> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.armature.tech/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email alerts for Armature workflows and monitors

> Send email notifications when an Armature workflow run fails or a tool monitor fires. No integration required — just a recipient address.

Armature can send an email every time a workflow run fails, errors out, or returns a non-passing evaluator verdict — and every time a tool monitor detects a failure. Email alert rules need no external integration: you specify a recipient address on each rule, and Armature handles delivery. You can create multiple rules pointing to different addresses for the same workflow or monitor, which is useful for notifying both an on-call address and a team distribution list.

## Prerequisites

* A paid Armature plan (alert rules require a paid subscription).
* An email address that can receive external mail.

## Creating an email alert rule

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Alerts page">
    Go to **Alerts** in the Armature sidebar. The destinations row shows an **Email** card with a status of **Ready** — email delivery requires no workspace-level connection, so it is always available.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a new rule">
    Click **New rule** in the top-right corner. The rule modal opens. Select **Email** from the destination toggle at the top of the modal if it is not already selected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fill in the rule fields">
    | Field                       | What to enter                                                                                                   |
    | --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Name**                    | A short label shown in the alerts table and in the email subject, for example `Prod billing-tool monitor down`. |
    | **Target object**           | Choose **Workflow** or **Tool monitor** from the dropdown.                                                      |
    | **Workflow / Tool monitor** | Select the specific workflow or tool monitor to watch.                                                          |
    | **Recipient email**         | The address to notify when the rule fires, for example `oncall@example.com`.                                    |
    | **State**                   | Leave enabled to start watching immediately, or toggle to **Paused** to save without activating.                |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save the rule">
    Click **Create email alert rule**. The rule appears in the alerts table with a status of **Watching — never fired**.

    Armature will send an email to the configured address the next time the watched workflow or tool monitor produces a failure.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What the email contains

Each alert email includes:

* The **rule name** and the name of the watched workflow or tool monitor.
* A **summary of the failure** — the error message, run outcome, or evaluator verdict that triggered the alert.
* A **direct link** to the failing run or monitor history so you can investigate without navigating through the dashboard.

## Alert rule statuses

Each rule shows one of three statuses in the alerts table:

| Status                                | Meaning                                                         |
| ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Watching — never fired**            | The rule is active and has not fired yet.                       |
| **Fired** (with a relative timestamp) | The rule fired within the last 24 hours.                        |
| **Paused — won't fire**               | The rule is saved but disabled and will not send notifications. |

Rules that fired more than 24 hours ago return to a healthy watching state, displaying the last-fired time as context.

## Pausing and resuming rules

Click the **Pause** icon on any rule row to silence it without deleting it. Click **Resume** to re-enable delivery. Pausing is useful when an address is temporarily invalid or when you want to stop alerts during planned downtime.

## Using multiple rules for the same target

You can create more than one email rule pointing to the same workflow or tool monitor. Each rule delivers independently, so one failure can notify several addresses simultaneously. Common patterns:

* Route failures to both a team alias (`platform-alerts@example.com`) and an individual on-call rotation address.
* Create a paused "escalation" rule for a manager's address and enable it only during high-risk releases.

## Editing and deleting rules

Click the rule name or the **Edit** icon to reopen the modal and change the recipient address, target, or enabled state. Deleting a rule stops Armature from watching the target; the delivery history for past notifications is preserved.

<Warning>
  Changing the recipient address on an existing rule takes effect immediately. If you need to notify both the old and new addresses, create a second rule rather than editing the existing one.
</Warning>

## Related

* [Slack alerts](/alerts/slack) — send notifications to a Slack channel or user instead of an email address.