Alerting: Triggers
Overview
Use this page to create and manage notification triggers for alert profiles. A trigger defines a delivery channel, Email, Webhook, SMS, or WhatsApp, and the connection details alert profiles use to send notifications. Separating the channel from the alerting rule lets you configure a destination once, such as a webhook endpoint, and reuse it across every profile that needs it.
Triggers are the first link in the alert setup chain: Trigger, then Alert Profile, then Uptime Check. You need only the channel's own connection details to create one, nothing else in LoadGen. Once created, you bind the trigger to a profile on Alerting: Profiles, which decides when an alert fires; by default that profile fires on every enabled check unless you scope it from each check's Alerting step on Uptime Monitoring: Checks.
This page lists every trigger with its delivery type, status, the module using it, when it last fired, and who created it. From here you create triggers, send a real test notification, edit connection details, or delete triggers you no longer need.
Key concepts
- Trigger - A notification trigger defines a delivery channel, Email, Webhook, SMS, or WhatsApp, and the connection details alert profiles use to send notifications. (related: Alerting: Profiles)
- Alert Profile - A rule that defines when an alert fires and which trigger delivers it. (related: Alerting: Profiles)
- Uptime Check - A monitoring check whose failures can fire an alert profile; linking a profile to specific checks scopes where alerts apply. (related: Uptime Monitoring: Checks)
When to use it
- Setting up a new delivery channel, such as a webhook endpoint or on-call email address, before building alert profiles that use it.
- Sending a test notification to confirm an existing channel still works before relying on it during an incident.
- Checking the USED BY column to see which module's alert profiles depend on a trigger before editing or deleting it.
- Investigating why a channel hasn't received any alerts by checking its LAST USED and STATUS values.
- Removing a channel that's no longer needed once nothing depends on it.
Before you begin
- Have the connection details for the channel ready: an email address, a webhook URL, or an SMS/WhatsApp number, depending on the delivery method you plan to create.
- Confirm your role holds alerting permissions for the module you're working in; the Edit, Send test notification, and Delete actions are hidden or disabled otherwise.
Common workflows
Set up and verify a new notification trigger
Persona: Load test admin configuring alerting for a new project
- Select Create Trigger.
- Expect: The trigger editor opens for choosing a delivery method and entering its connection details.
- Enter the channel's connection details and a descriptive name, for example Vega evening logoff wave, then save.
- Expect: The new trigger appears in the Alert Triggers list with STATUS Active, USED BY empty, and LAST USED showing Never.
- Select the new row's Send test notification icon.
- Expect: LoadGen sends a real notification through the channel and reports whether the test succeeded or failed.
Verify: The trigger is listed as Active and the test notification arrives at the configured destination; if the test fails, LoadGen reports the failure so you can correct the channel's connection details.
Audit and remove an unused trigger
Persona: Admin cleaning up alerting configuration
- Check the USED BY column for the trigger you want to remove.
- Expect: The column shows which module's alert profiles still reference the trigger.
- Select the row's Delete icon.
- Expect: LoadGen asks you to confirm before deleting.
- Confirm the deletion.
- Expect: The trigger is removed from the list immediately, or LoadGen shows the reason it couldn't be deleted if your role lacks permission for a module that uses it.
Verify: The trigger no longer appears in the Alert Triggers list; any alert profile that referenced it needs a replacement trigger assigned from Alerting: Profiles.
Steps
Step 1
Open Triggers under Alerting in the left-hand navigation.
Expected result: The Alert Triggers page loads with the existing trigger list, in this capture a single Webhook trigger named Ops Teams channel, and an onboarding callout explaining the Trigger to Profile to Check setup chain.
This is where every delivery channel an alert profile can notify through gets created, tested, and maintained.
- Create Trigger opens the editor for a new delivery channel.
- The onboarding callout's X (Dismiss) hides the Trigger to Profile to Check explanation.
- Each row's Send test notification, Edit, and Delete icons act on that specific trigger.
