Alerts
Create alert rules for a domain, choose the condition and severity, share a rule with the workspace, and read the state of each rule.
The Alerts page holds the alert rules of one domain. An alert rule watches one thing, for example LCP or uptime, and tells you when it crosses a limit that you set.
Before you start
- To open the page, select a domain, then click Alerts in the Domain group of the sidebar.
- Only workspace owners and admins can create, change, turn off or delete alert rules. Members see the list only. See Members' view.
- A rule can only fire when its module has data. Connect the module first. See Overview.
- To add many rules in one step, use the Templates tab. See Alert templates.
How alert rules work
Each alert rule belongs to one module of the domain. VitalSentinel checks the rule when new data for that module arrives. When the condition is true, the rule fires and sends an alert.
Every alert goes to the notification bell in the app. A rule can also send an email, a Slack message or a webhook request. See Alert delivery.
When the problem stops, VitalSentinel closes the alert automatically. You do not resolve an alert by hand. The alert in the bell then shows "Fixed itself on" and the date. If the alert was critical and you got an email about it, you also get a short RESOLVED email. See Alert delivery.
Checking: alerts that wait before they send
Some rules wait for a short time before they send an alert. The condition must stay true for that time. This stops an alert for a problem that goes away after one check. While a rule waits, its row shows the Checking chip. If the problem stays, the chip changes to Open now.
The Alerts tab
The Alerts tab lists the rules of the domain. The tab shows the number of rules. The rules are in one card for each module, in the order of the sidebar. The list shows the rules of all workspace members, not only your rules.
Parts of a rule row
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Rule name | The name of the rule. Click it to open the rule. |
| ? | One sentence that says what makes the rule fire, for example "We send an alert when your site does not answer." It also shows Last alert with the date. |
| Open now | The rule fired and the problem continues. |
| Checking | The condition is true, and VitalSentinel waits to confirm it. |
| Paused | The rule is turned off. |
| Severity chip | Info, Warning or Critical. |
| Shared | The rule goes to every member of the workspace. |
| Alert on / Alert off | The switch that turns the rule on or off. |
| Pencil and trash buttons | Edit alert and Delete alert. |
Many rules: tabs and search
If the domain has more than 25 rules, the list changes. Each module gets its own tab with the number of its rules, for example Uptime or Search Console. A Search alerts field finds a rule by its name or its module name in all tabs.
If no rule matches, the page shows "No alerts match your search". Click Show all alerts to clear the search.
Empty list
If the domain has no rules, the page shows No alerts yet. Owners and admins see "Start with a template, or create one alert yourself." and the See the alert templates button. Members see "No alerts are set up for this site."
Create an alert rule
- Click Create alert at the top of the page. The Create alert panel opens.
- In Module, select the module to watch.
- Fill in the fields of that module. See Conditions for each module.
- If the panel shows Severity, select Info, Warning or Critical.
- Optional: if the panel shows Alert name, enter a name.
- Under Delivery, select where the alert goes. See Alert delivery.
- Optional: under Who gets it, select Share with all members.
- Click Save alert.
If you leave Alert name empty, VitalSentinel makes a name from your choices. The rule starts when Turn this alert on is selected. This option is on by default.
Duplicate rule warning
If a new rule has the same condition as a rule that exists, the panel shows You already have this alert. The text says that a second rule sends every notice two times. Change the condition, or click Cancel.
Conditions for each module
The fields in the panel change with the module. The modules use four kinds of condition.
| Kind of condition | Modules |
|---|---|
| A metric and a threshold | RUM Monitoring, CrUX Monitoring, Synthetic Monitoring |
| A change against the period before | Google Search Console, Indexing Monitoring, Web Analytics |
| An alert type from a list | Uptime Monitoring, Robots.txt Monitoring, Server Log Monitoring, Site Health Monitoring |
| A kind of change to watch | Page Monitoring, Sitemap Monitoring |
Metric and threshold (RUM, CrUX and Synthetic Monitoring)
For RUM Monitoring, CrUX Monitoring and Synthetic Monitoring, you select a Metric, a Condition and a Threshold. When you select a metric, the threshold gets a default value, for example 2500 ms for LCP.
- Device: Any, Phone or Desktop.
- URL / Origin (CrUX Monitoring only): Origin (all URLs) or one of your CrUX pages.
- URL (Synthetic Monitoring only): one of your tested pages. This field is required.
Condition has Greater than, Less than, Greater or equal, Less or equal, Equals and Not equals. It also has the three change conditions of the next section.
Examples:
- RUM Monitoring: LCP within last 24h, Greater than, 2500 ms, on Phone.
- CrUX Monitoring: INP (Google's 28-day field dataset), Greater than, 200 ms, for Origin (all URLs).
- Synthetic Monitoring: TBT (Total Blocking Time), Greater than, 200 ms, for your home page.
Change against the period before (Search Console, Indexing, Web Analytics)
For Google Search Console, Indexing Monitoring and Web Analytics, a rule watches a change, not a fixed value. Condition has three options:
- Decreased by more than (%): the metric falls by more than the percentage.
- Increased by more than (%): the metric rises by more than the percentage.
- Far from usual (standard deviations): the metric is far from its usual level.
Comparison window sets the length of the period: 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days or 28 days. VitalSentinel compares this period with the period before it, which has the same length. For Far from usual, the window is the period that sets the usual level.
