How F5Bot Filters and Delivers Keyword Alerts

F5Bot reduces noise in two stages: it filters which Reddit, Hacker News, and Lobsters discussions trigger an alert, then lets you choose how and when that alert reaches you. You can combine exact keyword matching with AI filtering and advanced rules (subreddit limits, excluded terms, required co-occurring keywords), and receive matches by email instantly, in batches, or as a daily digest—or route them to Slack or Discord via webhooks. This suits anyone tracking brand mentions, competitors, or leads who wants fewer, more relevant alerts rather than every keyword hit.

What triggers an alert

F5Bot monitors Reddit, Hacker News, and Lobsters at once, covering both posts and comments across every subreddit, and checks for new activity every few minutes. You control what counts as a match through three layers:

• Exact keywords: the brand names, products, or topics you enter are matched against new posts and comments.
• AI filtering: instead of relying only on exact terms, you describe what you're looking for in natural language and let AI evaluate each new discussion against that description.
• Advanced filtering: narrow results by subreddit, exclude unwanted terms, require co-occurring keywords, and otherwise control exactly what triggers an alert.

A practical example: tracking "Acme" alone will catch every unrelated use of the word. Adding an excluded term for a common unrelated meaning, restricting to relevant subreddits, and requiring a co-occurring word like a product name narrows the stream to discussions actually about your product.

How alerts are delivered

Once a discussion passes your filters, delivery is configurable:

The right choice depends on urgency. Instant email or a Slack webhook fits community engagement and lead response, where acting at the moment of intent matters. A daily digest fits lower-urgency tracking such as PR coverage or trend spotting, where a single summary is easier to scan than a stream of individual emails.

Getting set up

1. Create a free account with just an email address—no credit card or payment information is needed.
2. Add your keywords and, if needed, your AI description and advanced filters.
3. Choose your delivery method and start receiving alerts.

The site states setup takes under a minute, and F5Bot has been running since 2017, delivering 430,000+ alerts daily.

Common pitfalls

• Starting too broad: begin with exact keywords, then add exclusions and subreddit limits once you see what's noisy.
• Mismatching delivery to urgency: instant alerts for low-priority topics create fatigue; use digests for those.
• Forgetting team routing: if others need the alerts, set up Slack or Discord webhooks rather than forwarding emails manually.

Pricing details for paid plans are not covered in the available page content; the site describes a free tier and separate pricing page, so check that page directly for current plan terms.