Alert Configuration Guide

Bugwise's alert system helps you stay informed about important feedback patterns in your projects. This guide will walk you through setting up and managing alert configurations to monitor feedback clusters and receive notifications when thresholds are exceeded.

Overview

Alert configurations allow you to:

• Monitor feedback clusters for specific patterns
• Set thresholds for when alerts should trigger
• Configure multiple notification channels (Email, Slack, Webhooks)
• Filter alerts by feedback types and categories
• Prevent alert spam with cooldown periods

Getting Started

Accessing Alert Configurations

1. Navigate to your project dashboard
2. Click on "Alert Configurations" in the sidebar
3. Click "Create Alert" to set up your first alert configuration

Basic Alert Setup

Every alert configuration requires:

• Name: A descriptive name for your alert
• Threshold Value: Number of feedback items that trigger the alert
• Time Window: Period over which to count feedback (1 hour to 7 days)
• Notification Channels: How you want to be notified

Alert Configuration Components

1. Basic Information

Name and Description

• Name: Choose a clear, descriptive name (e.g., "High Priority Bug Alerts")
• Description: Optional description explaining what the alert monitors
• Status: Enable or disable the alert configuration

Example:

Name: Critical Bug Reports
Description: Alert when bug reports exceed 5 in 24 hours
Status: Enabled

2. Threshold Settings

Threshold Value

• Range: 1-1000 feedback items
• The number of feedback items needed to trigger an alert
• Counted within the specified time window

Time Window

Available options:

• 1 hour
• 6 hours
• 12 hours
• 24 hours (recommended for most use cases)
• 48 hours
• 7 days

Cooldown Period

Prevents alert spam by setting a minimum time between alerts:

• No cooldown
• 15 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 1 hour (recommended)
• 2 hours
• 6 hours
• 12 hours
• 24 hours

Minimum Similarity Score (Optional)

• Range: 0.0-1.0
• Only count feedback items with similarity above this threshold
• Leave empty to use default clustering similarity
• Higher values = more similar feedback required

3. Filters

Feedback Types

Filter alerts by specific feedback types:

• Bug: Technical issues and errors
• Question: User questions and inquiries
• Feedback: General feedback and suggestions
• Other: Miscellaneous feedback

Leave empty to monitor all feedback types.

Categories

Add custom categories to filter alerts:

• Enter category names manually
• Categories are project-specific
• Examples: "Performance", "UI/UX", "Security", "Mobile"

Leave empty to monitor all categories.

Common Use Cases

1. High-Priority Bug Monitoring

Name: Critical Bug Alerts
Threshold: 3 bugs in 6 hours
Filters: Feedback Type = "Bug"
Channels: Email + Slack
Cooldown: 2 hours

2. Customer Support Queue

Name: Support Queue Alert
Threshold: 10 questions in 4 hours
Filters: Feedback Type = "Question"
Channels: Email
Cooldown: 1 hour

3. Feature Request Tracking

Name: Popular Feature Requests
Threshold: 5 feedback in 48 hours
Filters: Category = "Feature Request"
Channels: Webhook
Cooldown: 12 hours

4. Performance Issue Detection

Name: Performance Problems
Threshold: 2 bugs in 1 hour
Filters: Category = "Performance"
Channels: Slack
Cooldown: 30 minutes

Plan Limitations

Free Plan

• 1 alert configuration per project
• Email notifications only
• All other features available

Paid Plans

• Unlimited alert configurations
• All notification channels (Email, Slack, Webhooks)
• Advanced filtering options

Best Practices

1. Start Simple

• Begin with basic email alerts
• Use reasonable thresholds (5-10 feedback items)
• Set 24-hour time windows initially

2. Avoid Alert Fatigue

• Use appropriate cooldown periods
• Don't set thresholds too low
• Filter by relevant categories/types

3. Test Your Setup

• Create a test alert with low threshold
• Verify notification channels work
• Adjust settings based on actual usage

4. Monitor and Adjust

• Review alert frequency regularly
• Adjust thresholds based on feedback volume
• Update filters as your project evolves

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Alerts Not Triggering

• Check if the alert is enabled
• Verify threshold and time window settings
• Ensure feedback matches your filters
• Check if cooldown period is active

Missing Notifications

• Verify email addresses are correct
• Check Slack webhook URL and permissions
• Test webhook endpoints independently
• Review notification channel settings

Too Many Alerts

• Increase threshold values
• Extend cooldown periods
• Add more specific filters
• Consider longer time windows

Getting Help

If you need assistance:

1. Check the alert configuration settings
2. Review the feedback data in your project
3. Contact support with specific alert configuration details

Templates

Email Template

Email notifications contain:

• Subject: "Alert: [Representative Text] ([Count] occurrences)"
• HTML Body with:
  • Alert configuration name (if using configured alerts)
  • Issue description (representative text)
  • Category information
  • Occurrence count and time window
  • Threshold value
  • Triggered timestamp
  • Up to 3 recent feedback samples with type and timestamp