amtool

TLDR

List all current alerts

$ amtool alert

Query alerts matching a label

$ amtool alert query [alertname="HighMemory"]

Create a silence for an alert

$ amtool silence add [alertname="HighMemory"] --comment="[Maintenance]" --duration=[2h]

List all active silences

$ amtool silence query

Expire a silence by ID

$ amtool silence expire [silence_id]

Check Alertmanager configuration

$ amtool check-config [alertmanager.yml]

Show cluster status

$ amtool cluster show

SYNOPSIS

amtool command [options] [arguments]

amtool is the official command-line client for interacting with Prometheus Alertmanager. It provides capabilities for querying alerts, managing silences, testing routing configurations, and validating configuration files.
The tool connects to an Alertmanager instance via its HTTP API to perform operations. It is particularly useful for creating silences during maintenance windows, debugging alert routing, and integrating Alertmanager management into automation scripts.
Configuration can be validated offline using check-config without requiring a running Alertmanager instance. The config routes test command helps verify that alerts will be routed to expected receivers based on their labels.

PARAMETERS

alert

Query and manage alerts.

silence add matchers

Create a new silence matching the specified labels.

silence query

List active silences.

silence expire id

Remove a silence by its ID.

check-config file

Validate an Alertmanager configuration file.

cluster show

Display cluster membership status.

config routes

Display routing tree from configuration.

config routes test labels

Test which route matches given labels.

--alertmanager.url url

Alertmanager URL (default: http://localhost:9093).

--comment text

Comment for a silence (required).

--author name

Author of a silence.

--duration duration

Duration for a silence (e.g., 1h, 30m).

-o, --output format

Output format: simple, extended, json.

CAVEATS

Requires network access to the Alertmanager API endpoint. Silences require a comment; creating them without --comment will fail. The --alertmanager.url must be specified if Alertmanager is not running on localhost:9093. Configuration file validation may not catch all runtime issues.

HISTORY

amtool was developed alongside Alertmanager as part of the Prometheus ecosystem. It was created to provide operators with a scriptable interface for alert management, complementing the web UI for automation and CI/CD integration. The tool is maintained by the Prometheus project and distributed as part of the Alertmanager release.