# Alerts Configuration and Customization
You can enrich your alerts by adding properties to tests, models and sources in your `.yml` files. The supported attributes are: [owner](#owner), [subscribers](#subscribers), [description](#test-description), [tags](#tags).
You can configure and customize your alerts by configuring:
* [suppression interval](#suppression-interval)
* [alert fields](#alert-fields) (for test alerts only)
* [alert grouping](#group-alerts-by-table)
* [alert filters](#filter-alerts)
## Alert properties in `.yml` files
Elementary prioritizes configuration in the following order:
**For models / sources:**
1. Model config block.
2. Model properties.
3. Model path configuration under `models` key in `dbt_project.yml`.
**For tests:**
1. Test properties.
2. Tests path configuration under `tests` key in `dbt_project.yml`.
3. Parent model configuration.
{% code title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yaml
meta:
owner: "@jessica.jones"
subscribers: ["@jessica.jones", "@joe.joseph"]
description: "This is the test description"
tags: ["#marketing", "#data_ops"]
channel: data_ops
alert_suppression_interval: 24
slack_group_alerts_by: table
alert_fields: ["description", "owners", "tags", "subscribers", ...]
```
{% endcode %}
## Alert content
### [****](https://docs.elementary-data.com/oss/guides/alerts/alerts-configuration#owner)**Owner**
Elementary enriches alerts with [owners for models or tests](https://docs.getdbt.com/reference/resource-configs/meta#designate-a-model-owner)).
* If you want the owner to be tagged on slack use '@' and the email prefix of the slack user (@jessica.jones to tag ).
* You can configure a single owner or a list of owners (`["@jessica.jones", "@joe.joseph"]`).
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="models" %}
```yaml
models:
- name: my_model_name
meta:
owner: "@jessica.jones"
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test" %}
```yaml
tests:
- not_null:
meta:
owner: ["@jessica.jones", "@joe.joseph"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test/model config block" %}
```yaml
{{ config(
tags=["Tag1","Tag2"]
meta={
"description": "This is a description",
"owner": "@jessica.jones"
}
) }}
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yaml
models:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
owner: "@jessica.jones"
tests:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
owner: "@jessica.jones"
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
### **Subscribers**
If you want additional users besides the owner to be tagged on an alert, add them as subscribers.
* If you want the subscriber to be tagged on slack use '@' and the email prefix of the slack user (@jessica.jones to tag ).
* You can configure a single subscriber or a list (`["@jessica.jones", "@joe.joseph"]`).
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="model" %}
```yml
models:
- name: my_model_name
meta:
subscribers: "@jessica.jones"
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test" %}
```yml
tests:
- not_null:
meta:
subscribers: ["@jessica.jones", "@joe.joseph"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test/model config block" %}
```yml
{{ config(
meta={
"subscribers": "@jessica.jones"
}
) }}
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yml
models:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
subscribers: "@jessica.jones"
tests:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
subscribers: "@jessica.jones"
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
### **Test description**
Elementary supports configuring description for tests that are included in alerts. It's recommended to add an explanation of what does it mean if this test fails, so alert will include this context.
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="test" %}
```yml
tests:
- not_null:
meta:
description: "This is the test description"
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test config block" %}
```yml
{{ config(
tags=["Tag1","Tag2"]
meta={
description: "This is the test description"
}
) }}
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yml
tests:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
description: "This is the test description"
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
### **Tags**
You can use [tags](https://docs.getdbt.com/reference/resource-configs/tags) to provide context to your alerts.
* You can tag a group or a channel in a slack alert by adding `#channel_name` as a tag.
* Tags are aggregated,so a test alert will include both the test and the parent model tags.
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="model" %}
```yml
models:
- name: my_model_name
tags: ["#marketing", "#data_ops"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test" %}
```yml
tests:
- not_null:
tags: ["#marketing", "#data_ops"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test/model config block" %}
```yml
{{ config(
tags=["#marketing", "#data_ops"]
}
) }}
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yml
models:
path:
subfolder:
tags: ["#marketing", "#data_ops"]
tests:
path:
subfolder:
tags: ["#marketing", "#data_ops"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
## Alerts distribution
Elementary allows you to customize alerts to distribute the right information to the right people. This way you can ensure your alerts are valuable and avoid alert fatigue.
### **Suppression interval**
Don’t want to get multiple alerts if the same test keeps failing? You can now configure an `alert_suppression_interval`, this is a “snooze” period for alerts on the same issue.
The accepted value is in hours, so 1 day snooze is `alert_suppression_interval: 24`. Elementary won't send new alerts on the same issue that are generated within suppression interval.
Note: if you configure a suppression interval using this method, it will override the value in the global configuration.
