[release-11.6.1] docs(alerting): clarify recovery threshold for pending state (#104238)

docs(alerting): clarify recovery threshold for pending state (#102780)

Alerting docs: clarify recovery threshold on pending state

(cherry picked from commit 536ff2fc3d)

docs/sources/alerting/alerting-rules/create-grafana-managed-rule.md

@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ refs:
       destination: /docs/grafana/<GRAFANA_VERSION>/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rule-evaluation/state-and-health/#alert-instance-state
     - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
       destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rule-evaluation/state-and-health/#alert-instance-state
+  recovery-threshold:
+    - pattern: /docs/grafana/
+      destination: /docs/grafana/<GRAFANA_VERSION>/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rules/queries-conditions/#recovery-threshold
+    - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
+      destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rules/queries-conditions/#recovery-threshold
   modify-the-no-data-or-error-state:
     - pattern: /docs/grafana/
       destination: /docs/grafana/<GRAFANA_VERSION>/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rule-evaluation/state-and-health/#modify-the-no-data-or-error-state
@@ -192,9 +197,9 @@ You can toggle between **Default** and **Advanced** options. If the [Default vs.
 
    b. Click **Preview** to verify that the expression is successful.
 
-1. To add a recovery threshold, turn the **Custom recovery threshold** toggle on and fill in a value for when your alert rule should stop firing.
+1. To add a [recovery threshold](ref:recovery-threshold), enable the **Custom recovery threshold** toggle and enter a value that defines when the alert should recover—transition to `Normal` state from the `Alerting` or `Pending` state.
 
-   You can only add one recovery threshold in a query and it must be the alert condition.
+   You can only add one recovery threshold, and it must be part of the alert condition.
 
 1. Click **Set as alert condition** on the query or expression you want to set as your [alert condition](ref:alert-condition).
    {{< /collapse >}}

docs/sources/alerting/fundamentals/alert-rules/queries-conditions.md

@@ -122,13 +122,11 @@ A threshold returns `0` when the condition is false and `1` when true.
 
 If the threshold is set as the alert condition, the alert fires when the threshold returns `1`.
 
-#### Recovery threshold
+### Recovery threshold
 
-To reduce the noise from flapping alerts, you can set a recovery threshold different to the alert threshold.
+To reduce the noise from flapping alerts, you can set a recovery threshold so that the alert returns to the `Normal` state only after the recovery threshold is crossed.
 
-Flapping alerts occur when a metric hovers around the alert threshold condition and may lead to frequent state changes, resulting in too many notifications.
-
-The value of a flapping metric can continually go above and below a threshold, resulting in a series of firing-resolved-firing notifications and a noisy alert state history.
+Flapping alerts occur when the query value repeatedly crosses above and below the alert threshold, causing frequent state changes. This results in a series of firing-resolved-firing notifications and a noisy alert state history.
 
 For example, if you have an alert for latency with a threshold of 1000ms and the number fluctuates around 1000 (say 980 -> 1010 -> 990 -> 1020, and so on), then each of those might trigger a notification:
 
@@ -138,8 +136,8 @@ For example, if you have an alert for latency with a threshold of 1000ms and the
 
 To prevent this, you can set a recovery threshold to define two thresholds instead of one:
 
-1. An alert is triggered when the first threshold is crossed.
-1. An alert is resolved only when the second (recovery) threshold is crossed.
+1. An alert transitions to the `Pending` or `Alerting` state when the alert threshold is crossed.
+1. An alert transitions back to `Normal` state only after the recovery threshold is crossed.
 
 In the previous example, setting the recovery threshold to 900ms means the alert only resolves when the latency falls below 900ms: