Alert rule schema

Alert rules define when NovaVMS should notify operators. This page lists every field, its type, default, and constraints.

Fields

Field	Type	Default	Required	Constraints
name	string	-	yes	3-100 chars. Regex ^[a-zA-Z0-9 \-_.()]{3,100}$. Unique per org (case-insensitive).
enabled	boolean	true	no	Takes effect immediately on change.
trigger_type	enum	-	yes	One of motion, ai_person, ai_vehicle, camera_offline, ai_custom_tag.
custom_tags	string[]	-	only when trigger_type=ai_custom_tag	1-20 tags from the canonical vocabulary.
min_confidence	float	0.70	only for AI trigger types	0.0 - 1.0, step 0.05.
scope_type	enum	all_cameras	yes	One of all_cameras, by_site, by_camera.
site_ids	uuid[]	-	only when scope_type=by_site	1 or more site UUIDs.
camera_ids	uuid[]	-	only when scope_type=by_camera	1 or more camera UUIDs.
zones_filter	string[]	-	no	Motion-zone names to match. Intersects with scope.
schedule_type	enum	always	yes	One of always, business_hours. See Schedule object.
cooldown_sec	integer	300	no	60 - 3600 s. Per (rule_id, camera_id) pair.
recipients	object[]	-	yes	1 - 20 entries. See Recipient object.

Max 100 rules per org. Max 20 recipients per rule.

Trigger types

motion

Field	Type	Default	Constraints
trigger_type	literal	-	Must be motion.

Evaluated on the immediate path. Fires within 500 ms of the motion event.

ai_person / ai_vehicle

Field	Type	Default	Constraints
trigger_type	literal	-	ai_person or ai_vehicle.
min_confidence	float	0.70	0.0 - 1.0, step 0.05.

Evaluated on the delayed path, after AI analysis completes on the event.

ai_custom_tag

Field	Type	Default	Constraints
trigger_type	literal	-	Must be ai_custom_tag.
custom_tags	string[]	-	1 - 20 tags. Values must be in the canonical vocabulary.
min_confidence	float	0.70	0.0 - 1.0.

camera_offline

Field	Type	Default	Constraints
trigger_type	literal	-	Must be camera_offline.

Fires when a camera is offline for 5 minutes continuously. No confidence field.

manual

Manual triggers (the Record Clip button) always generate an event but do not match alert rules. Use the manual event type on the Events page to find them.

Schedule object

Field	Type	Default	Constraints
schedule_type	enum	always	One of always, business_hours.
Effective hours (always)	-	24/7	Fires any time the other conditions match.
Effective hours (business_hours)	-	Mon-Fri 08:00 - 18:00	Site timezone. Saturday and Sunday are excluded.

Custom day/time windows are not in v1. Cron-style schedules are deferred.

Recipient object

Field	Type	Default	Constraints
user_id	uuid	-	Must be an active user in the same org.
channels	string[]	["in_app"]	Subset of ["in_app", "email"].

Recipients appear on the alert in the order the operator added them. Duplicate recipients per rule are rejected.

Example

{
  "name": "Loading dock person after hours",
  "enabled": true,
  "trigger_type": "ai_person",
  "min_confidence": 0.8,
  "scope_type": "by_camera",
  "camera_ids": ["5e3c7f...", "5e3d2a..."],
  "schedule_type": "business_hours",
  "cooldown_sec": 300,
  "recipients": [
    {"user_id": "a1b2c3...", "channels": ["email", "in_app"]},
    {"user_id": "d4e5f6...", "channels": ["in_app"]}
  ]
}

Related

• Audit actions — alert_rule.* entries logged on every change
• Roles and permissions — who can create alert rules and who can view webhook secrets