External connections

An external connection is a Chronosphere Observability Platform configuration object that stores credentials and connection details for a third-party system used when sending alert notifications. Each external connection has a stable slug that other resources use to refer to it. The display name can be updated later, but the slug cannot be changed after creation.

Supported integrations

In the Chronosphere API, the external connection resource includes optional blocks for supported integration types. Each stored connection configures one integration:

Slack: API URL and token for posting messages.
PagerDuty: Events API routing or service key for outbound alerts, an optional REST API token for related polling, and an Events API version selector.
Webhook: target URL and optional HTTP settings such as basic authentication, bearer token, or TLS verification behavior.
VictorOps: API key and API URL.
OpsGenie: API key, API URL, and optional HTTP settings similar to a webhook connection.

You can create multiple external connections, including more than one for the same integration type when you need separate credentials. Observability Platform sets created_at and updated_at.

Create an external connection

Select from the following methods to create an external connection.

Web
Chronoctl
Terraform
API

Only administrators can create external connections.To create an external connection:

In the navigation menu, select Alerts > External Connections.
Click Create connection.
In the Create external connection drawer, enter a Name.
Select an External connection type.
Complete the Connection configuration fields for the selected type.
Click Create.

To create an external connection with Chronoctl:

Run the following command to generate a sample configuration you can use as a template:
```
chronoctl external-connections scaffold
```
Complete the definition file, then submit it:
```
chronoctl external-connections create -f FILE_NAME
```
Replace FILE_NAME with the name of your YAML definition file.

For flags such as --dry-run, use the same patterns as other configuration resources in Configuration commands.

When you run terraform plan to generate an execution plan, Chronosphere automatically tests configurations that include notification policies by submitting them as dry runs. For details, see the Terraform provider documentation.

To create an external connection with Terraform, use an integration-specific resource type such as chronosphere_slack_external_connection or chronosphere_pagerduty_external_connection. Treat the Config API ExternalConnection schema in the Chronosphere API reference as the canonical field description. For arguments that exist only in Terraform, consult the provider schema bundled with your version.

Add the resource definition to a Terraform file.
Run the following command to apply the changes:
```
terraform apply
```

To create an external connection with the Chronosphere API, use the CreateExternalConnections endpoint. Put the integration block under external_connection. Use the optional dry_run parameter to validate the request without persisting the connection.Because the Chronosphere API requires authentication, include an API token with your curl request, as shown in the following example. For more details, see Create an API token.

export CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN="TOKEN"
export CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN="INSTANCE.chronosphere.io"

curl -H "API-Token: ${CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN}" \
     -X METHOD "https://${CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN}/ENDPOINT_PATH"

Replace the following:

TOKEN: Your API token.
INSTANCE: The subdomain name for your organization’s Observability Platform instance.
METHOD: The HTTP method to use with the request, such as GET or POST.
ENDPOINT_PATH: The specific endpoint you want to access.

View external connections

Select from the following methods to view external connections.

Web
Chronoctl
Terraform
API

In the navigation menu, select Alerts > External Connections.The External Connections page lists all connections with their type and name. Use Filter by type or Search name to narrow the list. Click a connection row to open it in the Edit external connection drawer.

To list all external connections with Chronoctl, use the following command:

chronoctl external-connections list

To view a single connection by slug, use read:

chronoctl external-connections read SLUG

Replace SLUG with the slug of the connection you want to view.

To list all external connections, use the ListExternalConnections endpoint.To retrieve a single connection by slug, use ReadExternalConnections.Because the Chronosphere API requires authentication, include an API token with your curl request, as shown in the following example. For more details, see Create an API token.

export CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN="TOKEN"
export CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN="INSTANCE.chronosphere.io"

curl -H "API-Token: ${CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN}" \
     -X METHOD "https://${CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN}/ENDPOINT_PATH"

Replace the following:

TOKEN: Your API token.
INSTANCE: The subdomain name for your organization’s Observability Platform instance.
METHOD: The HTTP method to use with the request, such as GET or POST.
ENDPOINT_PATH: The specific endpoint you want to access.

Update an external connection

Select from the following methods to update an external connection.

Web
Chronoctl
Terraform
API

To update an external connection:

In the navigation menu, select Alerts > External Connections.
Click the connection you want to edit.
In the Edit external connection drawer, update the connection fields. You can’t change the connection type after creation.
Click Save.

