1. A computer-implemented method for generating an alert based on information associated with search results generated by a query, the method comprising: executing the query to generate the search results; obtaining configuration information for the alert, wherein the configuration information identifies information associated with the search results and also specifies a trigger condition for the alert, the alert is an indication of activity in an information technology environment; and when the trigger condition for the alert is met: using the configuration information to generate a payload containing the identified information associated with the search results by: creating one or more payload strings by substituting one or more tokens encountered in one or more strings in the configuration information with values from the search results; and incorporating the one or more payload strings into the payload; invoking alert-generating functionality; and providing the payload as input to the alert-generating functionality, wherein the alert-generating functionality uses the information from the search results contained in the payload to generate the alert.