Why an alarm did not open, repeats or never clears, and why a Rules-card rule did not run, ran twice or was refused, with the checks to make.
Work through the table for your symptom. Most problems are a key that does not match, a debounce that waits for readings that never come, or a place in Manual.
Open the device’s Telemetry tab. No values means the problem is earlier. See Data does not arrive.
The key matches exactly
Keys are case-sensitive. The rule list marks Unknown key for keys the profile does not declare.
The rule is enabled and saved
The tab shows unsaved changes until you click Save rules.
The device belongs to this profile
Rules apply to the profile’s devices only.
The value is a number
>, <, >=, <= on text that is not a number are always false.
The threshold attribute exists
With { "attribute": … }, a device without that server or shared attribute is not checked.
The debounce can be reached
With Seconds (device time), the time advances only when readings arrive. A device that reports every 10 minutes needs at least two true readings.
The topic filter
A leaf with Only from topic ignores messages from other topics.
The reading is not late or out of order
Readings older than the newest one evaluated are skipped (unless evaluateBackfill). Late readings open alarms quietly, with Backfilled.
An alarm opened but nobody was told
See Troubleshooting notifications. Common causes: the rule has no notify block, the severity is below minSeverity, the device is muted, the alarm was backfilled, or the change was throttled (timeline: Notification held back (throttle)).
The same alarm opens again and again
Cause
Fix
The value hovers at the threshold
Add hysteresis, or debounce by readings.
The alarm flaps faster than dampening allows
It is marked Flapping and held open; raise holdSec or maxTransitions.
Two rules of the same type
Impossible in one profile; but a flow block may raise the same type. Check Related > Raised by on the alarm page.
One alarm per device and type is the rule: a condition that fires again while the alarm is active only increases Fired n times.
An alarm never clears
Cause
Fix
An explicit clear condition that never becomes true
Check the device sends that key and value.
The device stopped sending the rule’s keys
Messages without the rule’s keys are no samples. Clear by hand, or add an offline alarm.
Duration debounce with no new readings
Same: nothing advances without readings.
Flapping hold
Clears after the condition has been clear for holdSec.
The rule was switched off
Its open alarms stay open. Clear them by hand or switch the rule on.
Raised by a Rules-card action or a flow
Such alarms have no condition; they clear only by a clear action, a flow or a person.
An alarm opened again right after I cleared it
It should not: after a manual clear the rule waits until the condition has been false once. If a new alarm opened, the condition did go false and true again, or a flow raised it. Check the timeline.
A Rules-card rule did not run
Check
How
The place is in Manual
The card shows the banner, the rule shows Stopped: Manual. Also check assets above the place.
The rule is Off or Needs attention
Switch it on; edit and save a rule that needs attention.
The trigger is an edge
rises above fires only when the value crosses. If it was already above when you saved, nothing fires until it drops and rises again. Use Run now, or go to Auto with Apply the rules now.
“stays so for” was cancelled
A message that ended the match cancels the wait.
A condition was false
History names the first failing condition (“Room 1 · temperature is 26.4, not above 28”).
A missing value
“… has no stored value”: the device never sent that key, or it is an attribute rather than telemetry.
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