Question 1

How does a monitor actually run?

Accepted Answer

When a monitor’s schedule is due, SentryDock checks the attached sources for material that was not already processed. It extracts the available public content, compares it with the saved instruction, and drops items that look like duplicates or off-topic mentions. Items that pass can be translated, summarized and analysed. The original URL stays attached. If nothing relevant appeared, the run can finish without sending an alert. That is expected, not a failure. What a run needs A saved brief that still describes the topic you care about. At least one reachable public source. A schedule your plan allows (realtime slots are limited; hourly and daily are not). An enabled destination if you want the result delivered off-site. What a run does not do It does not scrape private dashboards, paid terminals or anything behind a login you have not authorised. It does not guarantee that every public item on the internet will be seen. Sites that block automated access, remove pages, or sit behind a paywall will be missed.

Question 2

When should I use realtime, hourly or daily?

Accepted Answer

Every plan includes unlimited hourly and daily monitoring. Realtime monitors check sources every few minutes and are capped: Starter 1, Pro 3, Ultra 10. Most topics do not need realtime. A mine-permit process, a weekly storage report, or a policy docket is better on hourly or daily. Reserve realtime for subjects where minutes matter: named officials posting, outage wires, or a channel that regularly moves a price in the session. If a realtime monitor is quiet for days, move it to hourly and free the slot for something that actually breaks. A simple rule Realtime: you would wake up or leave a meeting for this alert. Hourly: you want it the same morning or afternoon, not overnight. Daily: a briefing-style check is enough; you will read it with coffee or at the close. Plan limits Hourly and daily never consume a realtime slot. If you hit the realtime cap, convert a low-value realtime monitor to hourly rather than upgrading only for the slot. Upgrade when you have several subjects that truly need minutes-level checks.

Question 3

How many sources can a monitor have?

Accepted Answer

Each monitor has a source cap by plan: Starter 10, Pro 25, Ultra 50. The cap is per monitor, not a site-wide pool. A second monitor can use its own list. The cap exists because extra sources that never match the brief add fetch work and noise. Ten specific local outlets and channels usually outperform fifty general news sites. How to choose Start with sources you already read when the topic moves. Add discovered sources only after you have seen a relevant item from them. Drop sources that repeatedly miss or only send roundups. Split two unrelated topics into two monitors instead of stuffing both source lists together. If you hit the cap Remove the quietest sources first. If you still need more because the topic is genuinely spread across many local outlets, a higher plan raises the cap. Do not create duplicate monitors of the same brief just to double the cap — you will double the alerts too.

Question 4

How does relevance filtering work?

Accepted Answer

Relevance is not a simple keyword match. The saved instruction, the extracted source text, and the monitor’s settings decide whether an item is worth keeping. Two stories about the same outage may be grouped so you are not spammed. The filter can be wrong in both directions: it can send a weak match, and it can drop a story you would have wanted. Treat it as a junior analyst, not as a guarantee. What the filter looks at Entities, places and event types in the brief. Exclusions you wrote. The text actually available from the source at check time. Similarity to items already delivered. How to improve it If noise is high, narrow the brief and remove broad sources. If recalls are missing, name the entity more clearly and confirm the source is attached and public. Repeated mistakes are a brief or source problem, not something to “power through” with more destinations.

Question 5

What are predictions and impact analysis?

Accepted Answer

When an item passes relevance, SentryDock can add a short analysis of why it might matter for the topic you described. That is optional context, not a buy or sell instruction and not a forecast you should trade on alone. Prediction depth is tiered. Starter includes Quick. Pro adds Deep and Expert. Ultra includes all four tiers through Extreme. Deeper tiers use more compute and read more widely; they also take longer. Always open the original source before acting. Analysis can misread sarcasm, local context, or a headline that does not match the body. When to use deeper tiers Quick: a first pass on a noisy topic. Deep / Expert: a named event where you want more surrounding context. Extreme: Ultra only, for the handful of items that deserve an exhaustive pass. What it will not do It will not pull prices, positions or order books. It will not replace a research note. If the original article is thin, the analysis will be thin too.

Question 6

How do I edit, pause or delete a monitor?

Accepted Answer

Monitors are meant to change. After the first week you will usually rewrite the brief, swap sources and sometimes change the schedule. Do that in the monitor itself rather than creating a near-duplicate. To change a monitor: Open the monitor from your workspace. Edit the instruction, source list, schedule or destinations. Save. The next run uses the new settings; it does not rewrite past alerts. Pause the monitor if you will be away or the topic is quiet, instead of deleting it. Delete only when you are sure you do not need the configuration again. Pause versus delete Pause stops new checks and alerts but keeps the monitor so you can resume. Delete removes it. If a realtime slot is full, pausing a quiet realtime monitor frees the slot without throwing away the brief. After an edit Watch the next few results the way you watched the first week. If you added sources, confirm they are public and returning pages. If you changed destinations, send a test where the channel allows it.

Question 7

Can I share a monitor with someone else?

Accepted Answer

SentryDock can expose a monitor to someone else when sharing is enabled for that workspace. Use this for a colleague who should see the same brief, not as a public blog. Shared views are for people you intend to invite. Do not share monitors that include sources you are not authorised to pass on. Public news URLs are fine. Private Telegram access you connected is not something to forward casually. Before you share Check that the brief does not contain internal names you would not put in email. Confirm destinations on the original monitor will not suddenly page the recipient. Prefer a workspace invite when the person should create and edit, not only view. If the link does not open The share may have been revoked, the recipient may need to sign in, or the monitor may have been deleted. Create a fresh share from the monitor if you still want them to see it.

Question 8

Why did a monitor run fail or return nothing?

Accepted Answer

“No alert” is not the same as “failed”. If sources were reachable and nothing matched the brief, the run did its job. A failure is when the job could not finish: a source error, an internal stop, or a destination that rejected delivery after a result existed. Empty but healthy The topic was quiet. The brief excluded the only new items. The schedule is daily and the event happened after the last run — wait for the next one or temporarily raise cadence. Actually failed Open the monitor and check recent runs. If a named source is red, test the URL in a browser while logged out. Replace pages that now require a login. If every source looks fine and runs still fail, email support@sentrydock.com with the monitor name and approximate time. Do not send passwords or private tokens.

Monitors

How monitors run

⚙️ How does a monitor actually run?

⏱️ When should I use realtime, hourly or daily?

📚 How many sources can a monitor have?

🎯 How does relevance filtering work?

Analysis and maintenance

🔮 What are predictions and impact analysis?

🛠️ How do I edit, pause or delete a monitor?

🔗 Can I share a monitor with someone else?

⚠️ Why did a monitor run fail or return nothing?