Documentationbreadcrumb arrow Pluginsbreadcrumb arrow DynamoDBbreadcrumb arrow Alerting
Grafana Cloud Enterprise
Last reviewed: April 28, 2026

DynamoDB alerting

The DynamoDB data source supports Grafana Alerting, which lets you define alert rules that evaluate PartiQL queries and trigger notifications when conditions are met. For general information about Grafana Alerting, refer to Alerting.

Before you begin

Query requirements for alerting

Alert rules evaluate query results to determine whether a condition is met. DynamoDB alert queries have the following requirements:

  • Numeric results: The query must return at least one numeric column for Grafana to evaluate against a threshold or condition.
  • Time-series format: For time-based alert conditions, alias a datetime column AS time so the plugin formats the result as a time series.

You can combine multiple queries (A, B, C) with Reduce and Math expressions to build complex alert conditions. Refer to Expression queries for details.

Caution

Alert queries run repeatedly on the configured evaluation interval. A SELECT without a partition key in the WHERE clause results in a full table scan on every evaluation, which can rapidly consume read capacity and cause throttling. Always include a partition key filter in alert queries.

Note

The DynamoDB data source doesn’t support time-range macros such as $__timeFilter. Alert queries must include explicit time filters or rely on DynamoDB’s data model to return only recent data. For details on timestamp formats and workarounds, refer to Dynamic time filtering doesn’t work.

Create an alert rule

To create an alert rule using the DynamoDB data source:

  1. Navigate to Alerting > Alert rules in the left-side menu.
  2. Click New alert rule.
  3. Select the DynamoDB data source.
  4. Enter a PartiQL query that returns a numeric result.
  5. Add a Reduce expression to aggregate the query result (for example, Last or Mean).
  6. Add a Threshold expression to define the alert condition (for example, “is above 90”).
  7. Set the evaluation interval and pending period.
  8. Configure notification settings (contact points and notification policies).
  9. Click Save rule and exit.

Alert query examples

The following examples show PartiQL queries suitable for alert rules.

Alert on error count

This query returns error counts over time for a specific application:

SQL 
SELECT timestamp AS time, errorCount
FROM "application-metrics"
WHERE appId = 'my-app' AND metricType = 'errors'
ORDER BY timestamp DESC

Configure a Reduce expression with Last to get the most recent value, then add a Threshold expression set to “is above 100”.

Alert on response time

This query returns average response time, useful for detecting latency degradation:

SQL 
SELECT timestamp AS time, avg(responseTime) AS avg_response_time
FROM "api-metrics"
WHERE serviceId = 'checkout'
GROUP BY timestamp
ORDER BY timestamp

Configure a Reduce expression with Mean, then add a Threshold expression set to “is above 2000”.

Alert on low inventory

This query checks for products with stock below a threshold:

SQL 
SELECT productId, stockCount
FROM "inventory"
WHERE warehouseId = 'warehouse-1' AND stockCount < 10

Since this isn’t a time-series query, configure a Reduce expression with Min on the stockCount field, then add a Threshold expression set to “is below 5”.

Alert using multiple queries

You can use multiple queries to compare values. For example, to alert when error rate exceeds a percentage of total requests:

Query A – error count:

SQL 
SELECT timestamp AS time, errorCount
FROM "application-metrics"
WHERE appId = 'my-app' AND metricType = 'errors'
ORDER BY timestamp DESC

Query B – total request count:

SQL 
SELECT timestamp AS time, requestCount
FROM "application-metrics"
WHERE appId = 'my-app' AND metricType = 'requests'
ORDER BY timestamp DESC

Add Reduce expressions for each query using Last, then add a Math expression with the formula $A / $B * 100 to calculate the error percentage. Add a Threshold expression set to “is above 5” to alert when errors exceed 5%.

Next steps