Automate email alerts on pipelines

Learn how to use Ascend-native Automations to send email alerts when your Flow encounters errors.

preview feature

We're still working on this one! Expect changes and note that standard SLAs don't apply, so don't rely on this for production workloads yet. Refer to our release stages to learn more.

Prerequisites

• Ascend trial Instance
• Set up your OpenAI API key

Create your Automation

You can create Automations using either the configuration UI or the Files panel. Both methods are described below.

Configuration UI

1. In the Build panel, scroll to the Automations section and click + to create a new Automation

   

2. The configuration interface opens in a new tab

3. Add a descriptive name for your Automation

4. Create Events that trigger on FlowRunError for the Flows you want to monitor

   trigger automation on all flow run errors

   Use this Events config to trigger an Automation on every Flow run failure instead of specifying individual Flows:

   ...
   triggers:
     events:
       - types:
           - FlowRunError
   ...

5. Set the Action type to Email alert

   

6. Specify email recipients

   note

   Recipients must be users on the current Ascend Instance.

   

7. ✨ Optional AI-powered enhancements:

• Check the Include Otto summary box to receive an explanation of the error in the email body
• Specify a Prompt to trigger Otto to complete additional tasks
• Specify an Agent name and Prompt to leverage an existing custom agent that will execute your Prompt

The final Automation configuration should look like this:

Files panel

1. Navigate to the Files panel
2. Right-click on the Automations folder and select New file
3. Give your Automation a descriptive name such as error_alert.yaml

automations/error_alert.yaml

automation:
  name: error_alert
  enabled: true
  triggers:
    events:
      - types:
          - FlowRunError
  actions:
    - type: email_alert
      name: send-email-alert
      config:
        emails:
          - all_users
        include_otto_summary: true

trigger automation on all flow run errors

Use this Events config to trigger an Automation on every Flow run failure instead of specifying individual Flows:

...
triggers:
  events:
    - types:
        - FlowRunError
...

enable your automation

Set enabled: true in your Automation configuration to make it active in Deployments. When enabled: false, your Automation won't execute even when trigger conditions are met—perfect for temporarily disabling Automations without deleting them.

🎉 Congratulations! You've successfully set up automated email alerts for your Ascend Flows.