Using Signal Sources & Data Tools
By default, AlertBrew's AI agents search the public web to find information. However, for more targeted and powerful monitoring, you can use specialized Signal Sources and Data Tools.
What are Signal Sources?
A Signal Source is a specific platform or data provider that you want to monitor, such as LinkedIn, the Apple App Store, Google News, or Crunchbase.
Instead of a broad web search, you can tell your alert to only get information from one of these trusted sources. This dramatically improves the accuracy and relevance of your results, especially for structured data like company hiring status or app reviews.
What are Data Tools?
A Data Tool is a pre-configured "scraper" or "connector" that knows how to extract information from a specific Signal Source.
For example, we have Data Tools that can:
Extract the current number of employees from a LinkedIn company page.
Get the latest reviews for an app on the G2 review site.
Pull company funding data from Crunchbase.
When you create an alert, you first choose your Signal Source, and then you can select an available Data Tool designed for that source.
Combining Tools with Your Alert Condition
When you use a Data Tool, the data it collects is passed as context to your main alert condition for evaluation.
Example:
Signal Source: LinkedIn
Data Tool: Job listings | By company name
Alert Condition: "Check if there are any new job openings for Senior Python Developers or AI Engineers. If found, summarize the key requirements."
In this scenario, the Data Tool first fetches the 10 latest LinkedIn job listings specifically posted by the company you provided. Then, the AI analyzes only these specific listings to see if they match your "Senior Python" or "AI Engineer" criteria.
Requesting a Custom Data Tool
Do you need to monitor a source that isn't listed? We can build custom Data Tools for your specific needs. This is perfect for:
Industry-specific news sites
Government portals or regulatory databases
Internal company tools or APIs
Any other structured data source on the web
Special Offer: For a limited time, add $250 or more in credits to your workspace and our team will build your first custom data tool for free. Please contact us to learn more.