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Cost alerts notify you when your AI spending exceeds defined thresholds. This guide walks you through creating your first alert.

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Prerequisites

  • A Fenra account with transaction data
  • Owner or Admin role (required to create alerts)

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Quick Start

1

Navigate to Alerts

Go to Alerts in the main navigation, then click “Create Alert”.Alerts Page - A screenshot showing the Alerts page with a list of existing alerts and a "Create Alert" button
Image Placeholder: This should show the Alerts page with:
  • List of existing alerts (if any) with status, threshold, and last triggered info
  • “Create Alert” button
  • Filter/search options
2

Enter Alert Name

Give your alert a descriptive name that indicates its purpose, such as:
  • Daily Budget Alert
  • Production Spending Alert
  • GPT-4 Cost Alert Alert Name Field - A screenshot showing the alert creation form with the name input field highlighted
Image Placeholder: This should show the alert creation form with:
  • Name input field
  • Description field (optional)
  • Form validation
3

Set the Threshold

Enter the spending amount that should trigger the alert. For example:
  • 1000 for $1,000
  • 10000 for $10,000
  • 50000 for $50,000
Start with a conservative threshold based on your typical spending. You can always adjust it later.
4

Choose Time Period

Select the time window for monitoring:
Best for catching immediate spikes. Useful for real-time monitoring.
Ideal for daily budget monitoring. Helps stay within daily spending limits.
Perfect for weekly budget reviews. Provides a broader view of spending.
Essential for monthly budget management. Tracks longer-term spending patterns.
Time Period Selector - A screenshot showing the time period dropdown with options for hour, 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days
Image Placeholder: This should show the time period selector with:
  • Dropdown menu
  • Options: Last Hour, Last 24 Hours, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days
  • Description of each option
5

Apply Filters (Optional)

Narrow down the alert to specific contexts:
Alert only for specific AI models (e.g., GPT-4, Claude Opus). Useful for monitoring expensive models.
Alert only for specific providers (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic). Helps track provider-specific spending.
Alert only for specific environments (e.g., production, staging). Separate thresholds for different environments.
Alert only for specific product features. Monitor feature-level spending.
Alert Filters - A screenshot showing the filter section with options for model, provider, environment, and feature filtering
Image Placeholder: This should show the filter section with:
  • Model filter (multi-select dropdown)
  • Provider filter (multi-select dropdown)
  • Environment filter (multi-select dropdown)
  • Feature filter (multi-select dropdown)
  • Clear filters button
Filters help create targeted alerts. For example, you might want a high threshold for production but a lower threshold for development environments.
6

Select Recipients

Choose team members who should receive alert notifications:
  • Owners - Organization owners automatically receive all alerts
  • Admins - Admins can be added to specific alerts
  • Members - Team members can be added to alerts they need to monitor Recipient Selection - A screenshot showing the recipient selection interface with a list of team members and checkboxes
Image Placeholder: This should show the recipient selection with:
  • List of team members with avatars
  • Checkboxes to select recipients
  • Search/filter for team members
  • Role indicators (Owner, Admin, Member)
Make sure to add appropriate team members to alerts. Missing critical alerts can lead to unexpected costs.
7

Configure Alert Frequency

Control how often alerts are sent to avoid notification fatigue:
Send alert as soon as threshold is exceeded. Best for critical spending alerts.
Limit alerts to once per time period (e.g., once per hour, once per day). Prevents alert fatigue.
Set a minimum time that must pass before the next alert can be sent. Useful for high-frequency alerts.
Use throttling for high-frequency alerts to avoid overwhelming your team with notifications while still staying informed.
8

Review and Create

Review your alert configuration:
  • Alert name and description
  • Threshold amount and time period
  • Filters applied
  • Recipients
  • Frequency settings
Click “Create Alert” to save your alert.Alert Review - A screenshot showing a summary of the alert configuration before creation
Image Placeholder: This should show a review/summary screen with:
  • Alert name
  • Threshold and time period
  • Filters summary
  • Recipients list
  • Frequency settings
  • Create/Cancel buttons

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Alert Examples

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Daily Budget Alert

Monitor daily spending to stay within budget:
1

Set Threshold

Set threshold to your daily budget limit (e.g., $1,000).
2

Set Time Period

Select “Last 24 Hours”.
3

Add Recipients

Add finance team members and relevant stakeholders.
4

Set Frequency

Use throttling to limit to one alert per day.

