Do alerts work when my browser tab is closed?
Detection is server-side, so the move detector keeps watching your armed symbols even with the tab closed. Whether the notification actually reaches you depends on your delivery surface being reachable.
Alerts aren't firing
Helious runs a server-side move detector, and its thresholds adjust to the regime, so alerts fire even when your tab is closed. When they go quiet it is almost always one of three things. Check them in this order.
1. Arm the symbol
Alerts are per-symbol and opt-in, so the detector won't watch anything you haven't armed. Open the symbol on your curve or spread board, or on the desk, and confirm the alert is toggled on for it. The usual trap is a symbol you armed in an earlier session. It still looks active, but you have since moved to a different tenor. If you want the 10-year, arm the 10-year. Arming the 2-year won't cover it. The rates board shows which symbols you are actually tracking.
2. Your threshold may be set above the day's range
The move detector fires when a symbol moves more than your threshold, measured in basis points. Set that threshold above anything the tape is actually doing and nothing fires. Ask for 8bp on a session where the 10-year has traveled 3bp all day and the detector is right to stay quiet. The floors themselves sit near 1.5bp on a quiet tape and lift toward 4.5bp around scheduled data, so the detector is already scaling its sensitivity to conditions. To catch smaller moves, lower your threshold toward the floor. If that unit is new to you, basis points covers it.
3. The tape is genuinely quiet
Rates don't move in a straight line. Between the data prints and the Fed speakers the tape can sit dead for hours, and a well-tuned alert stays silent through it, which is what you want it to do. Arm a symbol on a holiday, overnight, or in the lull between the morning data and the afternoon auction, and silence is the accurate read. The economic calendar shows whether there is a catalyst on the schedule, and if the board is empty, expect your alerts to be quiet too.
4. Confirm delivery and account status
If a move clearly cleared your threshold and you still saw nothing, check that your subscription is active, because a failed renewal can pause features, and that whatever surface you rely on for delivery isn't muted. Detection runs server-side. If it fired and you missed it, the gap is on the delivery or display side, and that is the case worth reporting.
FAQ
What's a sensible threshold for the 10-year?
It depends on the regime. The detector's own floors sit near 1.5bp on a quiet tape and near 4.5bp around scheduled data. Set yours well above the day's realized range and nothing fires. Start near the floor and raise it if you're getting too much noise.
I armed a symbol yesterday. Is it still armed today?
Yes, arming persists per symbol. Do check you're watching the tenor you think you are, though. Arming the 2-year won't generate 10-year alerts. Confirm on the rates board.
Why didn't I get an alert on a big data surprise?
If the move cleared your threshold and nothing arrived, detection probably fired and the delivery didn't reach you. Check your subscription is active and your notification surface isn't muted, then report it if it keeps happening.