How to create a Slack alert

Three ways Slack alerts you

Slack notifications can be triggered in several ways. If you’re setting up Slack notification sounds, understanding alert types helps you decide what deserves a sound and what doesn’t.

1. Mentions

When someone types @yourname, @here, or @channel, Slack sends you a notification. These are enabled by default and can’t be turned off entirely, though you can mute specific channels.

2. Keyword notifications

Slack lets you define custom keywords that trigger notifications whenever they appear in any channel you’re in.

1. Go to Preferences → Notifications.
2. Scroll to My keywords.
3. Enter comma-separated words or phrases (e.g., outage, deploy failed, your-product-name).

When any of these words appear in a channel message, Slack highlights the message and sends a notification.

3. Per-channel notification preferences

Each channel has its own notification override:

1. Open the channel in Slack.
2. Click the channel name at the top to open details.
3. Select Notifications (or Get notifications for).
4. Choose between Every new message, Mentions & keywords, or Nothing.

This is useful for high-traffic channels where you only want to be alerted for direct mentions.

The missing piece: distinct alert sounds

Slack lets you control when you’re alerted but not how it sounds per source. A keyword alert in #incidents plays the same Ding as a casual mention in #watercooler.

Chirpy adds sound differentiation. Create a rule that plays a specific sound for notifications from a channel, a person, or containing a keyword. Your ears do the triage before your eyes do. Download the free trial.