Column reference
| Column | What it shows | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| NAME | Identifies the trigger and shows a short description of what it delivers; selecting the name opens the trigger in the editor, or a read-only view if your role can't edit it. | Read the name and description to recognize which channel it points to before opening it. |
| TYPE | Shows the delivery channel this trigger uses, one of Email, Webhook, SMS, or WhatsApp; determines what connection details the trigger needs and how the notification is formatted when it's sent. | Only Webhook appears in this capture; the badge names the channel type chosen when the trigger was created. |
| STATUS | Shows whether the trigger is enabled and able to deliver notifications. | A green dot with Active means the trigger can fire; no other state is shown in this capture. |
| USED BY | Names the module whose alert profiles currently send notifications through this trigger; also determines whether your role can edit, test, or delete the row, since those actions require permission for every module shown here. | Check this column before deleting or editing a trigger, since a module you don't normally work with may still depend on it. |
| LAST USED | Shows when a notification most recently went out through this trigger. | Never means the trigger has not yet delivered a notification; a timestamp appears once an alert profile fires through it. |
| CREATED BY | Shows which user account created the trigger, for audit purposes. | Read as the username that created the trigger. |
| ACTIONS | Holds the per-row Send test notification, Edit, and Delete controls for that trigger. | Icons are grayed out or hidden if your role lacks permission for a module using this trigger. |
Controls reference
Create Trigger
Opens the editor for a new delivery channel.
When to use: When you need a new Email, Webhook, SMS, or WhatsApp destination for alert profiles to send through.
Side effects: Mutating once saved: opens an editor, no trigger is created until you save it there.
Dismiss
Closes the onboarding callout that explains the Trigger to Profile to Check setup chain.
When to use: Once you understand the chain and don't need the reminder on this page.
Side effects: Read-only UI action: hides the callout and keeps it dismissed on later visits from the same browser.
Trigger name (row link)
Opens the trigger for editing, or for read-only viewing if your role can't change it.
When to use: When you want to review or change a specific trigger's settings.
Side effects: Read-only to open; any change you make inside the editor is mutating once saved.
Send test notification
Sends a real test notification through the trigger's channel.
When to use: After creating or editing a trigger, or when alerts aren't arriving and you want to confirm the channel itself still works.
Side effects: Mutating: delivers an actual message to the configured destination and reports success or failure; disabled if your role lacks test permission for a module using this trigger.
Edit
Opens the trigger in the editor to change its settings.
When to use: When connection details change, for example a webhook URL rotates, or you want to rename the trigger.
Side effects: Mutating once saved; opens read-only instead if your role doesn't hold edit permission for every module using the trigger.
Delete
Removes the trigger permanently.
When to use: Once no alert profile needs it anymore; check USED BY first.
Side effects: Mutating and destructive: asks you to confirm before deleting, then shows the API's exact reason if the delete is rejected, for example a permission gap for a module that uses this trigger.
Verify the result
The target page loads without error and the expected controls are visible.
Troubleshooting
- Symptom: The Edit, Delete, or Send test notification icons are grayed out or missing for a trigger you need to change. Fix: Your role doesn't hold the alerting permission for every module whose profiles use that trigger; ask an admin to grant the module-specific permission, or view the trigger read-only to confirm its settings.
- Symptom: A trigger's LAST USED column stays Never even though alerts should have fired. Fix: No alert profile is bound to this trigger yet, or the bound profile hasn't fired; go to Alerting: Profiles and confirm the trigger is attached to an active profile.
- Symptom: Send test notification reports a failure. Fix: Open the trigger with Edit, check the channel's connection details (webhook URL, email address, or phone number), correct them, and send the test again.
- Symptom: Deleting a trigger fails with an error. Fix: Read the error message for the exact reason, for example a permission gap for a module still using it, and resolve that condition or ask an admin with access to that module to delete it instead.
- Symptom: A new trigger doesn't show up in the list after creating it. Fix: Confirm the save in the trigger editor completed without an error, then reopen Triggers to refresh the list.
Related articles
- Next step: Alerting: Profiles - Bind the trigger to a profile that defines when it fires.
- Next step: Uptime Monitoring: Checks - Link the alert profile to specific checks through each check's Alerting step to scope where it applies.
- See also: Operations: Permissions - Row actions on this page are gated by module-specific alerting permissions managed there.