Event Types Explained
What each kind of event in the timeline means.
Every entry in the Events timeline has a type that tells you what happened. This page explains each one in plain language.
Automatic (system) events
These are created by the platform itself, without anyone doing anything.
| Event type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Alert triggered | One of your alerts met its condition and notifications were sent. |
| Device offline | A device stopped reporting within its expected window. See Device Status. |
| Device online | A device came back after being offline, or sent its very first reading. |
| Value above range | A numeric reading went above the safe maximum configured for that device and metric. |
| Value below range | A numeric reading dropped below the safe minimum configured for that device and metric. |
| Value deviates from expected | An on/off or text reading didn't match the value expected for it (for example a door reading Open when it should be Closed). |
| Value back to normal | A reading returned to its acceptable range or expected value after being out of range. |
The "ranges" and "expected values" behind the Value… events are configured per device and metric by your administrator. Where they're set up, rabbit | iot watches every reading and records when it leaves and re-enters the normal band — even if you haven't created an alert for it.
Manual events
These are notes added by your administrator to give the timeline human context.
| Event type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Started maintenance | Marks the beginning of planned work on a device. |
| Finished maintenance | Marks the end of that work. |
| Custom | A free-form note about anything worth recording. |
Maintenance events are a great companion to muting alerts. Mute the affected alerts during the work, and the maintenance events leave a clear record of why things looked unusual for a while.
Range events vs alerts
It's worth knowing the difference:
- Range events (value above/below range, back to normal) are recorded automatically whenever a device-and-metric has ranges configured. They always appear in the timeline.
- Alerts are rules you create, and they actively notify you. An alert can watch for any of these situations and send a message when it happens.
In short: range events record what happened; alerts tell you about it.