> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/features/alerts.md).

# Alerts

Learn what North alerts you about, where those alerts appear, and how to read each one.

North watches your spend, your commitments, and your resources every day. What it finds reaches you in two places on the homepage: the **notification bell** in the top navigation, and the **alert row** below the spend charts.

Both show the same findings. The bell is the running feed. The alert row breaks the same findings into counts by type.

{% hint style="info" %}
You can also set up alerts to your Slack channels using Noros. Learn more about Noros [here](https://docs.noros.ai/).
{% endhint %}

## The Notification Bell

The bell carries a count of alerts you have not read yet. Click it to open the **Notifications** panel, where your alerts are listed under **Smart Alerts**, newest first.

Each entry shows:

* A **severity dot**. Red marks the most urgent findings. Amber marks findings that are not urgent, including savings opportunities.
* A **title** naming what happened and what it happened to.
* **How long ago** it was raised, and for some alerts the cloud provider it came from.

Use **Mark all as read** to clear the unread count. Reading an alert does not dismiss it.

### Alert Types

Each alert describes the issue at hand. Clicking the alert takes you to the relevant page in the app, scoped to that alert, so that you can review it further and take action.

| Title                                        | What it means                                                                                                    |
| -------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Cost Spike Detected:** *service*           | Spend on that service rose beyond what North expected.                                                           |
| **Cost Dip Detected:** *service*             | Spend on that service fell sharply. A dip can mean a resource was deleted or a commitment lapsed.                |
| **Budget Exceeded:** *budget*                | Spend passed a threshold you set on that budget.                                                                 |
| **Underutilized Commitment:** *utilization*  | A commitment is running below the utilization it needs to pay for itself. The figure is its current utilization. |
| **$***amount***/month in Rightsize Savings** | Rightsize has found resources you can resize. The figure is the monthly saving available across them.            |

## The Alert Row

Below the spend charts on the homepage, four tiles group the same findings by type. Each tile carries a count or a figure. Click one to expand it in place, without leaving the homepage.

| Tile                            | What it covers                                                                   |
| ------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Noros Alerts**                | Every alert raised for this account, matching the bell.                          |
| **Rightsize savings available** | The savings Rightsize has found, as a dollar figure per month.                   |
| **Cost Anomalies**              | Cost spikes and dips flagged by anomaly detection.                               |
| **Commitment Health Alerts**    | Commitments needing attention, such as low utilization or an approaching expiry. |

The first tile is the whole set. The other three are the individual sources feeding it, so one finding can appear in both its own tile and the Noros Alerts total.

## Cost Loop Alerts

Each connected Cost Loop has its own card further down the homepage, and each card carries a bell. Use it to reach the alerts for that provider's spend.

See [Cost Loops](/docs/features/cost-loops.md) for what a Cost Loop is and how to connect one.

## Choosing What You Are Alerted About

The homepage shows you what North found. Choosing which alerts are raised, and where else they reach you, happens in Noros.

Noros supports two levels of alerting:

* **Organization alerts** are set once by your root user and go to a shared Slack channel.
* **Your own alerts** are set by you, with your own thresholds, and reach you by email or by Slack direct message.

Both cover cost anomalies, commitment alerts, reshaping recommendations, and budgets. See the [Noros documentation](https://docs.noros.ai/) for how to set them up.


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