Every morning starts the same: Check Slack (200 unread messages). Check email (50 new emails). Check GitHub (15 issues). Check Jira (8 updates). 1-2 hours just catching up before real work begins.
Most of it isn't urgent. But you can't know which 5% matters without reading 100%.
Zine Alerts solve this: Define queries in natural language, set a schedule, get AI-generated audio briefings or text summaries. Your tools report to you, not the other way around.
This guide shows you how to set up alerts that save hours every day.
Table of Contents
- The Information Overload Problem
- How Zine Alerts Work
- Creating Your First Alert
- Alert Types and Formats
- Example Alerts by Role
- Delivery Options
- Scheduling and Frequency
- Audio Briefing Quality
- Advanced Alert Queries
- Best Practices
The Information Overload Problem
The Morning Catch-Up Ritual
Typical knowledge worker morning:
7:00 AM - Open Slack
- 200 unread messages across 15 channels
- Skim #general, #engineering, #product, #sales
- Miss important thread buried in #infrastructure
- Time: 30 minutes
7:30 AM - Check email
- 50 new emails
- 10 are important, 40 are noise
- Read, archive, flag for follow-up
- Time: 20 minutes
7:50 AM - Check GitHub
- 15 new issues
- 8 PR reviews requested
- 3 are urgent, 12 can wait
- Time: 15 minutes
8:05 AM - Check Jira/Linear
- 8 ticket updates
- 2 blockers, 6 status changes
- Time: 10 minutes
8:15 AM - Check meeting calendar
- 5 meetings today
- Need to prep for customer call
- Search email/Slack/CRM for customer context
- Time: 15 minutes
Total time spent: 90 minutes
Actual information that mattered: 10 minutes worth
How Zine Alerts Work
Zine Alerts automate the catch-up process:
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You define a query (natural language): "New Sentry errors + Slack #incidents + GitHub issues labeled 'critical'"
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You set a schedule: Daily 9am, or Weekly Monday 10am, or Hourly during business hours
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Zine executes the query automatically: Searches your connected tools (Slack, GitHub, email, etc.)
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AI synthesizes results: Summarizes findings, ranks by importance, adds citations
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Delivers to you: Audio briefing (3-5 minutes) or text summary, via Slack DM, email, or in-app notification
You wake up to a briefing, not a flood of notifications.
Creating Your First Alert
Step 1: Open Alerts
- Log in to Zine
- Click Alerts in sidebar
- Click Create Alert
Step 2: Write Your Query
Natural language query (AI interprets):
New critical bugs from GitHub + related Slack discussions + Sentry errors
Or use filters:
source:github label:bug AND source:slack channel:#incidents after:24h
Test the query first:
- Click Preview Results
- See what would be included
- Refine if too broad or narrow
Step 3: Set Schedule
Options:
- Daily: Every day at 9:00 AM
- Weekly: Every Monday at 10:00 AM
- Hourly: Every hour during business hours (9am-6pm)
- Custom: Specific days/times (e.g., Mon/Wed/Fri at 8am)
Timezone: Uses your account timezone setting.
Step 4: Choose Format
Audio Briefing:
- 3-10 minute audio summary
- Natural voice (not robotic)
- Citable (mentions sources: "From Slack, Alice said...")
- Downloadable MP3
Text Summary:
- Bullet points
- Key highlights
- Citations with links
Both:
- Get audio + text (recommended)
Step 5: Set Delivery
Slack DM:
- Zine bot sends you a direct message
- Includes audio file + text summary
Email:
- Sent to your registered email
- Audio file attached
In-App:
- Notification in Zine
- Accessible from Alerts dashboard
Step 6: Save and Activate
Click Create Alert → It's now active!
Next execution: According to your schedule (e.g., tomorrow 9am)
Test immediately: Click "Run Now" to test without waiting.
Alert Types and Formats
Audio Briefing Format
Structure:
- Introduction: "Good morning. Here's your daily engineering update for November 13th."
- Prioritized Updates: Most important items first (AI ranks)
- Context: Brief explanation of why each item matters
- Citations: "From Slack #incidents, Bob mentioned..."
- Summary: "In summary, 3 critical issues require attention today."
