Set Up Your First Alert

Step 3 - Get notified when data issues occur

Alerts are how AnomalyArmor tells you when something needs attention. In this step, you’ll create your first alert rule to get notified about schema changes.

How Alerts Work

Alerts follow a simple flow:

Three components:

1. Event: What triggers the alert (schema change, freshness violation, etc.)
2. Rule: Conditions that filter events (optional: specific tables, change types)
3. Destination: Where the alert goes (Slack, email, PagerDuty, webhook)

Step-by-Step Guide

Let’s create an alert rule for schema , one of the most common and important alerts.

1. Navigate to Alerts

   Click Alerts in the left sidebar, then select Rules.

   You’ll see the Alert Rules page where you can create and manage your alert rules.

2. Add a Destination First

   Before creating a rule, you need somewhere to send alerts. Destinations are configured in Settings.

   Go to Settings → Integrations tab.

   Slack (Recommended)

   1. Click Connect Slack App or Add Webhook
   2. For Slack App: Authorize AnomalyArmor in Slack and select your channel
   3. For Webhook: Paste your Slack webhook URL
   4. Click Save

   Email

   1. Select Email
   2. Enter email addresses (comma-separated for multiple)
   3. Name the destination (e.g., “Data Team Email”)
   4. Click Save

   PagerDuty

   1. Select PagerDuty
   2. Enter your PagerDuty Integration Key
   3. Name the destination
   4. Click Save

   Webhook

   1. Select Webhook
   2. Enter your webhook URL
   3. Configure headers if needed
   4. Click Save
3. Create Alert Rule

   Go to Alerts → Rules and click Create Rule.

   You’ll see the rule builder with sections for event, conditions, and destination.

4. Configure Event Type

   Select what triggers this alert:

   Event Type	Description	When to Use
   Schema Change	Column added, removed, or modified	Catch breaking changes
   Freshness Violation	Data not updated within SLA	Detect stale data
   Discovery Failed	Discovery job couldn’t complete	Connection issues
   Asset Removed	Table or view no longer exists	Unexpected deletions

   For your first alert, select Schema Change Detected.

5. Set Conditions (Optional)

   Filter which schema changes trigger alerts:

   • Data Source: All, or specific connection
   • Schema: All, or specific schemas (e.g., public)
   • Asset: All, or specific tables
   • Change Type: All, or specific (added, removed, modified)

   For your first rule, keep defaults (all schema changes) or filter to:

   • Data Source: Your production database
   • Change Type: Column Removed (most critical)

   Start broad, then narrow. It’s easier to add filters than to miss important alerts.

6. Select Destination

   Choose where to send alerts from the destinations you configured:

   • Select your Slack channel, email, or other destination
   • You can select multiple destinations for the same rule

   For example, critical schema changes might go to:

   • Primary: Slack #data-alerts
   • Escalation: PagerDuty (for removed columns)
7. Name and Save

   Give your rule a descriptive name:

   Good names:

   • “Production Schema Changes”
   • “Critical Table Monitoring - orders”
   • “Dev Schema Changes (Low Priority)”

   Click Save to activate the rule.

8. Test Your Alert

   Verify the alert is working:

   1. Go to Settings → Integrations
   2. Find your destination and look for a test option
   3. Check that the test message arrives in your Slack channel or email

Recommended First Rules

Here are three rules we recommend setting up:

Rule 1: All Schema Changes

Field	Value
Name	All Schema Changes
Event	Schema Change Detected
Conditions	None (catch everything)
Destination	Slack #data-alerts

Catches: Any structural change to your database

Rule 2: Critical Table Freshness

Field	Value
Name	Critical Table Freshness
Event	Freshness Violation
Tables	orders, users, payments
Destination	Slack #data-alerts + PagerDuty

Catches: Stale data in your most important tables

Rule 3: Discovery Failures

Field	Value
Name	Discovery Failures
Event	Discovery Failed
Conditions	None
Destination	Slack #data-alerts

Catches: Connection or permission issues

Alert Destinations Deep Dive

Slack Setup

Full guide to Slack integration

All Destinations

Email, PagerDuty, webhooks, and more

Troubleshooting

Alerts not firing

Check these in order:

1. Rule is enabled: Toggle should be ON in the Rules list
2. Destination is configured: Test the destination
3. Conditions match: Are your filters too restrictive?
4. Events are occurring: Check Discovery is running and finding changes

Too many alerts

Reduce noise with filters:

1. Add conditions to target specific tables
2. Filter out development/test schemas
3. Filter by change type (e.g., only column removals)
4. Use different destinations for different event types

See Alert Best Practices for more tips.

Slack alerts not appearing

Common causes:

1. Bot not invited to private channels: Type /invite @AnomalyArmor
2. OAuth expired: Reconnect the Slack destination
3. Channel archived: Select a different channel

Test alert works but real alerts don't

The rule conditions might not match:

1. Verify discovery is running and finding assets
2. Check rule conditions aren’t filtering out all events
3. Wait for the next discovery run to detect changes
4. Manually trigger a schema change in a test table to verify

What You’ve Accomplished

Congratulations! You’ve completed the quickstart. You now have:

• ✅ A database connected to AnomalyArmor
• ✅ Your data assets discovered and cataloged
• ✅ Alert rules configured to notify you of issues

What’s Next?

Freshness Monitoring

Set up SLAs to detect stale data before it impacts your business

Alert Best Practices

Learn how to reduce alert fatigue and route alerts effectively

Core Concepts

Deep dive into assets, discovery, schema changes, and more

Add More Assets

Connect additional databases to expand your monitoring

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Quick Reference: Alert Rule Cheat Sheet

Event Type	Best Destination	Typical Conditions
Schema Change	Slack	Production databases only
Column Removed	PagerDuty	Critical tables
Freshness Violation	Slack + Email	SLA-bound tables
Discovery Failed	Email	All data sources
Asset Removed	Slack	Unexpected only