A Custom Notification Type is the reusable record that names your alert and decides which channels carry it. You create it once in Setup, then automations reference it by ID. Here is the path to stand one up.
- Open Notification Builder
In Setup, use the Quick Find box to search for Custom Notifications, then open it under Notification Builder. This is where every notification type for the org lives.
- Create a new type
Click New, then give the type a Custom Notification Name (the API name automation will reference) and a label that recipients will see on the alert.
- Choose the channels
Check Desktop to light up the Lightning bell icon, Mobile to push to the Salesforce mobile app, or both. The type controls delivery, so changing channels later is a checkbox edit here.
- Save and grab the ID
Save the type. In your Flow, add a Get Records element on CustomNotificationType filtered by the name so you can pass its record ID into the Send Custom Notification action at runtime.
The API name of the type. Automation references this name (via a Get Records lookup) to resolve the type ID at send time.
At least one of Desktop or Mobile must be enabled, or the notification has nowhere to deliver. Both can be on at once.
- The type only defines channels and a label. The title and body are supplied per send by the automation, not stored on the type.
- Mobile push only reaches users who have the Salesforce mobile app installed with notifications allowed; the desktop bell still fires for everyone.
- Deploy types through Metadata API or a change set so the IDs and names stay consistent between sandbox and production.