diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/page.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/page.tsx
index 8496147..a9b58a2 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/page.tsx
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ export default function DashboardPage() {
               height={200}
             />
             <MetricChart
-              title="Component Latency"
+              title="Pipeline Latency"
               icon={<Timer className="h-4 w-4" />}
               data={chartData.data?.pipeline.latency ?? {}}
               variant="area"
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/pipelines/[id]/metrics/page.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/pipelines/[id]/metrics/page.tsx
index 85e0edb..5836a1a 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/pipelines/[id]/metrics/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/pipelines/[id]/metrics/page.tsx
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ export default function PipelineMetricsPage() {
 
           <Card>
             <CardHeader>
-              <CardTitle>Component Latency</CardTitle>
+              <CardTitle>Pipeline Latency</CardTitle>
             </CardHeader>
             <CardContent>
               <MetricsChart rows={rows} dataKey="latency" height={220} />
diff --git a/src/components/pipeline/metrics-chart.tsx b/src/components/pipeline/metrics-chart.tsx
index e659256..b35a8cf 100644
--- a/src/components/pipeline/metrics-chart.tsx
+++ b/src/components/pipeline/metrics-chart.tsx
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ export function PipelineMetricsChart({ pipelineId, hours = 24 }: PipelineMetrics
 
       {/* Latency chart */}
       <div>
-        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground mb-1 font-medium">Component Latency</p>
+        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground mb-1 font-medium">Pipeline Latency</p>
         <ChartContainer config={latencyChartConfig} className="w-full" style={{ height: 180 }}>
           <AreaChart data={data}>
             <CartesianGrid strokeDasharray="3 3" className="stroke-muted" />
diff --git a/src/server/services/alert-evaluator.ts b/src/server/services/alert-evaluator.ts
index 6d55027..a05c8db 100644
--- a/src/server/services/alert-evaluator.ts
+++ b/src/server/services/alert-evaluator.ts
@@ -226,12 +226,15 @@ export async function evaluateAlerts(
 
   if (!node) return [];
 
-  // Load all enabled rules for this environment
+  // Load all enabled rules for this environment (include pipeline name for messages)
   const rules = await prisma.alertRule.findMany({
     where: {
       environmentId,
       enabled: true,
     },
+    include: {
+      pipeline: { select: { name: true } },
+    },
   });
 
   const results: FiredAlertEvent[] = [];
@@ -281,7 +284,7 @@ export async function evaluateAlerts(
 
         if (!existingEvent) {
           // Create a new firing event
-          const message = buildMessage(rule, value);
+          const message = buildMessage(rule, value, rule.pipeline?.name);
           const event = await prisma.alertEvent.create({
             data: {
               alertRuleId: rule.id,
@@ -354,11 +357,34 @@ const CONDITION_LABELS: Record<AlertCondition, string> = {
   eq: "=",
 };
 
-function buildMessage(rule: AlertRule, value: number): string {
+/** Metrics where the value is binary (0/1) and the numeric details are noise. */
+const BINARY_METRICS = new Set<AlertMetric>([
+  "pipeline_crashed",
+  "node_unreachable",
+]);
+
+function buildMessage(
+  rule: AlertRule,
+  value: number,
+  pipelineName?: string | null,
+): string {
   const metricLabel = METRIC_LABELS[rule.metric] ?? rule.metric;
+
   if (!rule.condition || rule.threshold == null) {
-    return `${metricLabel} event fired`;
+    return pipelineName
+      ? `${metricLabel}: ${pipelineName}`
+      : `${metricLabel}`;
   }
+
+  // Binary metrics: just state what happened, with the pipeline name if available
+  if (BINARY_METRICS.has(rule.metric)) {
+    return pipelineName
+      ? `${metricLabel}: ${pipelineName}`
+      : `${metricLabel}`;
+  }
+
+  // Numeric metrics: include value and threshold for context
   const condLabel = CONDITION_LABELS[rule.condition] ?? rule.condition;
-  return `${metricLabel} is ${value.toFixed(2)} (threshold: ${condLabel} ${rule.threshold})`;
+  const prefix = pipelineName ? `${pipelineName} — ` : "";
+  return `${prefix}${metricLabel} at ${value.toFixed(2)} (threshold: ${condLabel} ${rule.threshold})`;
 }
diff --git a/src/server/services/metric-store.ts b/src/server/services/metric-store.ts
index e7d8907..1ef2d1c 100644
--- a/src/server/services/metric-store.ts
+++ b/src/server/services/metric-store.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export interface MetricSample {
   errorCount: number;
   errorsRate: number;
   discardedRate: number;
-  latencyMeanMs: number | null; // mean component latency in ms
+  latencyMeanMs: number | null; // mean pipeline latency in ms
 }
 
 interface PrevTotals {