Monitors overview

A monitor is one thing SutramX checks on a schedule: a web page, an API endpoint, a server, a port, a DNS record or a cron job. Each monitor has a type, a target, a check interval and the locations it is checked from. When checks fail, SutramX confirms the failure, opens an incident and alerts the people you choose.

This page covers what all monitors have in common. Each type has its own page with every field explained.

Monitor types#

Every website and API monitor also tracks the site's SSL certificate and domain registration, and can remind you before either expires. See SSL & domain expiry. HTTP, API and DNS monitors can also be checked from Indian ISP networks: see Last-mile checks.

Some types depend on your plan. If a type is greyed out with (upgrade to use) in the type list, your plan doesn't include it. See Plans & limits.

Beyond monitors, SutramX also offers Website health scans and Third-party status tracking for services you depend on. These live in their own sections of the dashboard.

Create a monitor#

1. In the sidebar, open Monitors.
2. Click New monitor. The Add new monitor dialog opens.
3. Under What do you want to check?, choose the type.
4. Fill in the target fields for that type (URL, host, port, domain, steps or cron schedule) and a Name. For website, API, ping and port monitors the name is optional; a blank name becomes the host name.
5. Pick a Check interval, and optionally a Group, the locations under Check from, and Tags.
6. Optionally click Show advanced options for timeouts, validation rules, thresholds, Detection timing and Who gets alerted (the escalation policy).
7. Click Test to run one real check with these settings without saving. The result shows the outcome, the HTTP status and the response time.
8. Click Create monitor.

The first check runs right away. Until results arrive, the monitor shows as Pending.

For website monitors, click Also check subdomains of …? and SutramX looks up other live hosts under the same domain in the background. Under Also monitor subdomains? you can tick the ones you want, add a host manually, or click Skip. Each ticked host becomes its own monitor, created as a website, API or ping monitor depending on what was detected. You can put them all in a new group.

You can also create monitors from the REST API, the CLI, the Terraform provider or by importing from another tool.

curl -X POST "https://api.sutramx.com/monitors" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Marketing site",
    "type": "http",
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "interval_seconds": 300,
    "tags": ["production"],
    "config": { "expected_status_codes": [200], "timeout": 10000 }
  }'

Fields every monitor has#

The available interval options are every 15 s, 30 s, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and 15 minutes. Options faster than your plan allows are hidden. To learn how locations and multi-region confirmation work, see Regions & confirmation. For groups and alert emails, see Monitor settings & groups.

How a check runs#

Every type follows the same pattern:

1. Each selected location runs the check at your interval.
2. A check's timeout is capped at the interval minus 3 seconds, so a check always finishes before the next one is due. With a 15-second interval, no check can wait longer than 12 seconds.
3. If a check fails because of a network problem, a timeout or a server error (5xx), the location waits a few seconds (2 to 5, depending on the error) and checks once more before recording a failure, as long as the re-check still fits inside the interval. Network failures are re-checked with a fresh DNS lookup. This filters out one-off blips. Failures that would give the same answer again, such as a certificate problem, a 4xx status, a missing keyword or a failed assertion, aren't re-checked; other locations confirm them instead.
4. A failure only opens an incident after it has been confirmed according to your failure threshold and the multi-region rules described in Regions & confirmation.

Targets must be public. SutramX refuses hosts that resolve to private, loopback or other non-public addresses, and reports Target resolves to a non-public address and cannot be monitored.

Monitor states#

The monitors list#

Monitors lists every monitor with its status, a 24-hour status bar, uptime and response time. Use the toolbar to:

• Search by name with Search monitors…
• Filter with Status: (All, Up, Down, Degraded, Blocked, Inconclusive, Paused, Pending, Maintenance) or by tag
• Sort by Name (A–Z), Status (down first), Uptime (lowest first) or Response time (slowest first)
• Turn on Down first to keep failing monitors at the top
• Switch between groups with the group tabs

Tick monitors (or Select all on this page) to act on many at once. The bulk bar offers Pause, Resume, Add tags, Remove tags, Move to group and Delete. A bulk action can cover up to 500 monitors.

Edit, clone, pause and delete#

Open the ⋮ menu on a monitor row, or use the buttons on the monitor detail page.

When you resume a monitor whose interval is faster than your current plan allows (for example after a downgrade), SutramX raises the interval to your plan's minimum. If you later move to a plan that allows it, the original interval is restored. If your plan no longer includes a monitor's type, the monitor is paused and you can't resume it until you upgrade.

The monitor detail page#

Click a monitor to open its detail page.

Header. Shows the name, status, type, escalation policy, tags and target. For multi-location monitors, a badge shows how many locations are reporting, for example "3/3 locations reporting". Buttons: the location picker, Run check now (one real check from a probe, recorded like a scheduled check; not available for cron monitors or while paused), Pause/Resume, Edit, and ⋮ with Send test notification, Alert recipients…, Schedule maintenance…, Reset statistics… and Delete monitor….

Stats row.

Uptime is the share of checks that passed (degraded checks count as passed). A window with no checks shows No data yet rather than 100%. Percentages are never rounded up to 100%.

Response time. A chart of the average response time per interval, with a Range of Last 1 hour, Last 6 hours, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days or Last 30 days. Click a location to show only that location. Failed checks are excluded. Average, Minimum and Maximum are shown below the chart.

Check history. Every check with Time, Location, Result, HTTP status, Latency and Error. It shows Problems only by default; switch to All results, Up, Degraded or Down, or filter by location. Click Load more for older checks, or Export CSV to download them.

Side cards. Domain & SSL (website and API monitors), Next maintenance, Monitoring locations (a map), Configuration and Latest incidents. DNS monitors add a DNS records card, and multi-step checks add a Latest run card with per-step results.

Common questions#

Why is my new monitor "Pending"? The first check hasn't been recorded yet. It usually changes within one interval.

Why did a check fail but I got no alert? A single failure isn't enough. SutramX re-checks most failures once, then applies your Failure threshold and the multi-region confirmation rules. See How alerting works.

Can I change a monitor's type? No. Clone it or create a new monitor of the right type, then delete the old one.

Do paused monitors count toward my plan's monitor limit? No. Only active monitors count, across every workspace you own. Resuming a monitor needs a free slot, just like creating one. See Plans & limits.