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Production Environment Alert

Monitor production spending separately:
1

Set Threshold

Set threshold appropriate for production (e.g., $5,000).
2

Set Time Period

Select “Last 24 Hours” or “Last 7 Days” depending on your needs.
3

Apply Environment Filter

Filter by “production” environment only.
4

Add Recipients

Add operations and engineering team members.

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High-Cost Model Alert

Monitor spending for expensive models:
1

Set Lower Threshold

Set a lower threshold (e.g., $500) to catch expensive model usage early.
2

Set Time Period

Select “Last 24 Hours” for timely notifications.
3

Filter by Model

Filter by specific expensive models (e.g., GPT-4, Claude Opus).
4

Add Recipients

Add engineering team members who can optimize usage.

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Managing Alerts

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Viewing Alert History

See when alerts were triggered:
1

Navigate to Alerts

Go to the Alerts page.
2

View History

Click on an alert to view its history, showing:
  • When alerts were triggered
  • Threshold vs. actual spending
  • Recipients who were notified
Alert History - A screenshot showing the alert history view with a timeline of triggered alerts
Image Placeholder: This should show the alert history with:
  • Timeline of triggered alerts
  • Timestamp for each trigger
  • Threshold vs. actual spending
  • Status (sent, failed)
  • Recipients notified

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Editing Alerts

Update alert configuration:
1

Find the Alert

Locate the alert in the Alerts list.
2

Click Edit

Click the edit icon or menu option.
3

Modify Settings

Update any settings (threshold, time period, filters, recipients, etc.).
4

Save Changes

Click “Save” to apply changes.

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Enabling and Disabling Alerts

Temporarily disable alerts without deleting them:
1

Find the Alert

Locate the alert in the Alerts list.
2

Toggle Status

Click the status toggle to enable or disable the alert.
Disable alerts instead of deleting them when you need to temporarily stop monitoring. This preserves the configuration for future use.

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Deleting Alerts

Permanently remove alerts you no longer need:
Permanent Action: Deleting an alert is permanent and cannot be undone.
1

Find the Alert

Locate the alert in the Alerts list.
2

Click Delete

Click the delete button (trash icon).
3

Confirm Deletion

Confirm the deletion in the dialog.

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Email Notifications

When an alert is triggered, email notifications are automatically sent to all configured recipients: Alert Email - A screenshot showing an example alert email notification
Image Placeholder: This should show an email template with:
  • Alert name
  • “Threshold Exceeded” message
  • Actual spending amount vs. threshold
  • Time period
  • Filter details (if applicable)
  • Link to view details in dashboard
  • Link to view cost breakdown
Email notifications include:
  • Alert details - Threshold, actual spending, and time period
  • Context - Filters applied and relevant metadata
  • Quick actions - Links to view details in the dashboard
  • Cost breakdown - Summary of what’s driving the spending

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Best Practices

Start Conservative

Begin with higher thresholds and gradually lower them as you understand your spending patterns.

Use Multiple Alerts

Set up alerts at different thresholds (e.g., 50%, 75%, 90% of budget) to get early warnings.

Filter Appropriately

Use filters to create targeted alerts that focus on what matters most to your team.

Review Regularly

Periodically review alert history to ensure thresholds are appropriate and alerts are effective.

Throttle High-Frequency Alerts

Use throttling to prevent alert fatigue while still staying informed about important changes.

Test Your Alerts

Create test alerts with very low thresholds to verify notifications are working correctly.

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Troubleshooting

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Alerts Not Triggering

If alerts aren’t triggering when expected:
Verify the threshold isn’t too high. Check your actual spending in the dashboard.
Ensure filters aren’t too restrictive. Check if any transactions match your filter criteria.
Confirm the alert is enabled (not disabled).
Make sure the time period matches when spending occurred.

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Too Many Alerts

If you’re receiving too many alerts:
  • Increase threshold - Raise the spending threshold
  • Use throttling - Enable throttling to limit alert frequency
  • Adjust time period - Use longer time periods (e.g., 7 days instead of 24 hours)
  • Review filters - Ensure filters are appropriate for your use case

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Next Steps

After creating alerts: