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Monitoring Alerts

The alert system monitors PostgreSQL metrics and notifies users when a metric exceeds its threshold or the alerter detects an anomaly. This guide explains how alerts appear in the web interface and how to manage the alert lifecycle.

Viewing Alerts

The status panel displays active alerts for the scope selected in the cluster navigator. Alerts appear grouped by severity and category. Each alert shows the rule name, current metric value, threshold, and the server where the alert originated.

Selecting a different node in the cluster navigator updates the alert list to reflect that scope. Estate-wide alerts appear when you don't select a specific node.

Each dashboard identifies its alert list with a bell icon and an Active Alerts label; a count badge shows the number of current alerts. Use the chevron on the right side of the heading to expand or collapse the list. When no alerts are active, the panel displays a green banner with the message No active alerts.

Reviewing Active Alerts

Severity Levels

Alerts use three severity levels to indicate urgency:

  • A critical alert indicates a severe issue that requires immediate attention.
  • A warning alert indicates a potential problem that needs prompt investigation.
  • An info alert indicates a noteworthy condition for general awareness.

The severity level determines the visual styling of each alert in the status panel. Critical alerts appear with red indicators; warning alerts appear with amber indicators; info alerts appear with blue indicators.

Alert Lifecycle

Each alert progresses through a defined set of states from creation to resolution.

Active

The alerter creates an alert with active status when a metric violates a threshold. The alert remains active until the condition resolves or an operator takes action. The system updates the metric value on each evaluation cycle while the alert stays active.

Acknowledged

An operator can acknowledge an active alert to indicate that the issue is under investigation. Acknowledged alerts remain visible in the status panel but move to a separate section. Acknowledging an alert does not resolve the underlying condition.

Cleared

The alerter automatically clears an alert when the triggering condition returns to normal. The alert cleaner runs every 30 seconds and re-evaluates active alerts. When a metric value no longer violates the threshold, the system marks the alert as cleared and records the timestamp.

False Positive

An operator can mark an alert as a false positive to indicate that the alert does not represent a real issue. The false positive designation helps refine alert accuracy over time.

Acknowledging Alerts

Click the acknowledge icon, a green checkmark, on an active alert to open the Acknowledge Alert dialog. The alert moves to the acknowledged section of the status panel once you confirm.

Acknowledging an alert

Enter a reason for the acknowledgment in the Reason field, such as "Investigating" or "Known issue." Check "Mark as false positive" if the alert does not represent a real issue. The system records the operator, the reason, the false positive flag, and the timestamp.

Acknowledging an alert signals to other operators that someone is investigating the issue; it does not resolve the underlying condition.

Viewing Acknowledgment Reasons

The status panel displays the acknowledgment reason beneath each acknowledged alert. The entry shows the operator's name followed by the reason text; a False Positive label appears next to alerts that an operator flagged as false positives.

The Event Timeline also displays this information. Expand an alert's acknowledgment event in the timeline to view the operator, the reason, and the false positive flag.

Reviewing Past Alerts

Use the Event Timeline on any dashboard to review alerts that are no longer active, such as an alert that occurred last week. Set the time range selector to 7d or 30d to include alerts from further back; the selector also offers a 24h option for recent history.

Enable the Alert, Cleared, and Acked buttons in the Event Timeline to display triggered, resolved, and acknowledged alert events within the selected range. Select an event icon to view its details, including the triggering threshold and, for acknowledged alerts, the operator, reason, and false positive flag.

See Event Timeline for the full range of trackable event types and how the timeline groups simultaneous events.

AI-Powered Analysis

Each alert in the status panel displays a brain icon that triggers an AI-powered analysis. The analysis examines the alert context, historical patterns, and server configuration to produce actionable remediation guidance. See AI Alert Analysis for details on this feature.

Editing Alert Thresholds

Users can edit alert thresholds directly from an alert instance. The edit button on an alert opens the Edit Override dialog for the associated rule and scope. The dialog allows adjustments to the threshold, operator, severity, and enabled state.

The scope dropdown displays the available override levels: server, cluster, and group. The dialog pre-selects the scope that matches the originating context of the alert.

Blackout Interaction

During an active blackout period, the alerter suppresses new alerts for the affected connection or database. Existing active alerts remain visible during a blackout; the blackout only prevents the alerter from creating new alerts. See Managing Blackouts for details on maintenance windows.