Using Silence and Mute Timings

1. Creating Silences

Field	Description	Example
matchers	Label matchers to define which alerts to silence	`[{ "name": "alertname", "value": "InstanceDown" }]`
startsAt	Start time for the silence (ISO 8601)	`2025-04-05T10:00:00Z`
endsAt	End time for the silence (ISO 8601)	`2025-04-05T12:00:00Z`
createdBy	Identifier of the user who created the silence	`admin@example.com`
comment	Optional comment explaining the silence	`Temporary silence for maintenance window`

Example: Create a silence via API

{
  "matchers": [
    {
      "name": "alertname",
      "value": "InstanceDown"
    }
  ],
  "startsAt": "2025-04-05T10:00:00Z",
  "endsAt": "2025-04-05T12:00:00Z",
  "createdBy": "admin@example.com",
  "comment": "Temporary silence for maintenance window"
}

Note: Silences are applied to the Alertmanager cluster and will suppress matching alerts until the silence ends.

2. Setting Silence Duration

Property	Value	Description
duration	`5m`	Duration for which the silence is active. Can be specified in minutes (m), hours (h), or days (d).
matchers	`[{name: "alertname", value: "HighCPUUsage"}]`	Matchers to define which alerts are silenced. These use label-based matching.
startsAt	`2026-01-01T10:00:00Z`	Start time for the silence in RFC3339 format.
endsAt	`2026-01-01T15:00:00Z`	End time for the silence in RFC3339 format.

Example: Silence with Duration

{
  "duration": "2h",
  "matchers": [
    {
      "name": "alertname",
      "value": "HighCPUUsage"
    }
  ],
  "startsAt": "2026-01-01T10:00:00Z",
  "endsAt": "2026-01-01T12:00:00Z"
}

Note: The silence will be active for 2 hours starting at the specified start time.

3. Matching Silences to Alerts

Field	Description	Example
matchers	Array of matchers to define which alerts to silence	`[{ "name": "alertname", "value": "HighCPUUsage" }]`
comment	Optional comment explaining the silence	`"Silencing high CPU alerts during maintenance"`
createdBy	User who created the silence	`"admin"`

Example: Creating a Silence

{
  "matchers": [
    {
      "name": "alertname",
      "value": "HighCPUUsage"
    },
    {
      "name": "job",
      "value": "production"
    }
  ],
  "startsAt": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "endsAt": "2026-01-01T01:00:00Z",
  "createdBy": "admin",
  "comment": "Silencing high CPU alerts during maintenance"
}

Note: Silences match alerts based on label values. Alerts must have matching labels to be silenced.

4. Viewing Active Silences

Field	Description	Example
id	Unique identifier for the silence	`1234567890`
matchers	Label matchers that define which alerts are silenced	`[{ "name": "alertname", "value": "InstanceDown", "isRegex": false }]`
startsAt	Time when the silence becomes active	`2024-05-20T10:00:00Z`
endsAt	Time when the silence stops being active	`2024-05-20T12:00:00Z`
createdBy	User who created the silence	`admin`
comment	Optional comment explaining the silence	`Temporary silence for maintenance window`

Example: Fetching Active Silences via API

curl -X GET http://localhost:9093/api/v1/silences

Note: Silences are managed through the Alertmanager API. The endsAt field determines how long a silence will remain active.

5. Editing Silences

Field	Description	Example
id	Unique identifier for the silence	`"12345"`
matchers	Label matchers to define which alerts are silenced	`[ { "name": "alertname", "value": "HighCPUUsage", "isRegex": false } ]`
startsAt	Start time of the silence in RFC3339 format	`"2025-04-05T10:00:00Z"`
endsAt	End time of the silence in RFC3339 format	`"2025-04-05T12:00:00Z"`
createdBy	User who created the silence	`"admin"`
comment	Optional comment explaining the silence	`"Maintenance window"`

Example: Update Silence Duration

{
  "id": "12345",
  "matchers": [
    {
      "name": "alertname",
      "value": "HighCPUUsage",
      "isRegex": false
    }
  ],
  "startsAt": "2025-04-05T10:00:00Z",
  "endsAt": "2025-04-05T14:00:00Z",
  "createdBy": "admin",
  "comment": "Extended maintenance window"
}

Note: To edit a silence, you must provide the full updated silence object. Grafana does not support partial updates.

