diff --git a/index.ts b/index.ts
index 6bdeebe..e801edd 100644
--- a/index.ts
+++ b/index.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,31 @@ const plugin = {
         description: "Work mode: parallel (each project independent) or sequential (1 DEV + 1 QA globally)",
         default: "parallel",
       },
+      orchestratorDm: {
+        type: "string",
+        description: "Telegram/WhatsApp chat ID for orchestrator DM notifications (heartbeat summaries)",
+      },
+      notifications: {
+        type: "object",
+        description: "Notification settings for worker lifecycle events",
+        properties: {
+          heartbeatDm: {
+            type: "boolean",
+            description: "Send heartbeat summaries to orchestrator DM. Default: true",
+            default: true,
+          },
+          workerStart: {
+            type: "boolean",
+            description: "Post when worker starts a task. Default: true",
+            default: true,
+          },
+          workerComplete: {
+            type: "boolean",
+            description: "Post when worker completes a task. Default: true",
+            default: true,
+          },
+        },
+      },
     },
   },
 
diff --git a/lib/notify.ts b/lib/notify.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57624a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/notify.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+/**
+ * notify.ts — Programmatic alerting for worker lifecycle events.
+ *
+ * Sends notifications to project groups and orchestrator DM for visibility
+ * into the DevClaw pipeline.
+ *
+ * Event types:
+ * - workerStart: Worker spawned/resumed for a task (→ project group)
+ * - workerComplete: Worker completed task (→ project group)
+ * - heartbeat: Heartbeat tick summary (→ orchestrator DM)
+ */
+import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
+import { promisify } from "node:util";
+import { log as auditLog } from "./audit.js";
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
+
+export type NotificationConfig = {
+  /** Send heartbeat summaries to orchestrator DM. Default: true */
+  heartbeatDm?: boolean;
+  /** Post when worker starts a task. Default: true */
+  workerStart?: boolean;
+  /** Post when worker completes a task. Default: true */
+  workerComplete?: boolean;
+};
+
+export type NotifyEvent =
+  | {
+      type: "workerStart";
+      project: string;
+      groupId: string;
+      issueId: number;
+      issueTitle: string;
+      role: "dev" | "qa";
+      model: string;
+      sessionAction: "spawn" | "send";
+    }
+  | {
+      type: "workerComplete";
+      project: string;
+      groupId: string;
+      issueId: number;
+      role: "dev" | "qa";
+      result: "done" | "pass" | "fail" | "refine";
+      summary?: string;
+      nextState?: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      type: "heartbeat";
+      projectsScanned: number;
+      healthFixes: number;
+      pickups: number;
+      skipped: number;
+      dryRun: boolean;
+      pickupDetails?: Array<{
+        project: string;
+        issueId: number;
+        role: "dev" | "qa";
+      }>;
+    };
+
+/**
+ * Build a human-readable message for a notification event.
+ */
+function buildMessage(event: NotifyEvent): string {
+  switch (event.type) {
+    case "workerStart": {
+      const action = event.sessionAction === "spawn" ? "🚀 Started" : "▶️ Resumed";
+      return `${action} ${event.role.toUpperCase()} (${event.model}) on #${event.issueId}: ${event.issueTitle}`;
+    }
+
+    case "workerComplete": {
+      const icons: Record<string, string> = {
+        done: "✅",
+        pass: "🎉",
+        fail: "❌",
+        refine: "🤔",
+      };
+      const icon = icons[event.result] ?? "📋";
+      const resultText: Record<string, string> = {
+        done: "completed",
+        pass: "PASSED",
+        fail: "FAILED",
+        refine: "needs refinement",
+      };
+      const text = resultText[event.result] ?? event.result;
+      let msg = `${icon} ${event.role.toUpperCase()} ${text} #${event.issueId}`;
+      if (event.summary) {
+        msg += ` — ${event.summary}`;
+      }
+      if (event.nextState) {
+        msg += ` → ${event.nextState}`;
+      }
+      return msg;
+    }
+
+    case "heartbeat": {
+      if (event.dryRun) {
+        return `🔄 Heartbeat (dry run): scanned ${event.projectsScanned} projects, would pick up ${event.pickups} tasks`;
+      }
+      const parts = [`🔄 Heartbeat: scanned ${event.projectsScanned} projects`];
+      if (event.healthFixes > 0) {
+        parts.push(`fixed ${event.healthFixes} zombie(s)`);
+      }
+      if (event.pickups > 0) {
+        parts.push(`spawned ${event.pickups} worker(s)`);
+        if (event.pickupDetails && event.pickupDetails.length > 0) {
+          const details = event.pickupDetails
+            .map((p) => `${p.project}#${p.issueId}(${p.role})`)
+            .join(", ");
+          parts.push(`[${details}]`);
+        }
+      }
+      if (event.pickups === 0 && event.healthFixes === 0) {
+        parts.push("no actions needed");
+      }
+      return parts.join(", ");
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Send a notification message to a Telegram/WhatsApp target.
+ *
+ * Uses the OpenClaw CLI to invoke the message tool.
+ * Fails silently (logs error but doesn't throw) to avoid breaking the main flow.
+ */
+async function sendMessage(
+  target: string,
+  message: string,
+  channel: "telegram" | "whatsapp",
+  workspaceDir: string,
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    // Use openclaw agent to send via message tool
+    // The message tool requires action=send, target, message
+    await execFileAsync(
+      "openclaw",
+      [
+        "gateway",
+        "call",
+        "tools.invoke",
+        "--params",
+        JSON.stringify({
+          tool: "message",
+          params: {
+            action: "send",
+            target,
+            message,
+          },
+        }),
+      ],
+      { timeout: 30_000 },
+    );
+    return true;
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Log but don't throw — notifications shouldn't break the main flow
+    await auditLog(workspaceDir, "notify_error", {
+      target,
+      channel,
+      error: (err as Error).message,
+    });
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Send a notification for a worker lifecycle event.
+ *
+ * Respects notification config settings.
+ * Returns true if notification was sent (or skipped due to config), false on error.
+ */
+export async function notify(
+  event: NotifyEvent,
+  opts: {
+    workspaceDir: string;
+    config?: NotificationConfig;
+    /** Target for project-scoped notifications (groupId) */
+    groupId?: string;
+    /** Channel type for routing */
+    channel?: "telegram" | "whatsapp";
+    /** Target for DM notifications (orchestrator) */
+    orchestratorDm?: string;
+  },
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  const config = opts.config ?? {};
+  const channel = opts.channel ?? "telegram";
+
+  // Check if notification is enabled
+  if (event.type === "workerStart" && config.workerStart === false) {
+    return true; // Skipped, not an error
+  }
+  if (event.type === "workerComplete" && config.workerComplete === false) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  if (event.type === "heartbeat" && config.heartbeatDm === false) {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  const message = buildMessage(event);
+
+  // Determine target
+  let target: string | undefined;
+  if (event.type === "heartbeat") {
+    target = opts.orchestratorDm;
+  } else {
+    target = opts.groupId ?? (event as { groupId?: string }).groupId;
+  }
+
+  if (!target) {
+    // No target specified, can't send
+    await auditLog(opts.workspaceDir, "notify_skip", {
+      eventType: event.type,
+      reason: "no target",
+    });
+    return true; // Not an error, just nothing to do
+  }
+
+  // Audit the notification attempt
+  await auditLog(opts.workspaceDir, "notify", {
+    eventType: event.type,
+    target,
+    channel,
+    message,
+  });
+
+  return sendMessage(target, message, channel, opts.workspaceDir);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get notification config from plugin config.
+ */
+export function getNotificationConfig(
+  pluginConfig?: Record<string, unknown>,
+): NotificationConfig {
+  const notifications = pluginConfig?.notifications as NotificationConfig | undefined;
+  return {
+    heartbeatDm: notifications?.heartbeatDm ?? true,
+    workerStart: notifications?.workerStart ?? true,
+    workerComplete: notifications?.workerComplete ?? true,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/lib/tools/heartbeat-tick.ts b/lib/tools/heartbeat-tick.ts
index acb4ab6..2863957 100644
--- a/lib/tools/heartbeat-tick.ts
+++ b/lib/tools/heartbeat-tick.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import type { ToolContext } from "../types.js";
 import { detectContext, generateGuardrails } from "../context-guard.js";
 import { type Tier } from "../tiers.js";
 import { log as auditLog } from "../audit.js";
+import { notify, getNotificationConfig } from "../notify.js";
 
