Make [notifications.pushover] optional for non-pushover methods

The pushover config section is now only required when notifications.method
is "pushover". Validation at startup rejects the missing-section case so a
misconfiguration fails fast instead of erroring on every notification.

Updates the sample TOML, README and nix module for consistency.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ api_key = "CHANGE_ME" # API key the app uses to talk to the backend — change t
 [notifications]
 method = "pushover" # Use "none" to only log notifications instead of sending them
 
+# Only needed when method = "pushover"; omit this section for any other method.
 [notifications.pushover]
 token = ""    # Your Pushover application token
 user_key = "" # Your Pushover user key
@@ -179,8 +180,8 @@ Options marked **Required** have no built-in default and must be set in your con
 |`snmp_scanner.timeout`|`5s`|Per-poll SNMP request timeout.|
 |`notifications.method`|**Required**|For now just pushover, you can set this to "none" to avoid sending notifications (it will just log)|
 |`notifications.notify_when_not_seen_for`|`1w`|Send a notification if a device comes back online after not being seen for this timeframe (you can use hours, weeks, etc.)|
-|`notifications.pushover.token`|**Required**|Your pushover token goes here, just copy&paste from their website after creating the app (may be left empty when `method` is `none`)|
-|`notifications.pushover.user_key`|**Required**|User key goes here, this is the account wide code for pushover (may be left empty when `method` is `none`)|
+|`notifications.pushover.token`|**Required when `method` is `pushover`**|Your pushover token goes here, just copy&paste from their website after creating the app. The whole `[notifications.pushover]` section may be omitted when `method` is anything other than `pushover`|
+|`notifications.pushover.user_key`|**Required when `method` is `pushover`**|User key goes here, this is the account wide code for pushover. The whole `[notifications.pushover]` section may be omitted when `method` is anything other than `pushover`|
 |`retention.window`|`365d`|How long to retain device events and notifications. Records older than this are purged daily. Accepts duration strings (e.g. `90d`, `1y`, `6m`).|
 |`device_events.deduplication_window`|`1m`|Suppress duplicate device events: if the same scanner sees the same device (same MAC and IPv4) again within this window, only one event is recorded. Accepts duration strings (e.g. `30s`, `1m`, `5m`).|
 

backend/src/events.rs

@@ -185,9 +185,17 @@ fn send_notification(notification: Notification) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
     debug!("About to send notification ({notification}).");
 
     match get_settings().notifications.method.as_str() {
-        "pushover" => {
-            pushover::send_message(notification.title, notification.body)?;
-        }
+        "pushover" => match &get_settings().notifications.pushover {
+            Some(pushover) => {
+                pushover::send_message(pushover, notification.title, notification.body)?;
+            }
+            None => {
+                error!(
+                    "Notification method is 'pushover' but no [notifications.pushover] section is \
+                     configured; cannot deliver notification."
+                );
+            }
+        },
         other => {
             warn!("Notification method set to '{other}'. Set logs to 'info' to see notifications.");
             info!("Notification: {}", notification.body);
@@ -294,8 +302,12 @@ pub fn trigger_existing_device(
     let vendor_changed_flag = vendor_changed(&existing_device.vendor, &new_device.vendor);
 
     if ip_changed || vendor_changed_flag {
-        let (title, body) =
-            render_device_changed(&existing_device, &new_device, ip_changed, vendor_changed_flag);
+        let (title, body) = render_device_changed(
+            &existing_device,
+            &new_device,
+            ip_changed,
+            vendor_changed_flag,
+        );
         let notification = Notification::new(
             Utc::now(),
             NotificationType::DeviceChanged,
@@ -411,10 +423,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let (title, body) = render_device_back_online(&device, "12d");
 
-        assert_eq!(
-            title,
-            "Device back online after 12d: bobs-iphone.local"
-        );
+        assert_eq!(title, "Device back online after 12d: bobs-iphone.local");
         assert!(body.contains("Registered to Bob"));
         assert!(body.contains("Absent for: 12d"));
     }

backend/src/events/pushover.rs

@@ -3,17 +3,13 @@ use pushover::API;
 use pushover::requests::message::SendMessage;
 
 use crate::events::error::DeliveryError;
-use crate::settings::get_settings;
+use crate::settings::Pushover;
 
-pub fn send_message(title: String, body: String) -> Result<(), DeliveryError> {
+pub fn send_message(config: &Pushover, title: String, body: String) -> Result<(), DeliveryError> {
     debug!("About to send message via pushover ({body})");
     let api = API::new();
 
