# Creating Grafana Mimir or Loki managed alert rules
<a name="v9-alerting-managerules-mimir-loki"></a>

****  
This documentation topic is designed for Grafana workspaces that support **Grafana version 9.x**.  
For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 12.x, see [Working in Grafana version 12](using-grafana-v12.md).  
For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 10.x, see [Working in Grafana version 10](using-grafana-v10.md).  
For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 8.x, see [Working in Grafana version 8](using-grafana-v8.md).

Using Grafana, you can create alerting rules for an external Grafana Mimir or Loki instance.

**Note**  
Grafana Mimir can connect to Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus and Prometheus data sources.

**Prerequisites**
+ Verify that you have write permissions to the Prometheus data source. Otherwise, you are not able to create or update Cortex managed alerting rules.
+ For Grafana Mimir and Loki data sources, enable the ruler API by configuring their respective services.
  + **Loki** – The `local` rule storage type, default for the Loki data source, supports only viewing of rules. To edit rules, configure one of the other storage types.
  + **Grafana Mimir** – Use the legacy `/api/prom` prefix, not `/prometheus`. The Prometheus data source supports both Grafana Mimir and Prometheus, and Grafana expects that both the Query API and Ruler API are under the same URL. You cannot provide a separate URL for the Ruler API.

**Note**  
If you do not want to manage alerting rules for a particular Loki or Prometheus data source, go to its settings and clear the **Manage alerts via Alerting UI** checkbox.

**To add a Grafana Mimir or Loki managed alerting rule**

1. From your Grafana console, in the Grafana menu, choose the **Alerting** (bell) icon to open the **Alerting** page listing existing alerts.

1. Choose **Create alert rule**.

1. In **Step 1**, choose the rule type, and details, as follows:
   + Choose **Mimir or Loki alert**.
   + In **Rule name**, add a descriptive name. This name is displayed in the alert rules list. It is also the `alertname` label for every alert instance that is created from this rule.
   + From the **Select data source** dropdown, select a Prometheus, or Loki data source.
   + From the **Namespace** dropdown, select an existing rule namespace. Otherwise, choose **Add new** and enter a name to create one. Namespaces can contain one or more rule groups and only have an organizational purpose. For more information, see [Cortex or Loki rule groups and namespaces](alert-rules.md#alert-rule-groups).
   + From the **Group** dropdown, select an existing group within the selected namespace. Otherwise, choose **Add new** and enter a name to create one. Newly created rules are appended to the end of the group. Rules within a group run sequentially at a regular interval, with the same evaluation time.

1. In **Step 2**, add the query to evaluate.

   The value can be a PromQL or LogQL expression. The rule initiates an alert if the evaluation result has at least one series with a value that is greater than 0. An alert is created for each series.

1. In **Step 3**, specify the alert evaluation interval.

   In the **For** text box of the condition, specify the duration for which the condition must be true before the alert is initiated. If you specify `5m`, the conditions must be true for five minutes before the alert is initiated.
**Note**  
After a condition is met, the alert goes into `Pending` state. If the condition remains active for the duration specified, the alert transitions to the `Firing` state. If it is no longer met, it reverts to the `Normal` state.

1. In **Step 4**, add additional metadata associated with the rule.
   + Add a description and summary to customize alert messages. Use the guidelines in [Labels and annotations](v9-alerting-explore-labels.md).
   + Add Runbook URL, panel, dashboard, and alert IDs.
   + Add custom labels.

1. Choose **Preview alerts** to evaluate the rule and see what alerts it would produce. It displays a list of alerts with state and value of each one.

1. Choose **Save** to save the rule or **Save and exit** to save the rule and go back to the **Alerting** page.

After you have created your rule, you can create a notification for your rule. For more information about notifications, see [Manage your alert notifications](v9-alerting-managenotifications.md).