---
title: Alerts tab
description: Set the limits that make Prefactor raise an alert on an agent's runs.
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---

Alert rules decide when Prefactor raises an alert on one of the agent's runs. Come here to turn rules on and tune their limits. The **Alert rules** button on an instance's [Alerts tab](/admin-ui/agent-instance/alerts) brings you here too.

The tab has one card for each of four rules: **Running duration**, **Inactivity**, **Failed instances**, and **Completed duration**. Each card has a toggle, a **Limit**, and a **Severity**. The limit is in minutes, except for **Failed instances**, where it is a number of instances. Severity is **Critical**, **Error**, **Warning**, or **Info**, and a new rule starts at **Warning**. What each rule measures, and what raises and clears its alert, is on the [Alert](/platform/concepts/alert) concept page.

Every rule starts off. A rule needs a limit before you can turn it on, and the limit must be a whole number of 1 or more. You can keep a limit on a rule that is off, so you can switch it back on later without retyping it.

Your edits apply together. Select **Save rules** to save them all, and the tab reminds you of any unsaved changes. Prefactor picks up the new rules at its next check, within about a minute. Turning a rule off clears the alerts it raised, and changing a limit or severity updates or clears them to match. Turning on **Completed duration** also raises alerts for earlier runs that exceeded the limit, without sending Slack notifications.

Rules never stop a run, and they ignore runs that aren't **Live**. Alerts they raise show on the [agent instance's Alerts tab](/admin-ui/agent-instance/alerts). If your account has Slack notifications on for alerts, each one also posts to your channel.

## Related

- [Alert](/platform/concepts/alert) — what each rule measures and how its alerts raise and clear.
- [Agent instance page › Alerts tab](/admin-ui/agent-instance/alerts) — the alerts these rules raise on a run.
- [Account page › Integrations tab](/admin-ui/account/integrations) — send alert notifications to Slack.
- [Agent page](/admin-ui/agent) — how the Agent page tabs fit together.