---
title: Why didn’t my downtime reason-based alert trigger?
description: How to ensure your downtime reason-based alerts fires.
---
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# Why didn’t my downtime reason-based alert trigger?
## Explains a timing caveat with downtime reason-based alerts, and how to use a trigger offset to work around it.
**The issue:** your alert is set to trigger based on a downtime reason, but it didn't fire.
There's a caveat when using a downtime reason as a trigger: the alert only fires if the reason is assigned immediately. If the reason is assigned after the downtime event has already occurred, the alert won't trigger by default.
#### **Workaround: use a trigger offset**
To give operators time to assign a reason, offset the trigger by a set number of minutes.
For example, with a 5-minute offset:
- A downtime event occurs.
- You have 5 minutes to assign the reason.
- If the reason is assigned within that window, the alert fires.
This creates a buffer, so the alert can still fire even if the reason isn't assigned the instant the downtime starts.
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