Notifications
Notifications are built into Cortex to help users stay on top of changes within their environments and the platform. Admins can configure notifications for the entire workspace, while users can configure their personal notification subscriptions.
See the full list of notification options below under Notification subscription options in Cortex.
Notification markdown limitations
It is possible to use markdown in some fields in Cortex. Some of these fields, such as the description field for a data verification policy, appear in notifications. While Cortex will render markdown as expected in the UI, Slack and email notifications may have issues rendering some markdown.
Markdown limitations include, but are not limited to, the following:
The first element in the description cannot start with
#
.Slack supports basic lists, but nested lists are not supported.
Multi-line code blocks will lose formatting in Slack.
Inline images with standard markdown (

) will not be displayed in Slack.Strike-through syntax does not render in Slack.
Line breaks may not render in Slack.
Hyperlinks may not be clickable in emails.
To read about other Slack limitations, please see Markdown Guide's documentation on using Markdown in Slack.
Setting notifications for the entire workspace
In the Notifications settings page in Cortex, you can enable notifications and refine the types of notifications received by users and teams across the workspace.
To set notifications for the workspace, you must be an admin or have a role that includes the Configure Workspace notification settings
permission.
Configure allowed notification methods
You can choose whether to allow notifications via the following methods:
Email
Note that if a user does not have a defined email address, they will not receive email notifications.
Slack
You must have the Slack integration configured in order to send notifications to entity Slack channels.
Microsoft Teams
You must have the Microsoft Teams integration configured in order to send notifications to entity Teams channels.
Configure what type of user can receive notifications
You can enable the following options across the workspace:
Enable notifications for non-Cortex users: When you toggle this setting on, it will enable all notifications for people who are not yet Cortex users but are owners of entities in Cortex.
Enable notifications for external members: When you toggle this setting on, it will enable notifications for any Cortex users who are members of an externally-sourced team, such as Workday or Okta.
Limit notifications through CQL: Any entity that does not match the query will be excluded from all notifications. For entities that match the query, Cortex will continue sending out notifications to their entity owners.
After you enable this setting, a text box appears. Enter your query into the box, then click Save query.

Enable notifications for users, teams, and entities
You can enable or disable notifications in the Cortex UI or in an entity descriptor. Note that users also have the ability to unsubscribe from a notification in their personal settings.
Notifications can be enabled for individual users, teams, or entities:
User notifications go to individual users.
For example, a user can receive onboarding tip notifications or reminders for their upcoming on-call shift.
Users can receive notifications to their email address or as a DM in Slack or Microsoft Teams. Slack and MS Teams DMs are from the Cortex app.
Team-based notifications are about entities owned by a team.
For example, if the on-call changes for an entity, then the team who owns that entity will receive a notification.
Teams can receive notifications to the team's Slack channel, the team's MS Teams channel, or to email addresses of team members.
Entity-based notifications are about the entity itself.
For example, if the on-call changes for an entity, then the entity's Slack or MS Teams channel will receive a notification.
If the owner and the entity share the same Slack or MS Teams channel, Cortex will not send a duplicate notification; it will only notify the owner.
Configure notifications in the UI
On the notification settings page, after configuring the methods and which type of users can receive notifications, you can enable individual notifications:
For each notification type in the list, enable the toggle to turn on notifications.
In each row, there are separate toggles for each allowed notification method.
The notification list defaults to user notifications. Click the Team-based and Entity-based tabs to review and enable additional notifications.
Read more about each type of notification below under Notification options in Cortex.
Adjusting your personal notification subscriptions
Notification subscriptions allow users to further refine the notifications they receive. These settings will override workspace notifications, effectively allowing a user to "unsubscribe" from a given notification type.
For example, if a workspace admin has enabled Entity evaluation in workspace notifications, but a user has disabled Entity evaluation in Notification subscriptions, the user will not receive updates when Scorecard scores change for their entities.
To adjust which notifications you receive:
Navigate to the My notifications page in Settings.
For each notification option, use the toggle switch to enable or disable notifications.
If an admin has disabled a notification type in workspace notifications, users will not be able to enable it. Disabled notification subscriptions will be grayed out. If you hover over the toggle switch, you will see a banner stating, "This notification has been disabled by your Admin."
If a notification type has been enabled, but the notification method (e.g., Slack, MS Teams, or email) is disabled, the same note will appear under the notification method toggle for each notification type.
Notification options in Cortex
Notifications that cannot be disabled
The following notification types cannot be disabled via workspace settings or in an individual user's notification settings:
API token expiration
Broken OpenAPI spec
Cortex contract or trial expiration
This notification goes to users with the
Configure settings
permission.
Configurable notification options
The configurable notification options are listed below. As described earlier on this page, an admin (or a user with the Configure Workspace notification settings
permission) can choose which of these options are available across the workspace.
If an entity channel and owner channel are the same, Cortex will not send duplicate notifications; in this case, Cortex will only send the owner a notification.
Note that notifications can be sent to private Slack channels, but the Cortex Slack Bot must be a member of the channel in order for the notification to be delivered to the channel.
How notifications are triggered
Entity evaluation
When Scorecard scores for a given entity are re-evaluated because of changes to that entity's cortex.yaml
Initiative creation
With information about recently created Initiatives you are a part of
Initiative custom scheduled reminders
Information about a given Initiative's progress at a cadence defined by the Initiative owner
Initiative reminders
Reminders a few days before a given Initiative expires with the remaining action items
Integration configuration errors
If any of your integration configurations are invalid and need to be updated
Onboarding tips
With a welcome message and important information, including a set of onboarding tips
On-call changes
When on-call changes for an entity you own
On-call reminder
With a reminder a few days before you're on call
Rule exemption request
When a Scorecard rule exemption is requested
Weekly report
Details about how your entities are tracking against Scorecards and Initiatives (sent on Mondays)
Workflow status
When a workflow fails or someone runs a workflow that requires approval
Troubleshooting and FAQ
I didn't receive an expected notification. How can I troubleshoot this?
Ensure that the user has an email address defined. Check whether the user has disabled the notification in their My notification settings page. Please also ensure that the user type is allowed to receive notifications, as configured in your workspace notification settings.
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