Get told when a server needs you: notifications on your account dashboard
Connect a SpanDock server's notifications to your spandock.com dashboard, choose which kinds to see, and send a test. In every plan.
A server sometimes needs an administrator: a computer waiting for approval, a satellite gone offline, a disk nearly full, an update to install. This guide connects a SpanDock server's notifications to your spandock.com account, so they appear on your dashboard under Notifications without you opening the server. It takes a few minutes, and notifications are in every plan.
Prerequisites
- A SpanDock server activated with your spandock.com account. See Licensing and activation.
- Administrator access to the server's dashboard.
- If you run satellites, access to the hub. Only the hub reports.
Notifications are off until an administrator connects the server.
What a server reports
| Notification | When |
|---|---|
| A computer is waiting for approval | A new computer paired and waits for you |
| A server or satellite went offline | A satellite has been unreachable for 3 minutes |
| A server's disk is nearly full | On the server or a satellite |
| An update is available | A new release is out; critical and security updates are marked as such |
| The license is about to lapse | The license is in its grace period or past due, or the trial ends within 3 days |
| Spend went over a budget | Someone went over their model-proxy budget this period |
| Errors are rising | Errors are well above the usual level for the last 15 minutes |
| A guardrail blocked prompts or tool calls | Counts only, at most once an hour |
| Just-in-time access is waiting for approval | Someone asked for access, on Enterprise |
Each notification is sent once when it starts, and again only if it ends and comes back. You aren't told about the same full disk every few minutes.
What a notification contains
Only names of servers and computers, and counts. Never telemetry, prompts, code, tool output, file paths or what people did.
A budget notification, for example, says "someone" went over and gives the count. To see who, open the server's dashboard. This keeps what reaches spandock.com to the minimum needed to tell you to look.
Step 1: connect the server
- On the server's dashboard (the hub, if you have satellites), open Settings → Notifications.
- Choose Connect. The server must be activated with your spandock.com account.
Step 2: choose which kinds to see
For each kind of notification, switch Show on spandock.com on or off. A few suggestions:
- Keep a computer is waiting for approval on if you require approval for new clients. Otherwise new computers wait without anyone noticing.
- Keep a server or satellite went offline and disk nearly full on: both need action before they affect people.
- Keep the license is about to lapse on, so a payment problem or the end of a trial doesn't surprise you.
- Turn on spend went over a budget if you use model-proxy budgets.
The settings stay on each server: the server decides what to send.
Step 3: send a test
Choose Send a test. Then open spandock.com and go to Dashboard → Notifications to check that it arrived.
Where notifications appear
Dashboard → Notifications on spandock.com lists what your servers reported, newest first, with Unread and Mark all read. It also shows which servers are connected and what each one sends. If you look after several servers, they all report to the same list.
How satellites fit
Only the hub reports. Its satellites' state reaches it anyway, so you get one notification per event, not one per server. A satellite that goes offline is reported by the hub after 3 minutes.
Verify it works
- The test notification appears under Dashboard → Notifications.
- The server appears in the list of connected servers on spandock.com, with the kinds it sends.
Troubleshooting
- Connecting doesn't work. The server must be activated with your spandock.com account. Check Settings → License.
- Nothing from a satellite. That is expected: only the hub reports, including the state of its satellites.
- Too many notifications of one kind. Switch that kind off under Settings → Notifications. Guardrail notifications already send counts at most once an hour.
To stop notifications from a server at any time, choose Disconnect under Settings → Notifications.
Next steps
- Read the notifications reference.
- Require approval for new computers, so the approval notification has something to tell you: Pairing clients.
- Set per-person budgets so you hear when spending runs over: keep AI spend in check.