold** alerts when an app's badge passes the number you pick (0: any badge).

```sql
-- name: New in Slack or Teams
-- kind: dockbadges.new
-- every: 30s

app:com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap app:com.microsoft.teams2
```

The kinds are `dockbadges.new` and `dockbadges.threshold`. `app:` takes a bundle id, repeated, or `app:all`; `above:` (threshold only) takes a whole number. A badge with no number, such as a dot, counts as 1.

## What a Dock alert shows

The app, its badge and, for New unread, the count before (`Dock · badge 5 · was 3`). Opened, it reads the Dock again and says the badge now. **Open Slack** (or the app's name) brings the app forward.

## Troubleshooting

- **CoIsland may not read the Dock yet. Turn CoIsland on in Privacy & Security › Accessibility, then Test again.** **Open System Settings** goes there. After updating a development build, turn the switch off and on again.
- **None of the apps this monitor names is in the Dock now.** Keep the app in the Dock: an app not in the Dock shows no badge.
- **The Dock is not running.** The Dock restarts on its own; the next check reads it again.

Next: the [Dock badges connector](https://coisland.app/dockbadges/) for what it watches.