A monitor checks one thing on a schedule and tells you when it fails, recovers or gets slow.
Types
- HTTP(S): requests a URL and checks the status code. Keyword also looks for (or must not find) text in the page; JSON API checks a value, like
$.status == "ok". - Multi-step API: several requests in a row, passing values (such as a login token) from one to the next.
- Browser flow: opens a real browser to log in and click through a page. Available on paid plans.
- Heartbeat: your cron job or backup calls a URL when it finishes; you're alerted when the calls stop. Report a failure with
?status=down. - TCP port, Ping and DNS: is a port open, does a host answer, does a record resolve (to the right value)?
- Database: connects to Postgres, MySQL or Redis. The connection string is stored encrypted.
- Game servers: Minecraft, Steam/Source and FiveM, with player counts.
- Discord bot: is a bot online in your server? Needs your workspace's Discord bot, see Discord.
- Mail blocklist: is a sending IP listed on spam blocklists?
How often and when it counts as down
The interval is how often a check runs; the fastest allowed depends on your plan (every 3 minutes on Free, every minute on Pro, every 30 seconds on Business). Retries decide how many failed checks in a row it takes before a monitor is down, so a single hiccup doesn't wake anyone. After a failure, the retry runs within seconds instead of waiting a full interval.