Failure alert system

[ralyodio]

📋 Product Requirements Document

PRD: Failure alert system

Issue: #171
Milestone: Phase 6: Observability
Labels: alerting, hacktoberfest

---

PRD: Failure Alert System for MeshHook

Overview

The Failure Alert System is a critical addition to MeshHook's Phase 6: Observability, designed to enhance the reliability and operational visibility of the webhook-first, deterministic, Postgres-native workflow engine. This system aims to promptly identify and notify users of workflow run failures, including errors in webhook triggers, node execution, and overall workflow completion, aligning with MeshHook’s goals for robustness and user trust.

Functional Requirements

1. Alert Detection Mechanism:

   • Automatically detect failures in workflow runs, including errors in webhook processing, node execution failures, and timeouts.
   • Identify critical failures that prevent workflow completion.

2. Notification System:

   • Support multiple notification channels, including Email, SMS, and Webhook, for versatility in alert delivery.
   • Allow configuration of notification content, including customizable messages and inclusion of failure details.

3. User-Defined Alert Criteria:

   • Enable users to define alert triggers based on specific failure types or workflow criticality.
   • Support workflow-specific and global alert configurations.

4. Alert Throttling:

   • Implement logic to limit the frequency of alerts for a given failure to prevent notification fatigue.
   • Allow users to configure "quiet periods" during which alerts are suppressed.

5. Failure Insights:

   • Provide actionable insights within alerts, such as failed node details, error messages, and links to workflow execution logs for diagnostics.

Non-Functional Requirements

• Performance: Ensure minimal impact on workflow execution performance, with efficient failure detection and alert generation.
• Reliability: Guarantee reliable delivery of alerts with a target of 99.9% delivery success rate for critical workflow failures.
• Security: Securely handle sensitive information in alerts, ensuring that no confidential workflow data is exposed.
• Maintainability: Code should be modular, well-documented, and easy to extend with new notification channels or alerting criteria.

Technical Specifications

Architecture Context

MeshHook utilizes a microservices architecture with key components including a SvelteKit-based front end, Supabase for backend services, and a distributed worker system for workflow orchestration. The Failure Alert System must integrate seamlessly with these existing components, leveraging the Supabase Realtime service for live monitoring of workflow logs and state changes.

Implementation Approach

1. Alert Logic Integration:

   • Analyze the workflow execution path to identify integration points for failure detection.
   • Extend the worker orchestrator to emit failure events to a dedicated alerting service.

2. Alert Service Design:

   • Implement a new microservice for alert processing, capable of evaluating failure events against user-defined alert criteria.
   • Utilize Supabase functions or serverless architecture for scalability and maintainability.

3. Notification Dispatch:

   • Develop a notification dispatcher within the alert service, capable of sending alerts through configured channels.
   • Start with email and webhook notifications, ensuring extensibility for future channels like SMS.

4. User Interface for Alert Configuration:

   • Extend the MeshHook dashboard to include UI components for setting up and managing alert criteria and notification preferences.
   • Use SvelteKit for consistent UI development with the rest of the MeshHook platform.

Data Model Changes

• Add AlertSettings table for storing user-defined alert criteria and preferences.
• Introduce AlertLogs table to keep track of sent alerts, aiding in throttling and audit trails.

API Endpoints

• POST /api/alerts/settings: Endpoint for creating or updating alert settings.
• GET /api/alerts/settings/{project_id}/{workflow_id?}: Endpoint for fetching alert settings.
• POST /api/alerts/trigger: Internal endpoint for the alert service to trigger notifications based on detected failures.

Acceptance Criteria

• Failure detection logic accurately identifies critical workflow failures.
• Alerts are dispatched through at least two channels (email and webhook) within 1 minute of failure detection.
• Users can configure alert settings and notification preferences through the MeshHook dashboard.
• System supports alert throttling, with configurable quiet periods and alert frequency limits.
• Documentation on configuring and using the Failure Alert System is clear, comprehensive, and integrated into the MeshHook documentation suite.

Dependencies

• Access to reliable email and potentially SMS gateway services for notification dispatch.
• Extension of current MeshHook monitoring and logging infrastructure to support failure detection.

Implementation Notes

Development Guidelines

• Adhere to the project’s existing coding standards, utilizing TypeScript for type safety.
• Design for extensibility, allowing for the easy addition of new notification channels and alert criteria.

Testing Strategy

• Implement unit tests for new services and utilities, focusing on the reliability of failure detection and alert dispatch logic.
• Conduct integration tests to ensure seamless operation with existing workflow execution and logging systems.
• Execute end-to-end tests simulating workflow failures to verify the overall effectiveness and user experience of the Failure Alert System.

Security Considerations

• Ensure API endpoints for alert configuration are secured with appropriate authentication and authorization checks.
• Implement mechanisms to prevent sensitive data from being included in alert messages.

Monitoring and Observability

• Utilize Supabase Realtime for monitoring the health and performance of the alert system.
• Establish metrics and KPIs for alert delivery success rates, detection latencies, and user configuration activities.

---

This PRD was AI-generated using gpt-4-turbo-preview from GitHub issue #171
Generated: 2025-10-10

📎 Generated Documentation

• 📄 PRD Document: 171-failure-alert-system.md
• 🎨 PlantUML Diagram: 171-failure-alert-system.puml
• 🖼️ Diagram Image: 171-failure-alert-system.png

---

This issue body was auto-generated from the PRD. Original issue content is preserved in the PRD document.
Last updated: 2025-10-10