 /** Labels that map to DEV role */
 const DEV_LABELS: StateLabel[] = ["To Do", "To Improve"];
@@ -496,6 +497,32 @@ export function createHeartbeatTickTool(api: OpenClawPluginApi) {
         skipped: result.skipped.length,
       });
 
+      // Send heartbeat notification to orchestrator DM
+      const notifyConfig = getNotificationConfig(pluginConfig);
+      const orchestratorDm = pluginConfig?.orchestratorDm as string | undefined;
+      
+      await notify(
+        {
+          type: "heartbeat",
+          projectsScanned: projectEntries.length,
+          healthFixes: result.healthFixes.length,
+          pickups: result.pickups.length,
+          skipped: result.skipped.length,
+          dryRun,
+          pickupDetails: result.pickups.map((p) => ({
+            project: p.project,
+            issueId: p.issueId,
+            role: p.role,
+          })),
+        },
+        {
+          workspaceDir,
+          config: notifyConfig,
+          orchestratorDm,
+          channel: "telegram",
+        },
+      );
+
       return jsonResult(result);
     },
   });
diff --git a/lib/tools/task-complete.ts b/lib/tools/task-complete.ts
index d278d1c..da946bd 100644
--- a/lib/tools/task-complete.ts
+++ b/lib/tools/task-complete.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   readProjects,
 } from "../projects.js";
 import type { ToolContext } from "../types.js";
+import { notify, getNotificationConfig } from "../notify.js";
 
 const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 
@@ -266,6 +267,42 @@ export function createTaskCompleteTool(api: OpenClawPluginApi) {
         output.announcement = `🤔 QA REFINE #${issueId}${summary ? ` — ${summary}` : ""}. Awaiting human decision.`;
       }
 
+      // Send notification to project group
+      const pluginConfig = api.pluginConfig as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+      const notifyConfig = getNotificationConfig(pluginConfig);
+      
+      // Determine next state for the notification
+      let nextState: string | undefined;
+      if (role === "dev" && result === "done") {
+        nextState = "QA queue";
+      } else if (role === "qa" && result === "pass") {
+        nextState = "Done!";
+      } else if (role === "qa" && result === "fail") {
+        nextState = "back to DEV";
+      } else if (role === "qa" && result === "refine") {
+        nextState = "awaiting human decision";
+      }
+
+      await notify(
+        {
+          type: "workerComplete",
+          project: project.name,
+          groupId,
+          issueId,
+          role,
+          result,
+          summary,
+          nextState,
+        },
+        {
+          workspaceDir,
+          config: notifyConfig,
+          groupId,
+          // Channel detection: default to telegram if not available
+          channel: "telegram",
+        },
+      );
+
       // Audit log
       await auditLog(workspaceDir, "task_complete", {
         project: project.name,
diff --git a/lib/tools/task-pickup.ts b/lib/tools/task-pickup.ts
index a558aec..4248a38 100644
--- a/lib/tools/task-pickup.ts
+++ b/lib/tools/task-pickup.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import { getProject, getWorker, readProjects } from "../projects.js";
 import type { ToolContext } from "../types.js";
 import { detectContext, generateGuardrails } from "../context-guard.js";
 import { isDevTier, isTier, type Tier } from "../tiers.js";
+import { notify, getNotificationConfig } from "../notify.js";
 
 /** Labels that map to DEV role */
 const DEV_LABELS: StateLabel[] = ["To Do", "To Improve"];
@@ -300,7 +301,28 @@ export function createTaskPickupTool(api: OpenClawPluginApi) {
         pluginConfig,
       });
 
-      // 9. Build result
+      // 9. Send notification to project group
+      const notifyConfig = getNotificationConfig(pluginConfig);
+      await notify(
+        {
+          type: "workerStart",
+          project: project.name,
+          groupId,
+          issueId: issue.iid,
+          issueTitle: issue.title,
+          role,
+          model: dispatchResult.modelAlias,
+          sessionAction: dispatchResult.sessionAction,
+        },
+        {
+          workspaceDir,
+          config: notifyConfig,
+          groupId,
+          channel: context.channel,
+        },
+      );
+
+      // 10. Build result
       const result: Record<string, unknown> = {
         success: true,
         project: project.name,