Notification Channels

VitalSentinel notifies you through multiple channels when alerts trigger.

In-App Notifications

All alerts automatically generate in-app notifications. These are always enabled for every alert rule.

To access notifications:

1. Click the bell icon in the top navigation bar
2. View recent alerts and their status
3. Click any notification to open its details, then choose View Details to open the affected domain

For the full inbox UI (tabs, grouping, mark as read, delete), see Notifications & Email Preferences.

Email Notifications

Email notifications are configured per-alert. When creating or editing an alert rule, toggle Email notification to receive emails when that specific alert triggers.

How It Works

When an alert triggers:

1. VitalSentinel detects that the condition is met
2. An in-app notification is always created
3. If email is enabled for that alert, an email is sent

Email Contents

Alert emails include:

• Alert name and severity
• Domain affected
• What happened – a plain-English explanation of the alert, usually with a "Why this matters" note and likely causes
• Link to the dashboard

The exact metric value and the threshold you set are not included in the email. Open the dashboard link to see them.

Default Email Settings

When using Create essential alerts with one click, alerts are pre-configured with sensible email defaults:

You can modify email settings for any alert by editing the rule.

Other Email Categories

VitalSentinel also sends emails outside of alerts:

• Weekly Domain Reports – see Notifications & Email Preferences to toggle these per domain.
• Product & Onboarding – The getting-started series sent after you sign up, plus occasional product guidance. Turn it off with the Send me product and onboarding emails switch in your Settings, or with the unsubscribe link in any of those emails.
• Billing – Payments, invoices, subscription and plan changes
• Monitoring Status – Domain added, verification pending, extended downtime and recovery
• Team & Workspace – Member joined/removed, role changes
• Support Tickets – Ticket updates and responses (off by default)
• Security – Failed login attempts, 2FA changes, API key changes

These are account-level emails, not per-alert. Account, security, and billing emails are always sent; product and onboarding emails, the newsletter, and Weekly Domain Reports can each be turned on or off in your Settings.

Notification Best Practices

Route by Importance

• Critical issues (downtime, SSL) → Enable email
• Performance warnings → In-app only to avoid fatigue
• Informational → In-app only

Avoid Alert Fatigue

Too many email notifications will train you to ignore them:

• Only enable email for actionable alerts
• Use the quick setup defaults as a starting point
• Review and adjust based on your needs

Test Your Notifications

Verify your setup works:

1. Create a test alert with a low threshold
2. Enable email notification
3. Confirm notification is received
4. Delete the test alert

Troubleshooting

Not Receiving Emails

1. Check spam/junk folder
2. Verify email is enabled for the specific alert
3. Confirm your account email is verified
4. Check if alerts are triggering (view in dashboard)

Not Receiving In-App Notifications

1. Verify the alert is enabled (toggle is on)
2. Check if the condition is being met
3. Refresh the page to load latest notifications

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