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Uptime Monitors

Uptime monitors help you track the availability and response times of your websites, APIs, and web services by performing periodic HTTP checks. Get instant notifications when your services go down and track uptime statistics over time.

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What are Uptime Monitors?

Uptime monitors continuously check the health of your web services by sending HTTP requests at regular intervals. When a monitor detects that your service is down or responding with unexpected status codes, it automatically creates an incident and sends you alerts.
Uptime monitors are perfect for monitoring websites, APIs, health check endpoints, and any HTTP-accessible service.

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Creating Your First Monitor

1

Navigate to Monitors

In your Upcron.io dashboard, go to the Monitors section within your project.
2

Add New Monitor

Click “Create Monitor” and fill in the basic information:
  • Monitor Name: A descriptive name for your monitor (e.g., “Production API”)
  • URL: The endpoint you want to monitor (e.g., https://api.example.com/health)
  • Project: Select the project this monitor belongs to
3

Configure Settings

Set up your monitor configuration based on your needs:
  • HTTP Method: Choose GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, or HEAD
  • Valid HTTP Codes: Specify which status codes indicate success (default: [200])
  • Basic Authentication: Add username/password if your endpoint requires it
  • Active Status: Enable or disable the monitor
4

Save and Start Monitoring

Click “Create Monitor” to save your configuration and start monitoring immediately.

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Monitor Configuration Options

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HTTP Methods

Choose the appropriate HTTP method for your endpoint:
Most common method for health checks and status endpoints.
GET https://api.example.com/health

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Valid HTTP Status Codes

Configure which HTTP status codes should be considered successful responses: 
[200]
Common Status Code Combinations:
  • Web pages: [200]
  • APIs: [200, 201, 202]
  • CDN/Proxy services: [200, 301, 302]
  • Maintenance pages: [200, 503]

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Basic Authentication

For endpoints that require basic HTTP authentication:
1

Enable Basic Auth

Check the “Basic Authentication” option in your monitor configuration.
2

Add Credentials

Enter your username and password. Upcron.io will securely encrypt and store these credentials.
3

Test Connection

Save the monitor and verify it can successfully authenticate with your service.
Credentials are encrypted and stored securely. Never share your monitor configuration files with sensitive authentication data.

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Understanding Monitor Status

Your monitors can have different statuses:

Up (Active)

Monitor is active and the last check was successful

Down

Monitor detected a failure - incident created and alerts sent

Inactive

Monitor is disabled and not performing checks

Unknown

Monitor hasn’t been checked yet or status is being determined

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Monitoring Best Practices

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1. Choose the Right Endpoints

Monitor endpoints that are critical to your service functionality: 
✅ Good endpoints to monitor:
- https://api.example.com/health
- https://example.com (homepage)
- https://api.example.com/status
- https://example.com/login

❌ Avoid monitoring:
- Internal admin pages
- Endpoints with side effects
- Pages that require user interaction

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2. Set Appropriate Status Codes

Configure status codes that match your service behavior:
Only accept perfect responses:
[200]
Best for critical APIs where any deviation indicates a problem.

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3. Organize with Projects

Group related monitors into projects:
  • Production: Critical production services
  • Staging: Development and testing environments
  • Third-party: External services you depend on
  • Infrastructure: Database, cache, and infrastructure endpoints

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4. Use Descriptive Names

Choose clear, descriptive names for your monitors: 
✅ Good names:
- "Production API Health Check"
- "Website Homepage"
- "Payment Gateway Status"
- "Database Connection Test"

❌ Unclear names:
- "Monitor 1"
- "Test"
- "API"
- "Website"

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Viewing Monitor Results

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Dashboard Overview

Your monitor dashboard shows:
  • Current Status: Up/Down status for each monitor
  • Uptime Percentage: Calculated uptime over time
  • Last Checked: When the monitor was last verified
  • Incident Count: Number of incidents in the last 30 days
  • Response Time: Average response times (if available)

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Incident History

When a monitor goes down:
  • An incident is automatically created
  • Alert notifications are sent according to your preferences
  • Incident duration is tracked until the service recovers
  • Historical incident data helps identify patterns

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Uptime Statistics

Upcron.io calculates uptime based on:
  • Total number of checks performed
  • Number of successful checks (matching your valid status codes)
  • Uptime percentage = (Successful checks / Total checks) × 100

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Possible causes:
  • Check if your valid HTTP codes include the status your service returns
  • Verify the URL is correct and accessible from external networks
  • Check if basic authentication credentials are correctly configured
  • Ensure your service isn’t blocking Upcron.io’s monitoring requests
Solutions:
  • Add additional valid HTTP status codes (like 301, 302 for redirects)
  • Consider monitoring a more stable endpoint (like /health instead of /)
  • Check if your service has intermittent issues that need addressing
Note: Check frequency is determined by your subscription plan
  • Free plans: Checks every 5 minutes
  • Paid plans: Checks every 1-2 minutes
  • Consider upgrading for more frequent monitoring
Troubleshooting steps:
  • Verify the username and password are correct
  • Test authentication manually with curl or similar tools
  • Check if your service requires additional headers
  • Ensure the authentication endpoint matches your monitor URL

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Next Steps

Set Up Heartbeat Monitors

Monitor your cron jobs and scheduled tasks

Create Status Badges

Display real-time status on your website or README

API Integration

Manage monitors programmatically via API

Configure Alerts

Set up email and webhook notifications