Abstract:
A system that enables a user to configure alert actions based on search results generated by a query is disclosed. During operation, the system presents an alert user interface (UI) to a user, wherein the alert UI enables the user to configure one or more alert actions to be performed based on the search results. Next, the system receives alert configuration information from the user through the alert UI, wherein the alert configuration information includes tokens representing parameters associated with the query and the search results. Then, while generating an alert associated with the search results, the system performs a token substitution operation that substitutes tokens in the alert configuration information with corresponding parameters from the search results to generate a payload that is communicated to alert-generating functionality. This token substitution allows the parameters to be used by the alert-generating functionality while performing the one or more alert actions.