> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.harness.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.harness.io/security-testing-orchestration/3.0/use-sto/sto-set-notifications/email-notifications.md).

# Generate automated emails for detected issues in STO

When you run a scan, the security step generates a set of [output variables](/security-testing-orchestration/3.0/new-to-sto/key-concepts/output-variables.md) that capture the number of issues detected at each severity level: CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM, and so on. This topic describes how to set up automatic notifications based on these variables.

In this workflow, you add an Email step that sends a notification whenever the previous scan step finishes successfully.

1. Add a **Custom** stage to your pipeline immediately after the Build or Security stage that runs the scan.
2. Add an **Email** step to the stage and configure it as follows. Replace `SCAN_STAGE_ID`, `SCAN_STEP_ID`, and `ACCOUNT_ID` with your stage, step, and account IDs.

```yaml
  - step:
      type: Email
      name: emailOnDetectedIssues
      identifier: emailOnDetectedIssues
      spec:
        to: your.email@your-org.org
        cc: devs@your-org.org
        subject: "STO ALERT: Scan results for <+pipeline.name>"
        body: |- 
             "STO scan of <+pipeline.name> found the following issues:  <br>
             Critical : <+pipeline.stages.SCAN_STAGE_ID.spec.execution.steps.SCAN_STEP_ID.output.outputVariables.CRITICAL> <br>
             New Critical : <+pipeline.stages.SCAN_STAGE_ID.spec.execution.steps.SCAN_STEP_ID.output.outputVariables.NEW_CRITICAL> <br>
             High: <+pipeline.stages.SCAN_STAGE_ID.spec.execution.steps.SCAN_STEP_ID.output.outputVariables.HIGH> <br>
             New High: <+pipeline.stages.SCAN_STAGE_ID.spec.execution.steps.SCAN_STEP_ID.output.outputVariables.NEW_HIGH> <br>
             Medium: <+pipeline.stages.SCAN_STAGE_ID.spec.execution.steps.SCAN_STEP_ID.output.outputVariables.MEDIUM> <br>
             New Medium: <+pipeline.stages.SCAN_STAGE_ID.spec.execution.steps.SCAN_STEP_ID.output.outputVariables.NEW_MEDIUM> <br> 
             See https://app.harness.io/ng/#/account/MY_ACCOUNT_ID/sto/orgs/default/"
      timeout: 1d
```

Now, when the stage with the scan step finishes successfully, the pipeline sends an email like this:

```
"STO scan of sto-notify-test-pipeline found the following issues:
Critical : 0
New Critical : 1
High: 0
New High: 2
Medium: 0
New Medium: 1
See https://app.harness.io/ng/#/account/MY_ACCOUNT_ID/sto/orgs/default/"
```

For more information about pipeline variables and other variables, go to [Use Harness expressions](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/variables-and-expressions/harness-variables.md).