Documentation
CanaryAlert monitors your infrastructure by watching the notification emails your systems already send. Forward backup reports, scheduled task results, and monitoring alerts — AI classifies each one and alerts you when things break or go silent.
How it works
- 1Create a source — Give it a name (e.g., "Veeam Nightly Backup") and define your classification rules in plain English.
- 2Forward emails or send pings — Each source gets a unique email address like
abc123@mail.canaryalert.ioand an HTTP ping URL. Use email forwarding, HTTP pings, or both. - 3AI classifies — Each incoming email is read by AI against your rules and classified as SUCCESS, FAILURE, or WARNING.
- 4Get alerted — Failures trigger immediate alerts via email, Slack, or custom webhook. If an expected email doesn't arrive (dead man's switch), you'll be notified.
Guides
Getting Started
Create your account, add your first source, and start monitoring in under 2 minutes.
Read guideEmail Forwarding
Set up email forwarding from Outlook, Gmail, or your backup software.
Read guideHTTP Ping
Monitor cron jobs, scripts, and services with HTTP pings instead of email.
Read guideClassification Rules
Write plain-English rules that AI uses to classify your notification emails.
Read guideIntegrations
Connect CanaryAlert with Slack, webhooks, and other tools.
Read guideMaintenance Windows
Suppress alerts during planned downtime so you only hear about real problems.
Read guideSource Groups
Organize sources into logical groups for easier filtering and management.
Read guideReports
View uptime percentages, success rates, and trends across all your sources.
Read guideDigest Notifications
Get daily or weekly email summaries of your monitoring status.
Read guideNeed help?
If you run into any issues or have questions not covered here, reach out at support@canaryalert.io.