Episode 200
BurntToast v1.0 and 10 Years of PowerShell Notifications with Josh King
November 3, 20251h 0m
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Show Notes
Andrew's longtime friend, mentor, and PowerShell legend Josh King joins The PowerShell Podcast to celebrate the tenth anniversary and version 1.0 release of his popular open-source module BurntToast, which powers customizable Windows toast notifications. Josh shares the story behind the project’s evolution, the challenges of maintaining an open-source module with millions of downloads, and the balance between community expectations and personal well-being.
In addition to diving into BurntToast’s new actionable notifications and real-world use cases, Josh and host Andrew Pla reflect on their shared history in the PowerShell community, the importance of mentorship, and how taking small steps (like creating a GitHub repo or sharing a script) can lead to huge career growth.
Key Takeaways:
Josh is a Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer at Chocolatey Software and a former Microsoft MVP. He has a long history working within Windows and VMware environments and has a passion for all things PowerShell and automation.Resource Links
- BurntToast hits version 1.0 – After ten years of development, BurntToast now includes support for actionable notifications, letting users interact directly through PowerShell-based Windows alerts.
- Open-source and burnout – Josh discusses the pressures of maintaining a high-profile module and the importance of setting boundaries while giving back to the community.
- Mentorship and community matter – Simple encouragement, open sharing, and small contributions can transform careers and strengthen the PowerShell ecosystem.
Josh is a Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer at Chocolatey Software and a former Microsoft MVP. He has a long history working within Windows and VMware environments and has a passion for all things PowerShell and automation.Resource Links
- BurntToast Module (PowerShell Gallery) – https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/BurntToast
- Josh’s Blog – https://toastit.dev
- Josh King on GitHub – https://github.com/Windos
- Connect with Andrew - https://andrewpla.tech/links
- Josh on BlueSky – https://bsky.app/profile/toastit.dev
- Josh's PowerShell Wednesday BurntToast Presentation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD1VaxXWcXA
- Learn about #requires - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_requires?view=powershell-7.5
- PDQ Discord – https://discord.gg/PDQ
- The PowerShell Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wi7Ijo9Od-k