Examples:
- Google Search Console: Clicks, Decreased by more than (%), 30, 7 days.
- Indexing Monitoring: Submitted and indexed, Decreased by more than (%), 15, 7 days.
- Web Analytics: Visitors, Far from usual (standard deviations), 2.
Alert type from a list (Uptime, Robots.txt, Server Logs)
For Uptime Monitoring, Robots.txt Monitoring and Server Log Monitoring, you select one item in Alert type. Each alert type has a fixed limit, a fixed severity and its own name. The panel has no threshold, Severity or Alert name field for these modules.
Examples:
- Uptime Monitoring: Site is down, Site is up again, SSL certificate expires in 14 days, Domain registration expires in 7 days.
- Robots.txt Monitoring: robots.txt has errors, robots.txt does not load, robots.txt blocks sitemap pages, robots.txt changed.
- Server Log Monitoring: Your server blocks a search crawler, Crawlers get server errors, Googlebot visits much less, A new AI crawler found your site.
Site is up again is good news, so the list always shows it as Info.
Alert type from a list (Site Health Monitoring)
For Site Health Monitoring, Alert type lists groups of issues, for example Crawler blocked or disallowed, Sitewide indexability problems or Core Web Vitals problems. The rule fires when Site Health Monitoring finds an issue in that group.
Alert on issues of severity sets the lowest issue severity that counts:
- Critical only
- High and above (the default)
- Medium and above
The field says that a medium issue always shows in your notifications. VitalSentinel emails it only if your minimum email severity is Info. The default is Warning. The alert type Site reachable again does not have this field. It sends a notice when Site Health Monitoring can reach your site again.
Kind of change (Page Monitoring)
For Page Monitoring, select the kind of change in What to watch, for example Title changed, Canonical changed or Page stops loading or errors. Each kind has a default severity, which you can change.
Under Pages, select All watched pages or Only these pages. All watched pages also covers pages that you start to watch later. If you select Only these pages, select at least one page in the list. If you select none, the panel shows "Choose at least one page".
If you select Page element changed, two more fields show:
- Page element: one of your page elements, or Any page element.
- Condition: Changed, Disappeared, Contains text, Went up or Went down. Went up and Went down are only for number and count elements.
For Contains text, enter the text in Text to look for.
Kind of change (Sitemap Monitoring)
For Sitemap Monitoring, select the event in What to watch, for example Sitemap file fails to load, URLs removed that still get clicks or New URLs added.
For Sitemap shrinks and Sitemap grows, enter a percentage in Shrinks by at least (%) or Grows by at least (%). The default is 10. Enter a whole number from 1 to 100. The sitemap must also lose or gain at least 50 pages.
Severity
Each rule has a severity: Info, Warning or Critical. For an alert type from a list, the severity is fixed. For the other modules, you select it in the panel. Use Critical for a problem that needs action now, for example a site that is down. Use Warning for a problem that needs attention soon. Use Info for news that is good to know.
The severity shows as a chip in the list and in each alert.
Share a rule with the workspace
By default, a new rule goes only to the person who created it. An owner or admin can share a rule with every member of the workspace:
- Open the rule, or click Create alert.
- Under Who gets it, select Share with all members.
- Click Save alert.
A shared rule also goes to people who join the workspace later. In the list, the rule shows the Shared chip.
Turn a shared rule off for yourself
Each person can stop a shared rule for themselves. The rule stays on for everyone else.
- Find the shared rule in the list.
- Turn off the Send to me switch.
The row then shows Off for you. To get the rule again, turn on Send to me. Members can also use this switch.
Change, turn off or delete a rule
- To change a rule, click its name or the pencil button. Change the fields, then click Save alert. You cannot change the Module of a rule that exists.
- To stop a rule for a time, turn off its switch. The row shows Alert off and the Paused chip.
- To delete a rule, click the trash button, then click Delete in Delete this alert?.
You cannot undo a delete. If you only want to stop the rule, turn it off.
Members' view
Members see the Alerts tab, but not the Templates tab and not Create alert. Members can read every rule and its sentence, but they cannot change, turn off or delete a rule.
Members can turn off Send to me on a shared rule. For their own email settings, members use Notifications.
Pages of Alerts
- Alert templates - add ready-made sets of rules in one step
- Alert delivery - email, the bell, Slack and webhooks
Troubleshooting
Why can I not see the Create alert button?
Only workspace owners and admins can create alert rules. If you are a member, ask an owner or admin to create the rule, or to change your role.
Why does a rule not fire?
If the rule shows Paused, turn on its switch. If the module has no data, the rule cannot fire. Open the module and check its setup. If the rule shows Checking, VitalSentinel waits to confirm the problem.
Why do I get the same alert two times?
You can have two rules with the same condition. Find the rules in the list and delete one of them. The panel shows You already have this alert when you create such a rule.
Why does my teammate get an alert that I do not get?
The rule is not shared, or you turned off Send to me. Ask an owner or admin to select Share with all members, or turn on Send to me.
How do I stop an alert from repeating?
Turn off the rule with its switch. If it is a shared rule, turn off Send to me to stop it only for you.
Related
- Alert templates - add ready-made sets of rules in one step
- Alert delivery - email, the bell, Slack and webhooks
- Notifications - your inbox and your personal email settings
- Metrics and thresholds - the limits for Core Web Vitals
- Domain overview - see which modules have problems
- Plans and limits - the alert limits of each plan
