> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.controltheory.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.controltheory.com/controltheory-documentation/dstl8-docs/incidents/alerts-and-notifications.md).

# Alerts and Notifications

Alerts turn incidents into notifications. This page covers how alerting works in Dstl8 and how to create and edit alert rules.

### How alerting works

The flow has four parts:

`Incident` → `Alert rule` → `Detection` → `Notifications` (one per channel)

* An **alert rule** defines which incidents you care about and where to send notifications. Incident is the only rule Kind currently supported.
* When an incident matches a rule, Dstl8 creates a single **detection** that records the rule firing.
* That detection is distributed as a **notification** to each channel attached to the rule.
* Detections are also a persistent record in the UI, so you can always see which rules fired and when.

### Channels

A channel is a destination for notifications. Dstl8 supports three channel types:

* **Email**: a default email channel (**Default Admin Alerts**) is created automatically and sends to the org admin who signed up for the account. You can add more email channels for other addresses/users.
* **Slack**: requires a Slack integration at the org level.
* **Teams**: requires a Teams integration at the org level.

To add a channel, go to **Channels**, click **Add Channel**, give it a name, choose the channel type, and (for Slack or Teams) select the integration to use.

### Integrations

Slack and Teams channels are backed by org-level integrations. Set these up under **Integrations** before creating a channel of that type. Email is already setup and needs no integration.

### Creating an alert rule

From **Alert Rules**, click **Create Alert Rule**. There are two steps.

#### Step 1: Basic Info

* **Name**: a label for the rule.
* **Kind**: Incident. This is fixed and cannot be changed after creation.
* **Enabled**: whether the rule is active.
* **Channels** (optional): the channels that receive notifications when the rule fires.
* **Workspaces** (optional): scope the rule to specific workspaces.

#### Step 2: Detection

These conditions control which incidents match the rule:

* **Statuses**: scope the rule to incidents in selected lifecycle statuses.
* **Environments** (optional): scope to specific deployment environments.
* **Impact**: filter by incident severity.
* **Resource Types**: scope to specific resource kinds such as pod or service.
* **Trigger Mode**: when the rule fires relative to the incident lifecycle. `Creation` fires when an incident is first created. `Status Change` fires when an incident changes status.
* **Min Age (seconds)**: minimum incident age before the rule triggers. Only applies when Trigger Mode is `Status Change`.

Click **Create** to save the rule.

### Editing an alert rule

From **Alert Rules**, open a rule and edit it. On the **Basic Info** step you can update the name, channels, and workspaces. Kind cannot be changed.

### Detections

Detections are the persistent log of rule activity. Each row shows when the detection was created, the timestamp of interest, the rule Kind and value (for example `critical`), the workspace and environment, and which rule fired.

### Example: send default incident emails to a teammate

To have another team member receive email notifications for incidents:

1. Go to **Channels** and click **Add Channel**.
2. Set the channel type to **Email** and enter the teammate's address, for example `new_user@example.com`.
3. Go to **Alert Rules** and edit the **Default incident rule**.
4. Add the new channel under **Channels** and save.

The teammate now receives email for every incident that matches the rule.


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