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="model" %}
```yml
models:
- name: my_model_name
meta:
alert_suppression_interval: 24
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test" %}
```yml
tests:
- not_null:
meta:
alert_suppression_interval: 12
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test/model config block" %}
```yml
{{ config(
meta={
"alert_suppression_interval": 24
}
) }}
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yml
models:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
alert_suppression_interval: 24
tests:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
alert_suppression_interval: 48
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
### **Group alerts by table**
By default, Elementary sends a single alert to notify on each failure with extensive information for fast triage.
Elementary also supports grouping alerts by table. In this case, a single Slack notification will be generated containing all issues associated with this table. The created notification will contain a union of the relevant owners, tags and subscribers.
Due to their nature, grouped alerts will contain less information on each issue.
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="model" %}
```yml
models:
- name: my_model_name
meta:
slack_group_alerts_by: table
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test" %}
```yml
tests:
- not_null:
meta:
slack_group_alerts_by: table
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test/model config block" %}
```yml
{{ config(
meta={
"slack_group_alerts_by": "table"
}
) }}
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yml
models:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
slack_group_alerts_by: table
tests:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
slack_group_alerts_by: table
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
### **Alert fields**
{% hint style="warning" %}
Currently this feature is supported only by test alerts!
{% endhint %}
You can decide which fields to include in the alert, and create a format of alert that fits your use case and recipients.\
By default, all the fields are included in the alert.
Supported alert fields:
* `table`: Displays the table name of the test
* `column`: Displays the column name of the test
* `description`: Displays the description of the test
* `owners`: Displays the owners of the model on which the test is running
* `tags`: Displays the dbt tags of the test/model
* `subscribers`: Displays the subscribers of the test/model
* `result_message`: Displays the returned message from the test result
* `test_parameters`: Displays the parameters that were provided to the test
* `test_query`: Displays the query of the test
* `test_results_sample`: Displays a sample of the test results
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="model" %}
```yml
models:
- name: my_model_name
meta:
alert_fields: ["description", "owners", "tags", "subscribers"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test" %}
```yml
tests:
- not_null:
meta:
alert_fields: ["description", "owners", "tags", "subscribers"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="test/model config block" %}
```yml
{{ config(
meta={
"alert_fields": "['description', 'owners', 'tags', 'subscribers']"
}
) }}
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="dbt\_project.yml" %}
```yml
models:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
alert_fields: ["description", "owners", "tags", "subscribers"]
tests:
path:
subfolder:
+meta:
alert_fields: ["description", "owners", "tags", "subscribers"]
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
## Alerts CLI flags
### **Filter alerts**
Elementary supports filtering the alerts by tag, owner, model, status or resource type.
Using filters, you can send alerts to the relevant people and teams by running `edr` multiple times with different filters on each run.
{% hint style="warning" %}
alerts on skipped tests and models are filtered out by default. if you want to receive those alerts, apply the statuses filter and include them explicitly.
{% endhint %}
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="tags filter" %}
```shell
edr monitor --filters tags:critical
edr monitor --filters tags:finance,marketing
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="owners filter" %}
```shell
edr monitor --filters owners:@jeff
edr monitor --filters owners:@jessy,@jeff
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="models filter" %}
```shell
edr monitor --filters models:customers
edr monitor --filters models:orders,customers,signups
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="statuses filter" %}
```shell
edr monitor --filters statuses:warn,fail
edr monitor --filters statuses:error
edr monitor --filters statuses:skipped
```
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="resource\_types filter" %}
```shell
edr monitor --filters resource_types:model
edr monitor --filters resource_types:test
edr monitor --filters resource_types:test,source_freshness
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
The `--filters` flag can be used multiple times to apply multiple filters. The filters are combined using the logical AND operator. The comma `,` is used to separate multiple values for the same filter, creating a logical OR.
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="multiple filters" %}
```shell
edr monitor --filters resource_types:model --filters tags:finance,marketing
```
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
### **Group alerts by table**
By default, Elementary sends a single alert to notify on each failure with extensive information for fast triage.
Elementary also supports grouping alerts by table. In this case, a single Slack notification will be generated containing all issues associated with this table. The created notification will contain a union of the relevant owners, tags and subscribers.
Due to their nature, grouped alerts will contain less information on each issue.
```shell
edr monitor --group-by table
```
### **Suppression interval flag**
Don’t want to get multiple alerts if the same test keeps failing? You can now configure an alert\_suppression\_interval, this is a “snooze” period for alerts on the same issue. Elementary won’t send new alerts on the same issue that are generated within suppression interval.
The flag configuration is the suppression interval duration in hours, and the default is 0 hours (no alert suppression). If configured otherwise in the dbt project config block or meta, the CLI value will be ignored (unless `--override-dbt-project-config` is used).
```shell
edr monitor --suppression-interval 24
```