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FeaturesAlerts

Cost Alerts

Get notified when your AI costs spike or exceed thresholds.

Alert Types

1. Budget Alerts

Get notified when you hit spending thresholds.

Daily Budget:

  • Set maximum daily spend
  • Alert at 50%, 75%, 90%, 100%
  • Email or Slack notification
  • Optionally pause API calls at limit

Monthly Budget:

  • Set maximum monthly spend
  • Progressive alerts as you approach limit
  • Track spend velocity
  • Forecast end-of-month cost

2. Spike Alerts

Get notified when costs increase suddenly.

Triggers:

  • Spending 2x normal rate
  • Spending more than $X in 1 hour
  • Call volume spike (10x normal)

Actions:

  • Email notification
  • Slack message
  • SMS (Enterprise)
  • Webhook (Pro)

3. Limit Alerts

Get notified when approaching usage limits.

Free Tier:

  • Alert at 5,000 calls (50%)
  • Alert at 7,500 calls (75%)
  • Alert at 9,000 calls (90%)
  • Alert at 10,000 calls (100%)

Rate Limits:

  • Alert when approaching hourly rate limit
  • Suggest optimization strategies

Setting Up Alerts

Via Dashboard

  1. Go to Alerts in sidebar
  2. Click Create Alert
  3. Choose alert type
  4. Configure settings
  5. Add notification channels
  6. Save alert

Alert Configuration

Budget Alert Example:

Type: Daily Budget
Threshold: $100/day
Notify at: 75%, 90%, 100%
Channels: Email, Slack
Action at 100%: Pause API calls ❌ (optional)

Spike Alert Example:

Type: Cost Spike
Condition: >2x normal hourly rate
Lookback: 7 days average
Channels: Email, Slack

Notification Channels

Email

Setup: Automatic (uses your account email)

Features:

  • Instant delivery
  • Includes details (cost, model, time)
  • Link to dashboard
  • Reply for support

Slack

Setup:

  1. Go to Alerts → Integrations
  2. Click Connect Slack
  3. Authorize AiSpendTrack
  4. Choose channel
  5. Save

Message format:

🚨 Cost Alert: Daily budget 90% reached

Current: $90.00 / $100.00
Time: 2:34 PM
Top model: gpt-4 ($45.00)

View dashboard →

Webhooks (Pro)

Setup:

  1. Go to Alerts → Integrations
  2. Click Add Webhook
  3. Enter webhook URL
  4. Choose events to send
  5. Save

Payload:

{
  "event": "budget_alert",
  "alert_id": "alert_123",
  "threshold": 90,
  "current": 90.50,
  "limit": 100.00,
  "model": "gpt-4",
  "timestamp": "2024-02-18T14:30:00Z"
}

Webhook documentation →

SMS (Enterprise)

Contact sales@aispendtrack.com for SMS alerts.

Alert Examples

Example 1: Prevent Overspending

Scenario: Never spend more than $500/month

Setup:

Alert: Monthly Budget
Limit: $500
Notify: 50%, 75%, 90%, 100%
Action: Pause API calls at 100%
Channels: Email + Slack

Example 2: Catch Bugs Early

Scenario: Detect infinite loops or bugs causing API call spikes

Setup:

Alert: Call Volume Spike
Condition: >100 calls in 5 minutes
Baseline: 7-day average
Channels: Email + Slack + Webhook

Example 3: Monitor New Features

Scenario: Track costs when launching new AI features

Setup:

Alert: Feature Cost Threshold
Feature: new-summarization
Limit: $50/day
Notify: 75%, 100%
Channels: Email

Alert History

View all triggered alerts:

  1. Go to Alerts → History
  2. See all past alerts
  3. Filter by type, date, status
  4. Click alert for details

Alert details include:

  • When it triggered
  • What threshold was exceeded
  • Which model/customer/feature
  • What action was taken
  • Time to resolution

Managing Alerts

Snooze Alerts

Temporarily disable alerts:

  1. Go to alert settings
  2. Click Snooze
  3. Choose duration (1h, 4h, 24h, 7d)
  4. Alert pauses

Edit Alerts

Modify existing alerts:

  1. Go to Alerts
  2. Click alert to edit
  3. Update settings
  4. Save changes

Delete Alerts

Remove alerts you no longer need:

  1. Go to Alerts
  2. Click alert
  3. Click Delete
  4. Confirm deletion

Alert Best Practices

1. Start Conservative

Set high thresholds initially:

  • Avoid alert fatigue
  • Adjust based on actual usage
  • Tighten over time

2. Use Multiple Thresholds

Don’t just alert at 100%:

  • 50%: Awareness
  • 75%: Warning
  • 90%: Urgent
  • 100%: Critical

3. Combine Alert Types

Use budget + spike alerts:

  • Budget: Know your baseline
  • Spike: Catch anomalies
  • Together: Comprehensive monitoring

4. Test Your Alerts

Verify alerts work:

  1. Set low test threshold
  2. Make API calls to trigger
  3. Confirm you receive notification
  4. Reset to real threshold

5. Review Weekly

Check alert history weekly:

  • Are thresholds appropriate?
  • Too many false positives?
  • Missing important events?
  • Adjust as needed

Alert Limitations

Free Tier:

  • Email alerts only
  • Basic budget alerts
  • Daily digest

Pro Tier:

  • All alert types
  • Email + Slack
  • Real-time notifications
  • Webhooks
  • Custom thresholds

Enterprise:

  • Everything in Pro
  • SMS alerts
  • Phone calls (critical alerts)
  • Dedicated alert manager
  • Custom integrations

Troubleshooting

Not receiving alerts?

  1. Check email spam folder
  2. Verify email in settings is correct
  3. Check alert is enabled (not paused/snoozed)
  4. Test with low threshold to confirm setup

Too many alerts?

  1. Increase thresholds to reduce noise
  2. Snooze non-critical alerts temporarily
  3. Use digest mode (Pro) - one daily summary email
  4. Review alert history - adjust based on patterns

Alerts delayed?

Alerts sent within:

  • Email: <1 minute
  • Slack: <30 seconds
  • Webhook: <10 seconds
  • SMS: <30 seconds

If delayed >5 minutes, contact support@aispendtrack.com.

Next Steps

Last updated on
Cost TrackingAnalytics