Octobox

A web inbox for GitHub notifications with archiving, stars, filters and keyboard shortcuts, for maintainers buried in issue and PR alerts.

4.5k stars, 352 forks Ruby On GitHub since December 2016

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

Octobox at a glance

Open sourceYes, AGPL-3.0No paid parts in the repository
Health82 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDockerCompose file, 3 services
InterfaceEnglish onlyNo translation files found
Issue repliesWithin ~19 hoursMedian first reply; 53% of recent issues answered

What is Octobox?

Octobox syncs your GitHub notifications into a triage list that does not lose track of them. You archive a notification to mark it done; if the issue or pull request gets new activity, the next sync puts it back in the inbox. Each entry shows issue or PR state, CI status, labels and assignees, and you can filter by repository, organization, type, reason or author, or search with prefix filters. Gmail-style shortcuts cover every action. A thread view, a browser extension, a REST API with an OpenAPI spec and a Nativefier desktop wrapper are available.

Good fit if

  • You maintain busy GitHub projects and currently sort notifications with mail filters and labels.
  • You want to self-host the notification triage tool rather than use the hosted octobox.io.

Look elsewhere if

  • You need alerts from your own scripts and servers pushed to your phone: ntfy.

Before you adopt it

Octobox is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and has no paid parts in the repository. Most commits come from one developer, with a handful of others contributing. It only works with GitHub, and web notifications must be enabled in your GitHub settings. Self-hosting runs on Docker with PostgreSQL and Redis; the README also covers Heroku deployment.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 7 November 2026. Report a correction

How to run Octobox yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
docker-compose.yml: 3 services (postgres, redis)
Setup effort
2 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: octobox.io or the README on GitHub.

Octobox health: is it still maintained?

82 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~31 days12 releases in 12 months; latest november-2026
Issue repliesWithin ~19 hoursMedian first reply; 53% of recent issues answered
Bus factorMedium riskThe most active of 5 authors wrote 73% of recent commits
  • Activity
    229 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 6 November 2026.
    29 / 30
  • Contributors
    5 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 73% of them.
    10 / 20
  • Releases
    12 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, november-2026, on 1 November 2026.
    18 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 53% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 19 hours.
    16 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 8.7 of 10.
    9 / 10

Read from GitHub on 7 November 2026. How the score works

Octobox security practices

OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

OpenSSF Scorecard8.7 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyYesExplains how to report a vulnerability

What each check found

  • Binary files10 / 10No compiled binaries checked into the repository
  • Code review10 / 10Changes are reviewed before merge
  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Packaging10 / 10Releases are published as packages from CI
  • Security policy10 / 10Explains how to report a vulnerability
  • Static analysis10 / 10Code is scanned for bugs on every change
  • Token permissions10 / 10CI tokens have only the rights they need
  • Pinned dependencies7 / 10Some dependencies use fixed versions
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found

From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 2 November 2026. Checks that do not apply to Octobox are left out.

Octobox license: is it open source?

Octobox uses AGPL-3.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. December 2016First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayAGPL-3.0.

Octobox for developers

Written in

  • Ruby 70%
  • HTML 18%
  • JavaScript 7%
  • SCSS 4%
  • Shell <1%
  • Other <1%

Getting involved

Contributing guideYesCONTRIBUTING.mdOpen issues54On GitHub
Authors, 90 days5Of the latest 100 commits
DonationsOpen CollectiveListed on GitHub

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

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Questions about Octobox

Is Octobox open source?

Yes. Octobox is published under AGPL-3.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Octobox still maintained?

Its health score is 82 of 100 (actively developed). It had 229 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 6 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 1 November 2026.

How do I run Octobox?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is Octobox written in?

Octobox is written mainly in Ruby (70% of the code), with HTML (18%) and JavaScript (7%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What are the alternatives to Octobox?

Close alternatives in the Developer tools category include Novu, Apprise, ntfy.