# Create notification templates
<a name="v12-alerting-create-templates"></a>

****  
This documentation topic is designed for Grafana workspaces that support **Grafana version 12.x**.  
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 9.x, see [Working in Grafana version 9](using-grafana-v9.md).  
For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 8.x, see [Working in Grafana version 8](using-grafana-v8.md).

Create reusable notification templates to send to your contact points.

You can add one or more templates to your notification template.

Your notification template name must be unique. You cannot have two templates with the same name in the same notification template or in different notification templates. Avoid defining templates with the same name as default templates, such as: `__subject`, `__text_values_list`, `__text_alert_list`, `default.title` and `default.message`.

In the Contact points tab, you can see a list of your notification templates.

## Creating notification templates
<a name="v12-alerting-creating-templates"></a>

**To create a notification template**

1. Choose **Alerting**, **Contact points**.

1. Choose the **Notification Templates** tab, and then **\$1 Add notification template**.

1. Choose a name for the notification template, such as `email.subject`.

1. Write the content of the template in the content field.

   For example:

   ```
   {{ if .Alerts.Firing -}}
      {{ len .Alerts.Firing }} firing alerts
      {{ end }}
      {{ if .Alerts.Resolved -}}
      {{ len .Alerts.Resolved }} resolved alerts
      {{ end }}
   ```

1. Save your changes.

   `{{ define "email.subject" }}` (where `email.subject` is the name of your template) and `{{ end }}` is automatically added to the start and end of the content.

**To create a notification template that contains more than one template**

1. Choose **Alerting**, **Contact points**.

1. Choose the **Notification Templates** tab, and then **\$1 Add notification template**.

1. Enter a name for the overall notification template. For example, `email`.

1. Write each template in the Content field, including `{{ define "name-of-template" }}` and `{{ end }}` at the start and end of each template. You can use descriptive names for each of the templates in the notification template, for example, `email.subject` or `email.message`. In this case, do not reuse the name of the notification template you entered above.

   Later sections show detailed examples for templates you might create.

1. Click Save.

## Preview notification templates
<a name="v12-alerting-preview-templates"></a>

Preview how your notification templates will look before using them in your contact points, helping you understand the result of the template you are creating as well as giving you a chance to fix any errors before saving the template.

**Note**  
Notification previews are only available for Grafana Alertmanager.

**To preview your notification templates**

1. Choose **Alerting**, **Contact points**.

1. Choose the **Notification Templates** tab, and then **\$1 Add notification template**, or edit an existing template.

1. Add or update your template content.

   Default data is provided and you can add or edit alert data to it as well as alert instances. You can add alert data directly in the Payload data window itself, or click **Select alert instances** or **Add custom alerts**.

1. [Optional] To add alert data from existing alert instances:

   1. Choose **Select alert instances**.

   1. Hover over the alert instances to view more information about each alert instance/

   1. Choose **Confirm** to add the alert instance to the payload.

1. [Optional] To add alert data using the Alert data editor, choose **Add custom data**:

   1. Add annotations, custom labels, or set a dashboard or panel.

   1. Toggle Firing or resolved, depending on whether you want to add firing or resolved alerts to your notification.

   1. Choose **Add alert data**.

   1. Choose **Refresh preview** to see what your template content will look like and the corresponding payload data.

   If there are any errors in your template, they are displayed in the Preview and you can correct them before saving.

1. Save your changes.

## Creating a template for the subject of message
<a name="v12-alerting-create-template-subject"></a>

Create a template for the subject of an email that contains the number of firing and resolved alerts, as in this example:

```
1 firing alerts, 0 resolved alerts
```

**To create a template for the subject of an email**

1. Create a template called `email.subject` with the following content:

   ```
   {{ define "email.subject" }}
   {{ len .Alerts.Firing }} firing alerts, {{ len .Alerts.Resolved }} resolved alerts
   {{ end }}
   ```

1. Use the template when creating your contact point integration by putting it into the **Subject** field with the `template` keyword.

   ```
   {{ template "email.subject" . }}
   ```

## Creating a template for the message of an email
<a name="v12-alerting-create-template-message"></a>

Create a template for the message of an email that contains a summary of all firing and resolved alerts, as in this example:

```
There are 2 firing alerts, and 1 resolved alerts

Firing alerts:

- alertname=Test 1 grafana_folder=GrafanaCloud has value(s) B=1
- alertname=Test 2 grafana_folder=GrafanaCloud has value(s) B=2

Resolved alerts:

- alertname=Test 3 grafana_folder=GrafanaCloud has value(s) B=0
```

**To create a template for the message of an email**

1. Create a notification template called `email` with two templates in the content: `email.message_alert` and `email.message`.

   The `email.message_alert` template is used to print the labels and values for each firing and resolved alert while the `email.message` template contains the structure of the email.

