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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsHealthchecks.io detects a missed scheduled run by waiting for a job to send a success ping to its unique URL. Its three schedule types—Simple, Cron, and systemd OnCalendar—let you match the monitor to how the job is scheduled. The Management API automates check configuration; the Prometheus endpoint exports check status, not arbitrary application metrics.
How heartbeat monitoring detects a failed cron job
A job sends an HTTP request—a heartbeat—to its unique Healthchecks.io URL. The service expects that ping according to the check’s schedule and grace time. If the ping does not arrive in time, it can notify configured integrations. The basic setup needs only a tool such as curl or wget on the server, according to Healthchecks.io’s setup guide.
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To make the alert mean “the job completed successfully,” send the success ping only after the work finishes successfully. If a job reports success at startup, a later crash could go undetected. Healthchecks also supports start and failure signals, and can accept stdout or stderr in the request body. A start signal without a subsequent success can help identify a run that is stuck or exceeds its allowed duration.
This heartbeat can reveal more than an error inside the job: a down host, stopped cron daemon, invalid schedule, nonzero exit, or excessively long run can all result in the expected success ping being absent. It reports whether the monitored check has signaled; it does not by itself diagnose which cause prevented the signal.
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Healthchecks.io’s documentation contrasts this with cron’s MAILTO behavior: email depends on a configured mail transfer agent, cannot alert if the whole machine is offline, and may become noisy when routine output is emailed. Those limitations depend on how a particular system is configured.
Choose the schedule that matches the job
Healthchecks.io documents three schedule types. Choose based on the scheduler and timing rule the job actually uses; a simple interval is not equivalent to a particular wall-clock schedule.
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| Schedule type | What you configure | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | An expected interval (period) and grace time. | A process expected to recur at a regular interval, such as hourly, daily, or weekly. |
| Cron | A cron expression, the server’s timezone, and grace time. | A job scheduled by a cron calendar expression. Set the timezone to match the server’s cron configuration. |
| OnCalendar | A systemd calendar expression. | A job run by a systemd timer. This is a systemd expression, not a cron expression. |
The schedule determines when a ping is expected; the grace time allows for lateness before the check is considered overdue. Configure both with the job’s real timing and acceptable delay in mind. See the schedule documentation for the service’s configuration details.
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What the Management API does—and does not do
Healthchecks.io Management API v3 is for automating monitoring administration and retrieving Healthchecks data. With a project-specific API key, you can list, retrieve, create, update, pause, resume, and delete checks; retrieve pings, status changes, integrations, and badges; and check database connectivity. It can create Simple, Cron, and OnCalendar checks. If both a schedule and timeout are supplied, the schedule takes precedence. The API documentation advises: “Avoid making more than 100 API requests per minute.” See the Management API v3 documentation for current endpoint and authentication details.
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This is not a general-purpose application telemetry ingestion API. Healthchecks.io says it is not intended for collecting application performance metrics or aggregating logs. Use it to manage checks and access check-related information, not as a destination for arbitrary measurements.
Where Prometheus export fits
Healthchecks.io’s Prometheus endpoint exports check status and related metrics for use in Grafana. The documented example uses a read-only project API key and a 60-second scrape interval; an available metric indicates whether each check is currently up. This can bring heartbeat status into an existing Prometheus/Grafana setup for dashboards or alerting, but it does not turn the service into a custom-metrics collector. Consult the Prometheus integration documentation for setup and the current exported metrics.
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When custom task metrics call for another kind of monitor
If the main question is whether a scheduled task completed on time—and who should be notified when it did not—heartbeat monitoring is a direct fit. If the team also needs custom per-run measurements, counts, durations, or error counts, evaluate a metrics-oriented service. Cronitor’s Metrics API documentation describes time-series metrics, success rates, execution counts, performance statistics, and named custom series.
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- Missed completion and failure alerts: Use heartbeat checks with a success ping at the end of a successful run.
- Status in an existing observability stack: Use Healthchecks.io’s Prometheus export when check state is what you need to display or alert on.
- Custom measurements or active website checks: Assess a tool whose documented scope includes those requirements, and verify current feature availability and plan limits.
Healthchecks.io’s homepage currently states, “Monitor 20 cron jobs for free. No credit card required.” Treat that as a vendor’s current plan statement, not a guarantee that limits or terms will remain unchanged; check the Healthchecks.io homepage for the latest availability.
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