Each alert (or alert instance) is evaluated by the default policy and subsequently by each child policy. Alerts are routed to the appropriate notification policy by matching alert labels with the policy's label matchers. For further details, refer to [label matching and routing in notification policies](ref:intro-notification-policies).
{{<figuresrc="/media/docs/alerting/get-started-notification-policy-tree-combo.png"max-width="750px"alt="A diagram displaying how the notification policy tree routes alerts">}}
The default notification policy and its child policies are assigned to a [specific Alertmanager](ref:alertmanager-architecture), and they cannot use contact points or mute timings from other Alertmanagers.
1. In **Default contact point**, update the [contact point](ref:configure-contact-points) for where to send notifications when alert rules do not match any specific policy.
1. In **Group by**, choose labels to group alerts. If multiple alerts match this policy, they are grouped by the selected labels, and notifications are sent per group. For more details on using this option, refer to [Group notifications](ref:policy-grouping).
1. In **Timing options**, set the [timing options](ref:policy-timing-options) to configure when notifications are sent.
- **Group wait**: the time to wait before sending the first notification for a new group of alerts. Default is 30 seconds.
- **Group interval**: the time to wait before sending a notification about changes in the alert group. Default is 5 minutes.
- **Repeat interval**: the time to wait before sending a notification if the group has not changed since the last notification. Default is 4 hours.
1. From the **Choose Alertmanager** dropdown, select an Alertmanager. By default, the **Grafana Alertmanager** is selected.
1. Click **+New child policy** from the default policy or an existing child policy.
1. In the Matching labels section of the child policy, add one or more matching label rules to narrow down a specific case from the parent policy.
For instance, a child policy of the default policy handles `team=security` alerts, or a child policy handles only the `severity=critical` alerts of a parent policy.
1. In the **Contact point** dropdown, select the [contact point](ref:configure-contact-points) to send notifications. If left empty, the contact point of the parent policy is [inherited](ref:policy-inheritance).
1. Optionally, enable **Continue matching subsequent sibling nodes** to continue matching sibling policies even after the alert matched the current policy. If enabled, multiple policies can handle the same alert.
1. Optionally, enable **Override grouping** to set different [grouping](ref:policy-grouping) than the parent policy. If disabled, the grouping of the parent policy is [inherited](ref:policy-inheritance).
1. Optionally, enable **Override general timings** to set different [timing options](ref:policy-timing-options) than the parent policy. If disabled, the timing options of the parent policy are [inherited](ref:policy-inheritance).
Policies are evaluated from top to bottom. If a matching policy is found, the system continues to evaluate its child policies in the order they are displayed. For more details, refer to [notification policies routing](ref:policy-routing).
1. Follow the instructions from step 5 onward in [adding a child policy](#add-a-child-policy).
To search by contact point simply select a contact point from the **Search by contact point** dropdown. The policies that use that contact point are highlighted in the user interface.
To search by label matchers simply enter a valid matcher in the **Search by matchers** input field. Multiple matchers can be combined with a comma (`,`).
It is important to note that all matched policies are **exact** matches. Grafana supports regular expressions for creating label matchers. It does not support regular expression or partial matching in the search for policies.
Mute timings are not inherited from a parent notification policy, and they have to be configured on each level. For instructions, refer to [Configure mute timings](ref:configure-mute-timings).
- Edit the default policy grouping to group alerts by `cluster`, `namespace` and `severity` so that you get a notification per alert rule and specific Kubernetes cluster and namespace.