Voice Quality:
- Natural, conversational tone
- Clear pronunciation of technical terms
- Proper pacing (not too fast)
Length:
- Short: 1-2 minutes (headlines only)
- Standard: 3-5 minutes (default)
- Detailed: 8-10 minutes (comprehensive)
Text Summary Format
Structure:
## Daily Engineering Update - November 13, 2025
### Critical Issues (3)
1. **Checkout API timeouts** (Slack #incidents)
- 400% spike in errors since yesterday's Redis deployment
- GitHub PR #567 merged yesterday (likely cause)
- [View Slack thread] [View PR]
2. **Database migration blocker** (GitHub Issue #789)
- Blocks Q4 feature launch
- Alice investigating, needs help
- [View Issue]
3. **Customer-reported bug** (Zendesk #12345)
- Premium customer (Acme Corp) can't login
- Slack #support discussing
- [View Ticket] [View Slack]
### New Pull Requests (5)
- PR #801: "Optimize database queries" (Bob, needs review)
- PR #802: "Update API documentation" (Alice, approved)
- ...
### Slack Activity Highlights
- #engineering: 45 messages (Redis discussion ongoing)
- #product: Feature X approved for Q4
- ...
Example Alerts by Role
Engineering Lead
Alert Name: "Critical Engineering Updates"
Query:
GitHub issues labeled 'critical' OR 'bug' AND priority:high
OR Slack #incidents new threads
OR Sentry errors increased by 50%+
from the last 24 hours
Schedule: Daily 9:00 AM
Format: Audio briefing (5 minutes) + Text summary
Delivery: Slack DM
Benefit: Know about critical issues before standup. Prioritize team's day.
Sales Manager
Alert Name: "Account Activity and Wins"
Query:
Customer meetings from calendar
OR Slack mentions of my accounts (#sales, #customer-success)
OR CRM deal updates
OR customer emails with 'pricing' OR 'contract'
from the last 24 hours
Schedule: Daily 8:00 AM (before work starts)
Format: Text summary + Audio (3 minutes)
Delivery: Email
Benefit: Prep for the day with full customer context. Never caught off-guard on calls.
Product Manager
Alert Name: "Weekly Product Progress"
Query:
Linear issues closed
OR GitHub PRs merged to main
OR Slack #product mentions of 'shipped' OR 'launched'
OR customer feedback from #support
from the last 7 days
Schedule: Weekly Monday 10:00 AM
Format: Audio briefing (10 minutes)
Delivery: Slack DM + Email
Benefit: Weekly recap of what shipped, what's blocked, customer reactions.
DevOps / SRE
Alert Name: "Incident and Performance Summary"
Query:
Slack #incidents new threads
OR GitHub issues labeled 'production' OR 'outage'
OR Sentry errors increased by 30%+
OR performance degradation alerts
from the last hour
Schedule: Hourly (during business hours: 9am-6pm)
Format: Text summary (audio only if critical)
Delivery: Slack DM
Benefit: Real-time awareness of production issues. Faster incident response.
Executive / Leadership
Alert Name: "Company-Wide Highlights"
Query:
Slack wins OR launched OR closed (from #sales, #product, #engineering)
OR blockers OR escalation OR risk (from all channels)
OR customer emails with 'urgent' OR 'escalation'
OR GitHub milestones completed
from the last 24 hours
Schedule: Daily 7:00 AM
Format: Audio briefing (5-7 minutes)
Delivery: Email + In-app
Benefit: Daily pulse check on company wins and risks without reading every message.
Customer Success Lead
Alert Name: "Customer Health and Issues"
Query:
Support tickets labeled 'urgent' OR 'escalation'
OR Slack #support mentions of 'angry' OR 'frustrated' OR 'cancel'
OR customer emails with negative sentiment
OR CRM accounts with 'at-risk' status
from the last 24 hours
Schedule: Daily 8:30 AM
Format: Text summary + Audio (4 minutes)
Delivery: Slack DM
Benefit: Identify at-risk customers early, intervene proactively.
Delivery Options
Slack Direct Message
Zine bot sends you a DM:
🔔 Engineering Update - November 13, 2025
3 critical issues, 5 new PRs, 12 Slack discussions
🎧 Listen to 4-minute audio briefing
📄 Read text summary
[View in Zine]
Audio file: Embedded player, click to listen.
Best for: Daily/weekly updates you want immediately.
