Notification Channels
Send alert firings to Slack or to a webhook. Add a channel, test it, switch it off, and see how a channel differs from a webhook of the Webhooks page.
A notification channel is a place where Risicare sends the firings of alert rules. A channel is a Slack channel or a webhook. There is no e-mail channel in this release.
Manage channels in the dashboard. An API key cannot reach them.
What runs today: owners and admins add, test, switch off and delete channels in Settings → Notifications. You choose the channels of a rule in the rule dialog. See Alerts.
What is not available: an API key cannot create, change, test or read a channel in this release.
Add a Slack channel
Make a Slack URL
In Slack, open Apps → Incoming Webhooks → Add to a channel, and copy the URL. It starts with https://hooks.slack.com/.
Open the Notifications tab
Open Settings → Notifications, and click Add Slack.
Fill in the form
Enter a Name of up to 120 characters. Paste the URL in Slack incoming webhook URL, for example https://hooks.slack.com/services/....
Add the channel
Click Add channel.
Add a webhook channel
Open the Notifications tab
Open Settings → Notifications, and click Add webhook.
Fill in the form
Enter a Name of up to 120 characters. Enter the Webhook URL. It is an https:// URL that is reachable from the internet, for example https://example.com/hooks/risicare.
Add the channel
Click Add channel.
Copy the secret
A panel shows "The signing secret of" the channel. Copy the secret, then click I have copied it.
The signing secret shows once
The dashboard shows the secret only right after you add the channel. It never shows it again. The secret does not change. If you lose it, delete the channel, add it again, and choose the new channel in your rules.
Each request to the webhook carries a signature made with this secret. Risicare signs these deliveries the same way as the webhooks that subscribe to alert.triggered. To check a signature in your receiver, see Receive and Verify a Delivery. It names the receiver helpers of the Python and JavaScript SDKs.
URL rules
| Type | The URL |
|---|---|
| Slack | Starts with https://hooks.slack.com/ |
| Webhook | Starts with https:// and is reachable from the internet |
A URL has at most 2,048 characters. Risicare refuses a URL that points to a private address. The form shows "Enter the URL." or "Use an https:// URL." when the URL is not valid.
The list of channels
Each channel is one row. It shows the name, the badge Slack or Webhook, the word "disabled" when the channel is off, and the end of the URL, for example "URL …a1b2c3". The dashboard never shows the full URL after the add. A row has:
- A switch, Enabled or Disabled.
- Test.
- Delete (trash).
A row has no edit control. To change the name or the URL, delete the channel, add it again, and choose it again in your rules.
Test a channel
Test sends one test message to the channel. It is disabled for a channel that is switched off. The row shows the state of the delivery: sent, pending or failed. A failed delivery shows the error text. The row checks every 2 seconds for 20 seconds, then says "Still pending after 20 seconds. History shows the final state."
The test is also a row in History on the Alerts page. It reads "Channel test" and "Test message to" the channel, with the chip Test. You can test one channel at most 6 times in 60 seconds.
A delivery is pending until Risicare sends it. It then becomes sent, or failed after at most 5 retries.
Use channels in a rule
The rule dialog lists the enabled channels of the project under Channels. Each entry shows the name, Slack or Webhook, and the end of the URL. You can choose up to 20 channels for a rule. Add a channel opens Settings → Notifications.
A rule with no channel chosen records its firings in History only. When the project has no enabled channel, the dialog says "No channel yet: a firing is recorded in History only." and links to Settings → Notifications.
A label rule in Settings → Prompt labels can also send to channels. The field is Notify these channels when the label moves. See Labels.
Switch off or delete a channel
- Use the switch to turn a channel off without deleting it. A switched-off channel is not in the list of the rule dialog. If a rule already sends to it, the dialog names the channel, and Save changes removes it from the rule.
- Delete (trash) asks once: "The channel leaves every alert rule that sends to it. Its past deliveries stay in History." Click Delete channel to confirm. In History, a past delivery to it reads "Deleted channel".
Channels and the Webhooks page
A webhook channel and a webhook of the Webhooks page are two different objects. Adding one does not add the other.
| Webhook channel | Webhook on the Webhooks page | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Settings → Notifications | Webhooks in the side navigation |
| It receives | The firings of the rules that choose it | The events that you subscribe it to |
| Secret | Risicare makes it. It shows once | You can enter one. If you leave it empty, Risicare makes one. It shows once |
| Switch off | The switch in the list | The box Send events to this webhook in the Edit webhook form |
| Who manages | Owners and admins | Owners and admins |
A webhook that subscribes to alert.triggered keeps working beside the channels. A test of a rule sends no alert.triggered webhook.
Limits and roles
A project has at most 50 channels. At 50, Add Slack and Add webhook are disabled, and the page says "The project has 50 channels, the most it can have."
Only owners and admins add, switch, test and delete channels. Other roles see the controls disabled, with the text "Only owners and admins can add, change, test or delete channels." See the permission matrix.