Alerts are messages or notifications generated when triggered by an event, usually an SLA breach or an in-pipeline data rule. https://docs.streamsets.com/portal/platform-controlhub/controlhub/UserGuide/GettingStarted/Alerts.html
For SDC pipelines: https://docs.streamsets.com/portal/platform-datacollector/latest/datacollector/UserGuide/Alerts/RulesAlerts_title.html?hl=rules