# Silences and maintenance

Hold notifications for a service, a host, or everything during planned work.

Use a silence for a known problem or a maintenance window for planned work. Both hold
notifications; checks and incident history continue.

## Add a window

1. As an admin, open **Settings → Silences and maintenance → Hold notifications**.
2. Choose **Silence** or **Maintenance**.
3. Cover everything, one service, or one host. A window holds any incident whose root or
   affected services or hosts match that scope.
4. Set **Starts** and **Ends** in your browser's local time. Windows can start later and
   last at most 90 days.
5. Optionally add a reason of up to 200 characters on one line, then save.

The list shows unexpired windows, active ones marked. Viewers can read it. A write token
manages windows through the [API](https://docs.kogut.dev/reference/http-api/#silences-and-maintenance).
Windows live in the database, not in `kogut.toml`.

## Change or end a window

Use **Edit** to change the scope, times, or reason. Choose **End now** for an active
window or **Cancel** for one that has not started.

When the hold ends, kogut announces incidents that remain open. An incident that resolved
during the hold sends a resolution only if its opening was announced before the hold.

To stop only reminders, [acknowledge the incident](https://docs.kogut.dev/alerts/how-alerts-work/#timing). Do not
delete a check to quiet it: deleting loses its history.

Windows cannot recur and do not appear on the [status page](https://docs.kogut.dev/status-page/).