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Connectors · Calendar & mail

Connect Dock badges

Set up with your AI

One watch over every app that badges its Dock icon.

You need
No token 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
On this page

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).
-- 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 for what it watches.

Stuck? Open an issue on GitHub, or write to hello@coisland.app.

Docs