6. Expiring Silences

Property	Description	Default Value	Notes
expire	Duration after which a silence will automatically expire	None	Must be specified in seconds or using time units (e.g., 1h, 30m)
expireAt	Timestamp when the silence should expire	None	Overrides the `expire` property if both are set

Example: Setting Silence Expiry

{
  "matchers": [
    {
      "name": "alertname",
      "value": "HighCPUUsage"
    }
  ],
  "start": "2025-04-01T10:00:00Z",
  "end": "2025-04-01T12:00:00Z",
  "expire": "2h"
}

Note: If expire is not specified, the silence will remain active until manually removed.

Warning: Silences that do not expire will continue to suppress alerts indefinitely unless manually cleared.

7. Creating Mute Timings

Mute timings in Grafana allow you to suppress alert notifications during specific time periods. This is useful for avoiding alerts during scheduled maintenance windows or weekends.

Field	Description	Example
name	Name of the mute timing rule	`"Maintenance Window"`
time_intervals	List of time intervals to mute	`[ { "times": [ { "start": "02:00", "end": "06:00" } ], "weekdays": [ "monday", "tuesday" ] } ]`
time_zone	Time zone for the mute timing (default: UTC)	`"America/New_York"`

Example: Creating a mute timing for weekend maintenance

{
  "name": "Weekend Maintenance",
  "time_intervals": [
    {
      "times": [
        {
          "start": "00:00",
          "end": "08:00"
        }
      ],
      "weekdays": [
        "saturday",
        "sunday"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "time_zone": "UTC"
}

Note: Mute timings can be applied to specific alert rules or to all alerts in a namespace.

8. Configuring Mute Time Intervals

Property	Description	Example
name	Name of the mute time interval	`"maintenance-window"`
time_intervals	List of time intervals to mute	`[ { "times": [ { "start": "02:00", "end": "04:00" } ], "days_of_week": [ "monday", "tuesday" ] } ]`
time_intervals.times.start	Start time in HH:MM format	`"02:00"`
time_intervals.times.end	End time in HH:MM format	`"04:00"`
time_intervals.days_of_week	Days of the week to apply mute	`["monday", "tuesday"]`

Example: Mute Time Interval Configuration

{
  "name": "maintenance-window",
  "time_intervals": [
    {
      "times": [
        {
          "start": "02:00",
          "end": "04:00"
        }
      ],
      "days_of_week": [
        "monday",
        "tuesday"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Note: Mute time intervals can be applied to alert rules or notification policies.

9. Applying Mute Timings to Policies

Property	Description	Values
mute_time_intervals	Defines the time intervals during which alerts are muted	`array of objects`

Example: Mute Time Intervals in Alerting Policy

groups:
- name: "alerting-group"
  rules:
  - alert: "HighCPUUsage"
    expr: "node_cpu_seconds_total{mode='idle'} < 0.1"
    for: 5m
    labels:
      severity: "page"
    annotations:
      summary: "High CPU usage detected"
    mute_time_intervals:
      - "maintenance-window"

Note: Mute time intervals must be defined in the Grafana configuration or via API before they can be referenced in alerting policies.

10. Managing Silences via API

Field	Description	Example Value
id	Unique identifier for the silence	`"12345"`
matchers	List of matchers to define which alerts to silence	`[ { "name": "alertname", "value": "InstanceDown", "isRegex": false } ]`
startsAt	Start time of the silence in RFC3339 format	`"2025-04-01T10:00:00Z"`
endsAt	End time of the silence in RFC3339 format	`"2025-04-01T12:00:00Z"`
createdBy	User or system that created the silence	`"admin"`
comment	Optional comment for the silence	`"Maintenance window"`

Example: Create a Silence via API

{
  "matchers": [
    {
      "name": "alertname",
      "value": "InstanceDown",
      "isRegex": false
    }
  ],
  "startsAt": "2025-04-01T10:00:00Z",
  "endsAt": "2025-04-01T12:00:00Z",
  "createdBy": "admin",
  "comment": "Maintenance window"
}

Example: List Active Silences

curl -X GET http://localhost:9093/api/v1/silences

Example: Delete a Silence

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:9093/api/v1/silence/12345