Subject: "[Zine Alert] Engineering Update - November 13, 2025"
Body:
- Text summary (formatted HTML)
- Audio briefing attached (MP3)
- Links to Zine for full context
Best for: Morning briefings you check on mobile/desktop.
In-App Notification
Zine app shows notification badge:
- Click Alerts → see new briefing
- Play audio or read text
- Access full search results
Best for: Non-urgent updates you check when convenient.
Scheduling and Frequency
Common Schedules
Daily Morning Briefing: 7-9 AM
- Covers: Previous 24 hours
- Use case: Start day informed
Daily End-of-Day Recap: 5-6 PM
- Covers: Today's activity
- Use case: Reflect on day, plan tomorrow
Weekly Summary: Monday 10 AM
- Covers: Previous 7 days
- Use case: Week kickoff with full context
Hourly Updates (DevOps/SRE):
- Covers: Last hour
- Use case: Real-time incident awareness
Pre-Meeting Briefing: 30 min before recurring meetings
- Covers: Updates since last meeting
- Use case: Meeting prep automation
Dynamic Scheduling
Event-Triggered Alerts (Professional/Max plans):
- When GitHub issue labeled "critical" is created → Immediate alert
- When customer emails with "urgent" → Immediate alert
- When Slack #incidents has new thread → Immediate alert
Threshold Alerts:
- When Sentry errors increase 50% → Alert
- When Slack mentions of "outage" spike → Alert
Audio Briefing Quality
Voice and Tone
Natural, conversational:
- Not robotic TTS (uses high-quality voice synthesis)
- Proper pronunciation of names, technical terms
- Appropriate pacing (not too fast)
Contextual:
- "From Slack #engineering, Bob mentioned concerns about Redis eviction..."
- Not just: "Bob said: Redis eviction policy needs review"
Prioritization
AI ranks by importance:
- Critical/Urgent: Mentioned first
- High-priority: Secondary
- Notable: Brief mention
- Low-priority: Omitted if briefing too long
Example:
- 50 items matched query
- Audio briefing focuses on top 10
- Text summary includes all 50 (with top 10 expanded)
Citations
Audio includes sources:
- "From Slack #incidents, Alice reported..."
- "GitHub PR #567 merged yesterday..."
- "In your calendar, the Acme Corp call is at 2pm..."
Text summary includes clickable links:
- [Slack thread] [GitHub PR] [Email]
Advanced Alert Queries
Query Syntax Examples
Boolean Operators:
(redis OR cache OR caching) AND (timeout OR performance)
Source Filtering:
source:slack channel:#incidents OR source:github label:production
Time Ranges:
after:24h AND before:2h
(Covers 24h ago to 2h ago, excluding very recent)
Negative Filters:
deployment NOT channel:#random
(Finds "deployment" but excludes #random noise)
Participant Filtering:
from:alice OR from:bob redis
(Only messages from Alice or Bob about redis)
Multi-Criteria Queries
Complex Query Example:
(source:slack channel:#incidents OR source:github label:bug)
AND priority:high
AND after:24h
OR (source:sentry increased-by:50%)
What this does:
- Finds: Slack incidents OR high-priority GitHub bugs from last 24h
- OR: Sentry errors increased by 50%+
Result: Comprehensive incident/bug summary.
Best Practices
1. Start with One Alert
Don't create 10 alerts on day one:
- Start with your most important update (e.g., daily engineering summary)
- Use for a week
- Refine query based on what's useful vs. noise
- Then add more alerts
2. Tune Query Scope
Too broad: Alert has 50 items, takes 15 minutes to listen
- Solution: Add filters (channel:#engineering, label:critical)
Too narrow: Alert is empty most days
- Solution: Broaden query (remove strict filters)
Goal: 5-15 relevant items per briefing (3-5 minute audio)
3. Use Time Windows Wisely
For daily alerts: Query "last 24 hours" For weekly alerts: Query "last 7 days" For hourly alerts: Query "last hour"
Avoid overlaps: Don't query "last 48 hours" on daily alerts (you'll get duplicates).
4. Different Formats for Different Alerts
Critical/Urgent Alerts:
- Text summary only (fast to scan)
- Immediate delivery (Slack DM)
Daily Briefings:
- Audio briefing (listen while commuting)
- Email delivery
Weekly Recaps:
- Audio (detailed, 10 minutes)
- In-app (reference later)
5. Team-Shared Alerts
Create alerts for your team:
- Engineering Lead → "Critical Bugs" alert shared with all engineers
- Sales Manager → "Account Activity" alert shared with AE team
- Product Lead → "Customer Feedback" alert shared with PM team
Benefit: Everyone gets the same information, aligned priorities.
