Fill gaps from assistant conversations: email alerts and variable escaping

detect/synthetic-monitoring/api-checks/configuration.mdx

@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ request by entering a username and password in the Authentication tab.
 
 [Environment variables](/platform/variables) are exposed to your API checks using the common Handlebars/Moustache templating delimiters, i.e. `{{USER_API_KEY}}`. Note that Handlebars (double brackets) variables will be URI encoded. To avoid encoding, you can access your environment variables with triple brackets, i.e. `{{{USER_API_KEY}}}`.
 
+Use triple brackets for values that contain special characters, such as API keys or tokens with `&`. With double brackets, `&` is inserted as `&`, which can make the check fail.
+
 Variables can be used in the following API checks fields:
 
 - URL

detect/uptime-monitoring/url-monitors/configuration.mdx

@@ -131,6 +131,8 @@ Configure follow-up alerts after initial failure notification:
 
 Define where notifications are sent when checks fail or recover. Additional channels can be configured in global notification settings.
 
+This section only lists alert channels that already exist in your account. You can't type an email address here directly. To alert an email address, first [create an email alert channel](/integrations/alerts/email#basic-email-configuration), then select it for this monitor.
+
 **Alert Types** (per channel):
 - ✅ **Success/Recovery**: Check has recovered from failure
 - ⚠ **Degraded**: Check is degraded but not failed

integrations/alerts/email.mdx

@@ -26,7 +26,19 @@ Email notifications provide a reliable and widely-supported way to receive alert
 
 ## Basic Email Configuration
 
-To recieve alerts, you'll need to add a valid email address, choose what states you want to receive alerts for, and then also add subscriptions to checks. 
+To receive alerts, you'll need to add a valid email address, choose what states you want to receive alerts for, and then also add subscriptions to checks.
+
+1. Log in to Checkly and navigate to [Alert Settings](https://app.checklyhq.com/alerts/settings).
+2. Click **Add more channels**, find **Email** on the list, and click **Add channel**.
+3. Enter the email address. You can use an individual address or a distribution list.
+4. Select the alert types you want to receive: failure, degraded, and recovery.
+5. Subscribe the checks, monitors, or check groups that should notify this address, then save the channel.
+
+After you create the channel, it appears in the **Alert Channels** section of each check's and monitor's alert settings. You can turn it on or off per check there.
+
+<Note>
+Creating alert channels requires the **Manage alert settings** permission. The Owner, Admin, and Read & Write roles have it. Read & Run and Read Only users can't add email addresses. See [Team member roles](/admin/team-management/overview#team-member-roles).
+</Note>
 
 When an alert is triggered, you'll receive an email like below:
 <Frame>

platform/variables.mdx

@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ How variables are accessed depends on where you're accessing them from:
 
 <Note>
   Handlebar (double brackets) variables will be URI encoded. To avoid encoding, you can access your environment variables with triple brackets, i.e. `{{{VARIABLE_NAME}}}`.
+
+  Use triple brackets for values that contain special characters, such as API keys or tokens with `&`. With double brackets, `&` is inserted as `&amp;`, which can make the check fail.
 </Note>
 
 ## Playwright Check Suite Variables