getsentry / getsentry/sentry

[Uptime] Clarify the difference between uptime monitors and uptime alerts in the docs

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#86,179 4 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Improvement Product Area: Uptime Uptime
Dominant language
Python
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Description

### Problem Statement

Customer feedback regarding Uptime monitor creation and how we point out the notification creation [here](https://docs.sentry.io/product/alerts/uptime-monitoring/#notifications):

> In the area where I create alerts there is an option for "Uptime Monitoring" which does not create alerts - and instead it creates an issue, so you have to make an Issue Alert. - it is that which is not clear in the documentation.
>
> As I go to make an alert and I see the option for uptime monitoring my assumption is that this will give me an alert when downtime is detected but it does not do that.
> It is not clear that it does not do that.
> ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9346ce53-64ef-46a3-94a1-0573fedba465)
>
> All it does it make an issue, which is not an alert, and setting this up in the alerts area is misleading.
> If I look at the other options available here all other options allow the sending of notifications via an action
> ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/26ae494b-9b04-4f4c-9181-9045a5129c83)
>
> It is only the uptime monitoring that does not have this option:
> ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/008f51af-6c56-41c6-9a0a-7a862527f00a)
>
> It is here where I expected to be able to set the action to send to our Teams channel.
> But that isn't the case for Uptime Monitoring - only via a separate issue alert.

### Solution Brainstorm

Clarify somewhere in the UI or the docs that the Uptime Monitor creation will not create notifications. Alternatively, provide the option to choose a notification action during uptime monitor creation too.

### Product Area

Crons

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the Uptime Monitoring documentation, especially the Notifications section linked in the issue, and compare its explanation with the alert-creation flow described in the screenshots. Done means clearly distinguishing monitor-created issues from notifications sent through a separate Issue Alert, though the issue also leaves open whether the UI should change.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation, observability-sre
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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