Alerts & notifications
How ServerMetry alert rules, severities, and notification channels work.
Alert rules
Alert rules evaluate metrics (and related conditions) against thresholds. You can create:
- Global rules — apply across the organization
- Server-specific rules — override or extend for one host
- Template rules — reused when applying a template to servers
Typical fields:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Metric | e.g. cpuUsagePercent, disk, memory |
| Operator | GT, LT, … |
| Threshold | Numeric limit |
| Severity | WARNING or CRITICAL |
| Evaluation window | How long the condition must hold |
Manage rules under Alert Rules in the dashboard, or via MCP / the REST API.
Alert lifecycle
- Condition matches → alert opens
- Notifications fire on configured channels
- Condition clears or you resolve the alert → alert closes
Open alerts appear on the dashboard and on the server detail page.
Notification channels
Configure channels under Notifications (email, webhooks, and other integrations depending on your plan). Channels can be global or scoped. Test a channel from the UI before relying on it in production.
Maintenance windows
During a maintenance window, alerting for the covered servers can be suppressed so planned work does not page the team. Create windows under Maintenance.
Digests
Organizations can enable alert digests (frequency configurable in organization settings) for a summarized view instead of only real-time noise.
Email through your SMTP server
Under Notifications → New → Email, enter host, port, encryption, username, password, sender, and recipient as separate fields. The default is STARTTLS on port 587. SSL/TLS normally uses 465. When encryption changes, the form suggests the standard port and preserves a custom port. An unencrypted connection shows a warning.
When editing a channel, an empty password field preserves the stored password. The API does not return stored passwords or legacy SMTP URLs to the browser. Existing SMTP URL channels remain supported and editable, including usernames without passwords. Channel tests and alerts use the same connection settings. A channel test sends a real message.
Website and backup rules
Website and backup rules have their own conditions. Backup conditions cover failure, warning, overdue, and excessive runtime. See Backup plans for target selection, schedules, delays, and recovery. On a backup detail page, Notification rules opens the rule list with the Backup filter selected. Backup rules do not require a server assignment.