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Status Future consideration
Workspace Instana
Categories Alert
Created by Guest
Created on Jul 3, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

Enable separate alert notification descriptions/templates for Open and Closed event states in Instana

Sobeys is using Instana alert notifications where the alert description includes operational instructions such as creating a ServiceNow ticket and contacting the on-call support team. In the reported case, the same description was displayed when the event was Closed, which caused confusion because the resolution notification still included instructions intended only for an active/open alert.

IBM Support confirmed that Instana currently uses the same event description content for both open and closed notifications. Support also confirmed that Instana does not currently support conditional messaging or separate templates for different event states, such as different text for open versus closed alerts.

Requested Enhancement

Add the ability in Instana alert configurations to define separate notification content based on event state, specifically:

  • One description/template for Open / Active alerts
  • A separate description/template for Closed / Resolved alerts
  • Optional conditional logic or variables based on event status

This enhancement would help customers reduce alert noise, avoid unnecessary escalations, prevent duplicate or inappropriate ticket creation, and improve trust in Instana alert notifications during incident lifecycle management.

Idea priority High
  • Admin
    Vijay Sanapala
    Aug 24, 2026

    Hello Team,

    Thank you for taking the time to provide your idea to IBM. The use case is a clear real gap: Instana currently uses the same event description for both Open and Closed notifications, with no support for conditional or state-based content today.

    A similar idea is already in-progress which covers the broader alert notification templating capability, of which open/closed state-specific content is a key use case. In the meantime, here is a workaround using two separate alert configurations with Custom Event Payloads:

    Note: This workaround adds operational overhead of managing two alert configurations for each use case. It is band-aid measure until native open/closed template support is available.

    Step 1: Create two Generic Webhook alert channels

    - Go to Settings → Alert Channels → Add Alert Channel → Generic Webhook

    - Create `Channel A` —> name it `ServiceNow-Open` —> pointing to your ServiceNow incident creation endpoint

    - Create `Channel B` —> name it `ServiceNow-Closed` —> pointing to your ServiceNow resolution/closure endpoint (or a separate email group)

    Step 2: Create your alert, assign only `Channel A` (Open)

    - Go to Settings → Alerts → New Alert

    - Set your threshold and scope as normal

    - Under Alert Channels, assign only `Channel A` (`ServiceNow-Open`)

    - Under Custom Payload (optional, but recommended), add:

    - Key: `event_state` → Value: `OPEN`

    - Key: `action` → Value: `Create ServiceNow ticket and contact on-call team`

    - Set the Description field to your open-state instructions only

    Step 3: Create a second alert for the Close notification

    - Duplicate the alert from Step 2

    - Change the Alert Channels to `Channel B` (`ServiceNow-Closed`) only

    - Update the Custom Payload:

    - Key: `event_state` → Value: `CLOSED`

    - Key: `action` → Value: `Verify resolution —> no ticket creation required`

    - Update the Description to your closed-state message

    Step 4: Route in your downstream system

    - Your webhook receiver or ServiceNow integration reads the `event_state` custom payload field to determine the appropriate action

    - `OPEN` → triggers ticket creation workflow

    - `CLOSED` → triggers ticket closure or suppresses notification

    We truly value your relationship with IBM and are committed to providing you with an outstanding experience. Thank you for bringing this idea forward and for the detailed context. If you have any additional feedback, thoughts, or ideas, or if there is anything else I can do, please do not hesitate to reply to this message to continue the conversation.


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