Example Alert Configurations
Engineering: Daily Bug and Incident Summary
Alert Name: Engineering Daily
Query: GitHub issues labeled 'bug' OR 'critical'
OR Slack #incidents new threads
OR Sentry errors increased by 30%+
from the last 24 hours
Schedule: Daily 9:00 AM
Format: Audio (5 min) + Text
Delivery: Slack DM
Audio might say: "Good morning. Here's your engineering update for November 13th. Three critical items today. First, checkout API timeouts have increased 400% since yesterday's Redis deployment. Bob mentioned this in Slack #incidents 2 hours ago. GitHub PR #567 merged yesterday is the likely cause. Second, GitHub issue #789 labeled critical was opened overnight—database migration is blocking the Q4 launch. Alice is investigating. Third, Sentry shows 87 new errors in the payment service. In summary, the Redis deployment needs immediate attention, and Alice may need support on the migration blocker."
Sales: Daily Account Activity
Alert Name: Sales Daily Digest
Query: Customer meetings from calendar
OR CRM updates for my accounts
OR Slack mentions of my accounts in #sales, #customer-success
OR customer emails from my accounts
from the last 24 hours
Schedule: Daily 8:00 AM
Format: Text summary
Delivery: Email + Slack DM
Text might include:
## Sales Daily Digest - November 13, 2025
### Customer Meetings Today (3)
1. Acme Corp - 2:00 PM (Pricing discussion)
- Last contact: Email yesterday about discount request
- Slack: CS team mentioned they're evaluating competitors
- [View CRM] [View Email] [View Slack]
2. Widget Inc - 4:00 PM (Renewal discussion)
...
Product: Weekly Shipped Features
Alert Name: Weekly Ship Summary
Query: Linear issues closed
OR GitHub PRs merged to production
OR Slack #product mentions of 'shipped' OR 'launched'
OR customer feedback about new features
from the last 7 days
Schedule: Weekly Monday 10:00 AM
Format: Audio (10 min)
Delivery: In-app + Email
Audio might say: "Good morning. Here's your weekly product update. Last week, the team shipped 12 features. Highlights include: API rate limiting launched Monday, announced in Slack #product. Customer feedback has been positive—3 emails thanking us for this feature. The mobile app redesign PR was merged Friday, launches this week. And the SSO integration is in testing. Customer success mentioned 5 enterprise prospects are waiting for this. In Linear, 8 bugs were closed, 3 remain open for this sprint..."
Executive: Daily Company Pulse
Alert Name: Company Daily Highlights
Query: Slack wins OR closed OR launched OR celebration (from all channels)
OR Slack blockers OR escalation OR urgent OR risk
OR customer emails labeled 'escalation'
OR GitHub milestones completed
from the last 24 hours
Schedule: Daily 7:00 AM
Format: Audio (5 min)
Delivery: Email
Audio might say: "Good morning. Here's your company pulse for November 13th. Wins: Sales closed $150k deal with Acme Corp, announced in Slack #sales. Product shipped API rate limiting, customers are pleased. Concerns: Engineering flagged database migration blocker affecting Q4 launch—Alice investigating. Customer success escalated Widget Inc issue—checkout errors affecting their production. GitHub milestone 'Q4 MVP' completed yesterday. In summary, strong sales win and feature launch, but watch the migration blocker and Widget Inc escalation."
Next Steps
Now that you understand Zine Alerts:
- ✅ Create Your First Alert: Daily update for your role
- ✅ Test and Refine: Run immediately, adjust query if needed
- ✅ Add More Alerts: Weekly recap, hourly incident checks
- ✅ Share with Team: Create shared alerts for your team
- ✅ Connect More Data: More sources = richer briefings
Related Guides:
- Data Connectors - Connect Slack, GitHub, email for comprehensive alerts
- Slack Knowledge Base - Set up Slack connector
- GitHub Intelligence - Set up GitHub connector
- Model-Agnostic Chat - Choose AI model for your briefings
Learn More:
- Try Zine - Free tier available, test alerts immediately
- Schedule a demo - Get help creating alerts for your team
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