Site detection and suggested checks
Paste a URL and SutramX looks at the site once, shows what it is and what it depends on, and suggests up to six checks. Nothing is added until you choose.
When you add a monitor, SutramX can tell you what it found at that address and suggest the checks that usually matter for a site like it. A shop gets its checkout page and payment provider, a SaaS app its login page, a blog its certificate and domain. You decide what to add.
What it does#
- You paste a URL (or a hostname) in the Add new monitor dialog and pick the monitor type.
- SutramX looks at the address once, the way a single visitor would.
- A Suggested for this site panel appears under the address, with a short profile: what kind of site it is ("Looks like an online store") and what it depends on, for example the platform, the payment provider and the CDN.
- It suggests up to 6 checks, the most useful first. The ones we recommend are ticked for you, and the create button shows the total, for example Create monitor + 3 suggested checks.
- Nothing is added until you click to add it. Untick anything you don't want, or click Skip suggestions. Your monitor is created exactly as you set it up either way.
Detection starts by itself once the address looks complete and a monitor type is chosen, and runs again if you change either one. It never holds up typing or the create button.
Each suggestion says what it would add and why it is suggested, for example "We found a /checkout link". Suggestions are added one by one, so if one can't be added (for example because you reached your plan's monitor limit) the others still are.
Added checks follow your monitor#
Checks you add from the suggestions belong to the monitor they were suggested for:
- They use the same group, escalation policy, tags and check locations.
- They depend on that monitor. When the whole site is down you get one alert for the site, not one per page check. A page check alerts on its own only when that page breaks while the rest of the site is up.
You can change any of this later on each check, like any other monitor.
On the monitor page#
Website and API monitors (and ping, port and DNS monitors on a host that serves a website) show a Site profile card with the same profile and any suggestions you haven't added yet. Click Add checks to add the ticked ones, or No thanks to fold the card away; Show suggestions brings it back. Suggestions you already added are not shown again.
A worked example#
You add a website monitor for https://shop.example.com. SutramX loads the home page and shows:
Online store · Shopify · Razorpay · Cloudflare
| Suggestion | What it adds | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout page loads | A website monitor for the checkout page | We found a checkout link on the home page |
| Product page loads | A website monitor for one product page | Product pages often break separately from the home page |
| SSL & domain expiry | Reminders before the certificate or the domain registration expires | Every HTTPS site needs both renewed on time |
| Razorpay outage alerts | Follows Razorpay's official status in Third-party status | The site loads Razorpay's checkout |
| Shopify outage alerts | Follows Shopify's official status | The store runs on Shopify |
| Cart page browser check | A browser check that opens the cart in a real browser | The cart is built in the browser, so a plain page check can't see it. Shown unticked with Growth when your plan doesn't include browser checks |
At most six suggestions are shown. Cloudflare was recognised too: if you want its outage alerts, follow it from Third-party status at any time.
Tick the ones you want and add them. The new monitors appear in your list like any other and can be edited, paused or deleted as usual.
How it works for each monitor type#
| Monitor type | What SutramX looks at | What you can expect |
|---|---|---|
| Website | The page at your URL, loaded once | The full profile and up to 6 suggestions |
| API endpoint | One request to your URL | APIs usually answer with data, not a page, so there is no site profile. You get suggestions that fit an API, such as SSL & domain expiry and outage alerts for providers we can recognise |
| Ping, TCP port, UDP port, DNS | The hostname you entered (a bare hostname is fine) | Suggestions that fit the host, where it serves a website we can look at |
| Scheduled job (cron) heartbeat | Nothing. Your job calls SutramX, so there is no address to visit | No detection runs, and the form looks the same as before |
You can also see the profile for a monitor you already have. Suggestions that one of your monitors already covers are marked as already added.
What we never do#
- No purchases or payments. Detection never adds to a cart, starts a checkout or pays for anything, and never suggests a check that would.
- No form submissions. We don't sign up, log in, search or send any form on your site.
- No auto-adding. Suggestions are only suggestions. Nothing is created until you click.
- No surprise charges. A suggestion that needs a paid plan says so and is never ticked for you.
- Only labels are kept. We keep the short result (for example "Online store", "Shopify", "Razorpay") for about 15 minutes so reopening the dialog is instant. Page content and cookies are not stored.
How sure we are#
SutramX only shows a site type or a technology when it is fairly sure, based on clear signs in the page, such as the scripts it loads or the links it contains. When the signs are weak, it shows nothing rather than guess.
If something is still wrong, for example a suggestion for a payment provider you no longer use, just leave it unticked. Nothing else depends on it.
When we can't read the page#
Your monitor can always be created, whatever detection finds. These are the cases where there is little or nothing to suggest:
| Case | What you'll see |
|---|---|
| The site didn't answer (timeout, DNS or connection error) | A note that we couldn't reach it. You can still create the monitor; its checks start right away |
| Bot protection (a firewall or CDN challenge page) | A note that the site asked us to prove we are human. Allowlist the checker so your monitor's checks get through: see Regions & confirmation |
| A login page (or HTTP 401) | A note that the page asks visitors to log in. We only see the login page, so suggestions are limited to what it shows |
| A parked or for-sale domain | A note that the domain looks parked. No page suggestions |
| JSON or another API response | No site profile. Suggestions that fit an API, if any |
| A page built by JavaScript | A near-empty profile, because the page's content only appears after scripts run in a browser. A browser check may be suggested where your plan allows it |
| A private or internal address (or a domain we don't check) | No detection and no suggestions |
Plans#
Suggestions respect your plan:
- Anything your plan includes can be ticked and added.
- Anything that needs a higher plan (for example browser checks, or following a provider's status) is shown unticked, with a label naming the plan that includes it. Upgrading is never part of adding a suggestion.
- If you have reached your plan's monitor limit, monitor suggestions are shown as unavailable.
Team members with the Viewer role can see the profile and suggestions but can't add them. See Team members & roles.
Common questions#
Does it slow my site down? No. It is one request for the page, the same as one visitor opening it.
Will it make me get more alerts? Only from what you add. Added checks are ordinary monitors and follow the same alert rules and recipients as the rest of your workspace, so you can change or remove them any time. See How alerting works.
Can I turn it off? There is nothing to turn off: just skip the suggestions. Your monitor is created the same way with or without them.
Can I run it again? Yes. Change the URL or the type and it looks again. Results for the same address are reused for about 15 minutes.
Related
Last updated . Something unclear or missing on this page? Tell us at support@sutramx.com.