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Heartbeat Monitoring

Know when your cron jobs go silent

Vantaj creates a unique URL for each scheduled task. When your job runs, it pings the URL. If a ping is missed within your configured grace period, your team gets alerted before silent failures cascade.

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Unique ping URLs

Each heartbeat monitor gets a dedicated endpoint. Your job pings it on success with a single HTTP GET or POST request.

Configurable grace periods

Set how long after a missed ping Vantaj waits before alerting. Handles jobs that run a little late without false alarms.

Cron schedule awareness

Define the expected schedule in cron syntax. Vantaj knows exactly when to expect each ping and flags anomalies.

Same alert pipeline

Missed heartbeats alert through the same Slack, email, and webhook channels as your uptime monitors.

Run history

A full log of every ping: timestamp, duration reported, and outcome. Audit job execution without digging through logs.

Language-agnostic

A simple GET or POST request to a URL. Works from any language, any runtime, any environment.

How it works

01 - Create a heartbeat

Get a unique ping URL

Name your monitor, set the expected schedule and grace period. Vantaj gives you a URL to call at the end of each successful run.

02 - Instrument your job

One line of code

Add a single HTTP call at the end of your script or cron job. In bash: `curl -fsS $HEARTBEAT_URL`. In Python: `requests.get(url)`. The monitor starts tracking from the first ping.

03 - Miss a ping

Vantaj catches the silence

If a ping doesn't arrive within the grace period after the expected time, Vantaj opens an incident and alerts your team immediately.

04 - Review history

Full execution audit trail

Every ping is logged with a timestamp. Spot jobs that are slowing down, running too frequently, or skipping runs over time.

Frequently asked questions

What is heartbeat monitoring?
Heartbeat (or cron) monitoring watches scheduled jobs by expecting a regular ping. Vantaj gives each job a unique URL to call on success - if the ping does not arrive in time, it alerts you that the job failed or never ran.
How do I add a heartbeat to my cron job?
Add a single HTTP call at the end of your script - for example `curl -fsS $HEARTBEAT_URL` in bash or `requests.get(url)` in Python. It is language-agnostic and works from any runtime.
What is a grace period?
The grace period is how long Vantaj waits after the expected run time before alerting. It absorbs jobs that run a little late so you avoid false alarms while still catching genuinely missed runs.
How are missed heartbeats alerted?
Missed pings open an incident and notify your team through the same channels as your uptime monitors - Slack, email, Discord, and webhooks.
Can I see a history of job runs?
Yes. Every ping is logged with a timestamp and outcome, giving you a full execution audit trail so you can spot jobs that are slowing down or skipping runs.

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