   ```
   {{- define "email.message_alert" -}}
   {{- range .Labels.SortedPairs }}{{ .Name }}={{ .Value }} {{ end }} has value(s)
   {{- range $k, $v := .Values }} {{ $k }}={{ $v }}{{ end }}
   {{- end -}}
   
   {{ define "email.message" }}
   There are {{ len .Alerts.Firing }} firing alerts, and {{ len .Alerts.Resolved }} resolved alerts
   
   {{ if .Alerts.Firing -}}
   Firing alerts:
   {{- range .Alerts.Firing }}
   - {{ template "email.message_alert" . }}
   {{- end }}
   {{- end }}
   
   {{ if .Alerts.Resolved -}}
   Resolved alerts:
   {{- range .Alerts.Resolved }}
   - {{ template "email.message_alert" . }}
   {{- end }}
   {{- end }}
   
   {{ end }}
   ```

1. Use the template when creating your contact point integration by putting it into the **Text Body** field with the `template` keyword.

   ```
   {{ template "email.message" . }}
   ```

## Creating a template for the title of a Slack message
<a name="v12-alerting-create-template-slack-title"></a>

Create a template for the title of a Slack message that contains the number of firing and resolved alerts, as in the following example:

```
1 firing alerts, 0 resolved alerts
```

**To create a template for the title of a Slack message**

1. Create a template called `slack.title` with the following content:

   ```
   {{ define "slack.title" }}
   {{ len .Alerts.Firing }} firing alerts, {{ len .Alerts.Resolved }} resolved alerts
   {{ end }}
   ```

1. Execute the template from the title field in your contact point integration.

   ```
   {{ template "slack.title" . }}
   ```

## Creating a template for the content of a Slack message
<a name="v12-alerting-create-template-slack-message"></a>

Create a template for the content of a Slack message that contains a description of all firing and resolved alerts, including their labels, annotations, and Dashboard URL.

**Note**  
This template is for Grafana managed alerts only. To use the template for data source managed alerts, delete the references to DashboardURL and SilenceURL. For more information about configuring Prometheus notifications, see the [Prometheus documentation on notifications](https://prometheus.io/docs/alerting/latest/notifications/).

```
1 firing alerts:

[firing] Test1
Labels:
- alertname: Test1
- grafana_folder: GrafanaCloud
Annotations:
- description: This is a test alert
Go to dashboard: https://example.com/d/dlhdLqF4z?orgId=1

1 resolved alerts:

[firing] Test2
Labels:
- alertname: Test2
- grafana_folder: GrafanaCloud
Annotations:
- description: This is another test alert
Go to dashboard: https://example.com/d/dlhdLqF4z?orgId=1
```

**To create a template for the content of a Slack message**

1. Create a template called `slack` with two templates in the content: `slack.print_alert` and `slack.message`.

   The `slack.print_alert` template is used to print the labels, annotations, and DashboardURL while the `slack.message` template contains the structure of the notification.

   ```
   {{ define "slack.print_alert" -}}
   [{{.Status}}] {{ .Labels.alertname }}
   Labels:
   {{ range .Labels.SortedPairs -}}
   - {{ .Name }}: {{ .Value }}
   {{ end -}}
   {{ if .Annotations -}}
   Annotations:
   {{ range .Annotations.SortedPairs -}}
   - {{ .Name }}: {{ .Value }}
   {{ end -}}
   {{ end -}}
   {{ if .DashboardURL -}}
     Go to dashboard: {{ .DashboardURL }}
   {{- end }}
   {{- end }}
   
   {{ define "slack.message" -}}
   {{ if .Alerts.Firing -}}
   {{ len .Alerts.Firing }} firing alerts:
   {{ range .Alerts.Firing }}
   {{ template "slack.print_alert" . }}
   {{ end -}}
   {{ end }}
   {{ if .Alerts.Resolved -}}
   {{ len .Alerts.Resolved }} resolved alerts:
   {{ range .Alerts.Resolved }}
   {{ template "slack.print_alert" .}}
   {{ end -}}
   {{ end }}
   {{- end }}
   ```

1. Execute the template from the text body field in your contact point integration:

   ```
   {{ template "slack.message" . }}
   ```

## Template both email and Slack with shared templates
<a name="v12-alerting-create-shared-templates"></a>

Instead of creating separate notification templates for each contact point, such as email and Slack, you can share the same template.

For example, if you want to send an email with this subject and Slack message with this title `1 firing alerts, 0 resolved alerts`, you can create a shared template.

**To create a shared template**

1. Create a template called `common.subject_title` with the following content:

   ```
   {{ define "common.subject_title" }}
   {{ len .Alerts.Firing }} firing alerts, {{ len .Alerts.Resolved }} resolved alerts
   {{ end }}
   ```

1. For email, run the template from the subject field in your email contact point integration:

   ```
   {{ template "common.subject_title" . }}
   ```

1. For Slack, run the template from the title field in your Slack contact point integration:

   ```
   {{ template "common.subject_title" . }}
   ```