docs/alerts-and-notifications/notifications/README.md
Netdata supports two ways to send alert notifications: from Netdata Cloud or from the Netdata Agent.
You can use either or both depending on how your infrastructure is set up.
:::tip
Need alerts fast?
Use Cloud for a centralized setup, or Agent for full control on each node.
:::
Netdata Cloud collects alert data from all connected nodes and sends notifications through your configured integrations.
See supported Cloud integrations
Popular integrations:
The Agent sends alerts directly from the node, even if it's offline or not connected to the Cloud.
See supported Agent integrations
Popular integrations:
Netdata's alerts are designed to minimize false positives and prevent alarm fatigue.
| Level | Description | Typical Action |
|---|---|---|
| CLEAR | The metric has returned to normal range | No action needed |
| WARNING | The metric shows concerning behavior that requires attention | Investigate during business hours |
| CRITICAL | The metric indicates a serious problem requiring immediate action | Immediate response required |
These severity levels help you prioritize your response and can be routed to different notification channels based on urgency.
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Intelligent Defaults | Thresholds carefully selected based on real-world experience |
| Hysteresis Protection | Prevents notification floods when metrics fluctuate around thresholds |
| Notification Delays | Configurable delays ensure transient issues don't trigger alerts |
| Role-Based Routing | Ensures alerts reach only the appropriate stakeholders |
:::tip
You can configure different notification channels for different severity levels. For example, you can send WARNING alerts to Slack and CRITICAL alerts to PagerDuty.
:::
When you receive an alert, Netdata provides tools to help you understand and resolve the issue:
The Netdata Assistant is an AI-powered feature that guides you through troubleshooting alerts by providing:
The Assistant window follows you as you navigate through dashboards, making troubleshooting faster and more efficient.
For more complex issues, you can access the Alerts Troubleshooting space in our community forum, where you'll find:
Choose the option that fits your needs:
| Use Case | Best Option |
|---|---|
| Manage multiple nodes centrally | Netdata Cloud |
| Fewer configs, alerts from one place | Netdata Cloud |
| Full control at node level | Netdata Agent |
| No internet or external dependencies | Netdata Agent |
| Fine-tuned control per system/service | Netdata Agent |
| Want both simplicity and flexibility | Use both |
Netdata ships with hundreds of pre-configured alerts. You can also create your own or tune existing ones:
health.d/*.conf files directly for full control over alert syntax