To update an external connection with Chronoctl:

Edit the definition file for the connection.
Run the following command to submit the changes:
```
chronoctl external-connections update -f FILE_NAME
```
Replace FILE_NAME with the name of your YAML definition file.

Chronoctl matches the connection to update by slug.

To update an external connection with Terraform:

Edit the resource definition in your Terraform file.
Run the following command to apply the changes:
```
terraform apply
```

To update an external connection with the Chronosphere API, use the UpdateExternalConnections endpoint. The optional create_if_missing parameter creates the connection if no match for the slug exists. Use dry_run to validate without persisting.Because the Chronosphere API requires authentication, include an API token with your curl request, as shown in the following example. For more details, see Create an API token.

export CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN="TOKEN"
export CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN="INSTANCE.chronosphere.io"

curl -H "API-Token: ${CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN}" \
     -X METHOD "https://${CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN}/ENDPOINT_PATH"

Replace the following:

TOKEN: Your API token.
INSTANCE: The subdomain name for your organization’s Observability Platform instance.
METHOD: The HTTP method to use with the request, such as GET or POST.
ENDPOINT_PATH: The specific endpoint you want to access.

Delete an external connection

Select from the following methods to delete an external connection.

Web
Chronoctl
Terraform
API

Only administrators can delete external connections.To delete an external connection:

In the navigation menu, select Alerts > External Connections.
Click the connection you want to delete.
In the Edit external connection drawer, click Delete external connection.
Click Delete to confirm.

To delete an external connection with Chronoctl:

chronoctl external-connections delete SLUG

Replace SLUG with the slug of the connection you want to delete.

To delete a resource that’s managed by Terraform:

Edit your Terraform configuration file to remove the pre-existing resource definition.
Run this command to remove the resource from Observability Platform:
```
terraform apply
```

To delete an external connection with the Chronosphere API, use the DeleteExternalConnections endpoint.Because the Chronosphere API requires authentication, include an API token with your curl request, as shown in the following example. For more details, see Create an API token.

export CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN="TOKEN"
export CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN="INSTANCE.chronosphere.io"

curl -H "API-Token: ${CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN}" \
     -X METHOD "https://${CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN}/ENDPOINT_PATH"

Replace the following:

TOKEN: Your API token.
INSTANCE: The subdomain name for your organization’s Observability Platform instance.
METHOD: The HTTP method to use with the request, such as GET or POST.
ENDPOINT_PATH: The specific endpoint you want to access.

Notification policies and external connections

Notification policies route alerts to recipients. In the Chronosphere API, each severity on a route uses a notifier list. For the notification policy JSON shape in the Config API, see ReadNotificationPolicy. That list can reference existing notifier resources by notifier_slugs, or define inline destinations that reference external connections. You can’t set both on the same notifier list. For all notifiers except email, each destination sets external_connection_slug to the slug of an external connection that stores the credentials for that delivery. For email, set addresses only without referencing an external connection. Observability Platform validates that every external_connection_slug you reference exists before accepting the policy. Field-level routing for policies appears in External connections and route destinations.

Lifecycle and safety

Deleting an external connection fails if a notification policy or other resource still references its slug, so credentials remain addressable until you remove those references.

Notifier resource migration

While you still use notifier_slugs, separate notifier resources apply. Field reference for that model lives under Notifiers, including Slack, PagerDuty, Webhook, VictorOps, and OpsGenie. To move a route to external connections, create connections for those credentials, switch the route to destinations and external_connection_slug, then drop notifier_slugs one notifier list at a time.

Observability Platform

Telemetry Pipeline

Tools

More information

Supported integrations

Create an external connection

View external connections

Update an external connection

Delete an external connection

Notification policies and external connections

Lifecycle and safety

Notifier resource migration

Observability Platform

Telemetry Pipeline

Tools

More information

Documentation Index

​Supported integrations

​Create an external connection

​View external connections

​Update an external connection

​Delete an external connection

​Notification policies and external connections

​Lifecycle and safety

​Notifier resource migration

Supported integrations

Create an external connection

View external connections

Update an external connection

Delete an external connection

Notification policies and external connections

Lifecycle and safety

Notifier resource migration