Alert delay in Kibana Universal Alerting

Alert delay is an optional setting for Kibana Universal Alerting rules that group matches into an alert. It controls when a breached rule transitions from pending to active, reducing noise from brief spikes that don't reflect a real state change.

In YAML, alert delay corresponds to these settings:

  • The state_transition.pending object.
  • The state_transition.pending_* fields.

Configure alert delay when:

  • The metric being monitored fluctuates and a single breach doesn't reflect a real state change. Examples include CPU usage that briefly spikes during process startup or a connection pool that crosses the threshold on alternating evaluations.
  • The cost or urgency of a notification is high enough that you need confidence the condition is sustained before alerting on it.

Leave alert delay set to Immediate when:

  • Any single breach warrants immediate attention and you cannot tolerate the added latency of waiting for consecutive evaluations.
  • The rule records matches without grouping them into an alert.
Mode Behavior When to use
Immediate Opens an alert as soon as the threshold is breached on the first evaluation. Use when any single breach warrants attention and latency matters.
Breaches Opens an alert after the threshold is breached a set number of times in a row. Use when brief spikes are normal and you only want to act after the condition keeps firing—a single breach on its own isn't enough.
Duration Opens an alert after the threshold has been continuously breached for a set time. Use when duration of the problem matters more than how many evaluations caught it, for example sustained high CPU rather than a momentary spike.

Use the following fields to configure the Breaches and Duration modes. Timeframe fields accept duration strings between 5s and 365d. Refer to Duration format for supported units.

Field Type Accepted values Description
state_transition.pending.count integer 0–1000 Consecutive matches the alert spends in pending before it becomes active on the next match. For example, 2 opens the alert on the third consecutive match. Appears as Consecutive breaches in Breaches mode. Set to 0 to open the alert on the first match.
state_transition.pending.timeframe duration Any duration string How long the condition must remain breached before the alert opens. Appears as Active for in Duration mode.
state_transition.pending.operator string and or or When you set both count and timeframe, controls whether both must be satisfied (and) or either one is enough (or). Defaults to or.

You can combine Breaches and Duration by setting both count and timeframe. Use operator: and to require both conditions before the alert opens, or operator: or if either condition alone is enough. For field details, refer to the YAML rule schema reference.

Note

In the YAML rule schema, these fields are prefixed with state_transition.. For example, pending_count here is state_transition.pending_count in the YAML rule schema reference. They are the same fields.

Field Type Accepted values Description
pending_count integer 0–1000 Number of consecutive breach evaluations required before the alert opens. Appears as Consecutive breaches in Breaches mode. Set to 0 to skip the pending phase and transition directly to active on the first breach.
pending_timeframe duration Any duration string How long the condition must remain breached before the alert opens. Appears as Active for in Duration mode.
pending_operator string AND or OR When both pending_count and pending_timeframe are set, controls whether both must be satisfied (AND) or either one is enough (OR).

You can combine Breaches and Duration by setting both pending_count and pending_timeframe. Use pending_operator: AND to require both conditions before the alert opens, or pending_operator: OR if either condition alone is enough.

Note

Looking for the equivalent delay before an alert closes? Refer to Recovery condition.

Create a rule that monitors CPU usage and runs every minute. A single high reading is often a process starting up. Set the alert delay mode to Breaches and Consecutive breaches to 3 so the rule requires 3 consecutive breaches before opening an alert, meaning the condition has been true for at least 3 minutes. This filters out noise without losing real signals.

Create a rule that monitors a payment error rate. Brief spikes happen during deployments and are expected. Set a count of 5 and a timeframe of 2m, and require both. The rule only fires when the error rate has breached on 5 consecutive evaluations and has been continuously elevated for at least 2 minutes. Either condition alone isn't enough.

state_transition:
  pending:
    count: 5
    timeframe: 2m
    operator: and
		
state_transition:
  pending_count: 5
  pending_timeframe: 2m
  pending_operator: AND