Watch a website

What it checks

What each status means

• UpThe page answered with an accepted code, fast enough, with the expected text.
• Slow or degradedSlower than the limit, certificate or domain expiring within 14 days, or page content changed.
• DownNo answer, 4xx or 5xx code, required text missing, forbidden text found, a redirect to another domain, or an invalid certificate. A failed check is retried once after 3 seconds before it counts.

Add one, step by step

1. 1

   Open the add screen

   On the Mac: New Monitor (Cmd-N). On the website: Add monitor, then Website.

2. 2

   Paste the address

   Use the full address, with https://, of the page that matters: the home page, a product page or a health endpoint such as https://example.com/health.

3. 3

   Add text to look for (recommended)

   A word that only appears when the page works, such as your footer or “Add to cart”. A page that answers but shows an error then counts as down.

4. 4

   Choose the interval and save

   Every minute suits most sites. Your Mac checks at once, then at that interval.

Every setting

The same settings appear in the Mac app and on the website. You can change them later, from either side.

Address

The page to open, with http:// or https://.

Check

How often it is checked, from 30 seconds to 1 hour, within your plan’s minimum.

Text that must appear

Optional. If it is missing from the page, the site is down.

Text that must never appear

One per line. Any of them on the page is critical: useful for spam words a hacked site shows.

Slow after (seconds)

Above this answer time, the site is slow. 3 by default; any value such as 6 or 2.5.

JSON field and Expected value

For an API answering JSON: a dotted path (numbers pick an item in a list, such as data.items.0.state) and, optionally, the value it must have.

Warn before the domain expires

On by default. Reads the expiry date once a day.

Alert when the page content changes

Off by default. Compares the visible text only (not scripts or numbers); accept the new content in the Mac app when a change is expected.

Also counts as up (Mac app)

Extra HTTP codes to accept, such as 401 for a site behind a password.

Name, Group, Tags, Notes

How it is shown and sorted. Groups also get their own uptime and maintenance windows.

Tips

• Watch the page that earns money, such as checkout or sign-in, not only the home page.
• A health endpoint that checks your database gives the most honest answer for an app.
• A site behind a firewall or a VPN is checked from your Mac’s network: that is often what you want for internal tools.
• Several sites at once: paste them in the add field, one per line.

Questions