-    let mut msg = SendMessage::new(
-        get_settings().notifications.pushover.token.as_str(),
-        get_settings().notifications.pushover.user_key.as_str(),
-        body,
-    );
+    let mut msg = SendMessage::new(config.token.as_str(), config.user_key.as_str(), body);
 
     msg.set_title(title);
 

backend/src/settings.rs

@@ -180,7 +180,8 @@ pub struct Pushover {
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone)]
 pub struct Notifications {
     pub method: String,
-    pub pushover: Pushover,
+    // Only required when `method` is "pushover"; other methods leave this section out.
+    pub pushover: Option<Pushover>,
     #[serde(default = "default_notify_when_not_seen_for")]
     pub notify_when_not_seen_for: DurationString,
 }
@@ -255,7 +256,22 @@ impl Settings {
             .add_source(File::with_name(config_path.as_str()))
             .build()?;
 
-        local_settings.try_deserialize()
+        let settings: Settings = local_settings.try_deserialize()?;
+        settings.validate()?;
+        Ok(settings)
+    }
+
+    // Cross-field checks that serde can't express on its own. Run once at load time so a
+    // misconfiguration fails fast at startup rather than on every notification attempt.
+    fn validate(&self) -> Result<(), ConfigError> {
+        if self.notifications.method == "pushover" && self.notifications.pushover.is_none() {
+            return Err(ConfigError::Message(
+                "notifications.method is \"pushover\" but the [notifications.pushover] section is \
+                 missing; add it with your token and user_key, or change notifications.method."
+                    .to_string(),
+            ));
+        }
+        Ok(())
     }
 }
 
@@ -533,6 +549,68 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn validate_rejects_pushover_method_without_section() {
+        // method = "pushover" but no [notifications.pushover] section: must fail at load time.
+        const PUSHOVER_NO_SECTION: &str = r#"
+            [database]
+            path = "./oott.db"
+            [networking]
+            [log]
+            level = "info"
+            [notifications]
+            method = "pushover"
+            [web_server]
+            api_key = "test"
+        "#;
+        let settings = parse(PUSHOVER_NO_SECTION);
+        assert!(settings.validate().is_err());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn validate_accepts_non_pushover_method_without_section() {
+        let settings = parse(NO_PUSHOVER_CONFIG);
+        assert!(settings.validate().is_ok());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn validate_accepts_pushover_method_with_section() {
+        let settings = parse(BASE_CONFIG);
+        assert!(settings.validate().is_ok());
+    }
+
+    const NO_PUSHOVER_CONFIG: &str = r#"
+        [database]
+        path = "./oott.db"
+        [networking]
+        [log]
+        level = "info"
+        [notifications]
+        method = "none"
+        [web_server]
+        api_key = "test"
+    "#;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pushover_section_is_optional_for_non_pushover_methods() {
+        // With a non-pushover method, the `[notifications.pushover]` section may be omitted
+        // entirely; it should deserialize to `None` rather than fail parsing.
+        let settings = parse(NO_PUSHOVER_CONFIG);
+        assert_eq!(settings.notifications.method, "none");
+        assert!(settings.notifications.pushover.is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pushover_section_is_parsed_when_present() {
+        let settings = parse(BASE_CONFIG);
+        let pushover = settings
+            .notifications
+            .pushover
+            .expect("pushover section should be parsed when present");
+        assert_eq!(pushover.token, "");
+        assert_eq!(pushover.user_key, "");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn networking_section_is_optional() {
         // The `[networking]` section has no mandatory fields, so omitting it entirely

examples/sample_oott.toml

@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ enabled=true # Set to false to disable the DHCP scanner
 method="pushover" # For now just pushover, you can set this to "none" to avoid sending notifications (it will just log)
 notify_when_not_seen_for="1w" # Send a notification if a device comes back online after not being seen for this timeframe. Defaults to "1w" if omitted
 
+# The [notifications.pushover] section is only required when method="pushover". For any other
+# method (e.g. "none") you can omit this whole section.
 [notifications.pushover]
 token="" # Your pushover token goes here, just copy&paste from their website after creating the app
 user_key="" # User key goes here, this is the account wide code for pushover

nix/modules/oott-service.nix

@@ -111,15 +111,23 @@ in {
       description = "Send a notification if a device comes back online after not being seen for this timeframe.";
       default = "1w";
     };
-    notifications.pushover.token = mkOption {
-      type = types.str;
-      description = "Your pushover token goes here, just copy&paste from their website after creating the app.";
-      default = "";
-    };
-    notifications.pushover.user_key = mkOption {
-      type = types.str;
-      description = "User key goes here, this is the account wide code for pushover.";
-      default = "";
+    notifications.pushover = mkOption {
+      type = types.nullOr (types.submodule {
+        options = {
+          token = mkOption {
+            type = types.str;
+            description = "Your pushover token goes here, just copy&paste from their website after creating the app.";
+            default = "";
+          };
+          user_key = mkOption {
+            type = types.str;
+            description = "User key goes here, this is the account wide code for pushover.";
+            default = "";
+          };
+        };
+      });
+      description = "Pushover credentials. Only required when notifications.method is \"pushover\"; leave it null (the default) for any other method.";
+      default = null;
     };
     retention.window = mkOption {
       type = types.str;