Mark Notification as Read

Mark a specific notification as read.

Endpoint

PATCH /notifications/notifications/:id/read

Authentication: Required (JWT)

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
id	string	Yes	Notification unique identifier (MongoDB ObjectId)

Request Example

curl -X PATCH http://localhost:3000/notifications/notifications/507f1f77bcf86cd799439011/read \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <access_token>"

Response

Status Code: 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "notification": {
    "id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
    "userId": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439010",
    "type": "CONTEST_REMINDER",
    "title": "Contest Starting Soon",
    "message": "Codeforces Round #900 starts in 2 hours",
    "status": "SENT",
    "isRead": true,
    "readAt": "2024-02-16T14:00:00.000Z",
    "createdAt": "2024-02-16T12:30:00.000Z",
    "updatedAt": "2024-02-16T14:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
success	boolean	Operation success status
notification	object	Updated notification object
notification.isRead	boolean	Now set to true
notification.readAt	string	Timestamp when marked as read
notification.updatedAt	string	Updated timestamp

Error Responses

404 Not Found

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Notification not found"
}

401 Unauthorized

{
  "statusCode": 401,
  "message": "Unauthorized",
  "error": "Unauthorized"
}

400 Bad Request

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Invalid notification ID format"
}

Behavior

• Sets isRead to true
• Sets readAt to current timestamp
• Updates updatedAt timestamp
• Idempotent: Can be called multiple times safely
• Does not affect notification delivery status

Use Cases

1. User Interface: Mark notifications as read when user views them
2. Notification Center: Track which notifications user has seen
3. Unread Count: Update unread notification counter
4. User Engagement: Track notification engagement metrics
5. Cleanup: Mark old notifications as read before cleanup

Example: Already Read Notification

If notification is already marked as read, the operation succeeds and returns the current state:

{
  "success": true,
  "notification": {
    "id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
    "isRead": true,
    "readAt": "2024-02-16T13:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Integration Example

React Component

const markAsRead = async (notificationId: string) => {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(
      `http://localhost:3000/notifications/notifications/${notificationId}/read`,
      {
        method: 'PATCH',
        headers: {
          'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}`
        }
      }
    );
    
    const data = await response.json();
    
    if (data.success) {
      console.log('Notification marked as read');
      // Update UI state
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to mark notification as read:', error);
  }
};

Vue Component

const markAsRead = async (notificationId: string) => {
  const { data, error } = await useFetch(
    `/notifications/notifications/${notificationId}/read`,
    {
      method: 'PATCH',
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken.value}`
      }
    }
  );
  
  if (data.value?.success) {
    // Update notification state
    notification.value.isRead = true;
    notification.value.readAt = data.value.notification.readAt;
  }
};

Best Practices

✅ Do

• Mark notifications as read when user views them
• Update UI immediately after marking as read
• Handle errors gracefully
• Use optimistic UI updates for better UX
• Batch mark operations when possible (use mark all as read)

❌ Don't

• Mark notifications as read without user interaction
• Ignore error responses
• Poll this endpoint repeatedly
• Mark notifications as read on behalf of other users

Related Endpoints

• Mark All as Read
• Get Notification by ID
• Get Notification History
• Notification Stats