Alerts

Raspi-Sump can notify you when the water level reaches a critical threshold via email (SMTP) or Mastodon direct message.

Alert Types

`alert_type`	Method
`1`	Email (SMTP)
`2`	Mastodon DM

Set alert_type in raspisump.conf or via gear icon → Configuration in the web interface.

Email Alerts

Configuration

Set the following in raspisump.conf (or via the web config editor):

[email]
alert_type = 1
smtp_authentication = 1
smtp_ssl = 1
smtp_server = smtp.gmail.com:465
email_to = you@example.com
email_from = Raspi-Sump <you@example.com>

Set your SMTP credentials in credentials.conf (or via gear icon → Security):

[email]
smtp_username = you@example.com
smtp_password = your_app_password

Common SMTP Providers

Gmail

Use an App Password rather than your Google account password. Two-factor authentication must be enabled on your Google account.

smtp_authentication = 1
smtp_ssl = 1
smtp_server = smtp.gmail.com:465

Office 365

smtp_authentication = 1
smtp_tls = 1
smtp_server = smtp.office365.com:587

Local SMTP (Pi)

If you have a local mail server running on the Pi:

smtp_authentication = 0
smtp_server = localhost:25

Testing Email Alerts

After configuring, test from the command line:

alerttest

This sends a test alert to the address set in email_to.

Mastodon Alerts

Raspi-Sump sends alerts as direct messages on Mastodon. Because Mastodon does not allow an account to DM itself, you need two accounts:

A bot account — the sender. The application is registered under this account.
Your personal account — the recipient. This is where alerts are delivered.

Create a Bot Account

Create a second Mastodon account on any instance to act as the bot sender (e.g. @raspisump_bot@mastodon.social). This account sends the DMs to your personal account.

Register a Mastodon Application

Log in to the bot account
Go to Settings → Development → New Application
Give it a name (e.g. raspi-sump)
Scopes required: read and write
Save — note the Client key, Client secret, and Access token

Configuration

Set alert_type = 2 in raspisump.conf.

Add the Mastodon credentials to credentials.conf (or via gear icon → Security):

[mastodon]
client_id = your_client_key
client_secret = your_client_secret
access_token = your_access_token
mastodon_url = https://your-mastodon-instance.example
mastodon_user = @yourpersonalaccount@any-mastodon-instance.example

mastodon_url — the instance URL of the bot account (any Mastodon instance)
mastodon_user — your personal account that receives the DMs (can be on any instance)

Testing Mastodon Alerts

After configuring, test from the command line:

alerttest

This sends a test direct message to the account set in mastodon_user.

Heartbeat Notifications

A heartbeat sends a periodic test notification to confirm that alerting is working. This is useful for catching situations where the Pi loses network access or a credentials change breaks alerting.

[email]
heartbeat = 1
heartbeat_interval = 10079   # weekly (in minutes)

Reference	Minutes
Daily	1439
Weekly	10079
Monthly	43199

Alert Interval

To avoid being flooded with alerts when water stays at a critical level, set a minimum interval between repeat notifications:

alert_interval = 5   # minutes

Readings continue to be logged regardless of this setting — only the alert notifications are throttled.