Alert channels
Choose where matches are delivered - email, Slack, Telegram or your own webhook - and test that delivery works.
An alert channel is a destination for matches. Create channels under Notifications in the sidebar, then select them in any alert rule. A rule delivers every match to each channel it uses, and one channel can serve many rules.
Channel types
| Type | Destination | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| An email address | A digest of matches in one inbox | |
| Slack | A Slack channel | Team triage where you already work |
| Telegram | A private chat or a group | Alerts on your phone |
| Webhook | Your HTTPS endpoint | CRMs, automations and your own code |
Create a channel
- Go to Notifications and click New channel.
- Pick the channel type.
- Fill in the destination and settings (below).
- Click Create and test to save and send a test alert in one go, or Create channel to just save. Slack (with Add to Slack) and Telegram take you through a short connect step instead.
After creating your first channel, BuzzGlean suggests creating an alert rule to start using it.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Email address | The inbox that receives alerts. |
| Send interval minutes | Minimum time between two emails to this inbox (at least 1). Matches found in between are bundled into the next email. Use 60 for an hourly digest. |
When you create an email channel, BuzzGlean sends a verification link to the address. Click it to mark the channel as verified. If the link expires, use Send test alert to get a new one.
Slack
There are two ways to connect Slack.
Add to Slack (recommended)
- Choose Slack, then Add to Slack, and click Save and continue to Slack.
- Slack asks which workspace and channel to post to. Pick one and click Allow.
- You're brought back to BuzzGlean. A welcome message is posted to the channel, and the channel shows as verified.
To post somewhere else later, open the channel and click Reconnect or change channel.
Add to Slack appears only when your BuzzGlean server has a Slack app configured. Otherwise, use a webhook URL.
Paste a webhook URL
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Slack webhook URL | An incoming-webhook URL, starting with https://hooks.slack.com/. |
| Channel label | Optional. Shown in your channel list; Slack decides the channel from the webhook. |
To get a webhook URL:
Open api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App → From scratch. Name it, for example "BuzzGlean alerts", and pick your workspace.
In the left menu, open Incoming Webhooks and switch Activate Incoming Webhooks on.
Click Add New Webhook to Workspace, choose the channel for alerts, then click Allow.
Copy the Webhook URL and paste it into BuzzGlean.
Can't create apps? Your Slack admin may need to approve it. Click Create and test to confirm it works.
Each Slack alert lists up to 10 posts with their source, relevance and reason, and links to the rest in your feed.
Telegram
- Choose Telegram and click Save and connect Telegram.
- On the next screen, click Open Telegram and press Start in the chat with our bot. To send alerts to a group instead, click Add to a group and pick the group.
- BuzzGlean detects the connection within a few seconds and shows Connected to your chat.
Pairing links are valid for 30 minutes. If yours expires, click Get a new link.
Telegram appears only when your BuzzGlean server has a Telegram bot configured.
Webhook
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Endpoint URL | A public HTTPS URL that accepts JSON POST requests. Localhost and private IPs aren't allowed. |
| Signing secret | Optional. Click Generate (or type your own) to sign every request. Copy it before saving: it can't be shown again. |
BuzzGlean sends one POST per alert batch with a JSON body describing the matched posts. Your endpoint must respond with a 2xx status within 5 seconds.
To change the secret later, generate a new one and save. To stop signing, click Remove secret. See Webhooks for the payload format and how to verify signatures.
Test a channel
Use Send test alert from the channel's actions menu to send a sample alert at any time. If the channel isn't fully set up yet, the same action takes you to the next step instead:
- Email: resends the verification link.
- Slack (not connected): opens Add to Slack.
- Telegram (not paired): opens the pairing screen.
A successful test marks webhook, Slack and Telegram channels as verified. The channel list shows each channel as Verified, Unverified or Not connected.
Pause, edit and delete
- Pause: set Status to disabled. The channel stays attached to its rules but receives nothing until you re-enable it.
- Edit: changes apply to every rule that uses the channel. Changing the destination or type restarts verification.
- Delete: alerts stop going to that destination. A channel used by an active rule can't be deleted; pause the rule or remove the channel from it first.
Batching
Under Settings → Notifications, turn on Batch alerts to group several matches into a single notification instead of one message per post. Email channels also respect their own send interval.
Troubleshooting
The dashboard lists failing channels under Needs attention. Common causes:
- Webhook: the endpoint returned a non-
2xxstatus, took longer than 5 seconds, or isn't a public HTTPS URL. - Slack: the webhook was removed or the channel archived. Reconnect Slack, or paste a new webhook URL.
- Telegram: the bot was blocked or removed from the group. Create a new Telegram channel, pair it, and swap it into your rules.
- Email: the address bounces. Check for typos.