Improve api performance

**Feature request**
It would be great to have notifications for helpers.

**Use case**
Many users need this functionality for production deployments.

**Implementation idea**
Add a new config option `enable_notifications` with default `false`.

No files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by locating configuration parsing and the helper execution flow, then determine what notifications should cover and how they are surfaced. Done means the new enable_notifications option defaults to false and notifications work for the intended helper use cases, with coverage added for both settings.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.