API monitoring for production endpoints and integrations
Treat API uptime monitoring like a real client: scheduled checks for HTTP status, latency, and JSON bodies—with chained steps when tokens matter. When an integration slows or breaks, SitePuls opens an incident and alerts email, Telegram, or webhook so downtime is not invisible.
For JSON bodies and chained checks, read How to monitor API uptime (step-by-step) and REST API monitoring — JSON & multi-step flows.
Webhook delivery and latency-focused checks: Webhook alerts for incidents · Response time & slowdown monitoring
What this API monitoring overview covers
Run scheduled requests against your public or internal APIs (reachable from SitePuls). Verify HTTP status codes, response times, and — for REST monitors — JSON bodies using assertions. Multi-step flows let you log in, reuse tokens, and chain calls like real clients do.
Multi-step flows and validation
Extract values from a response (for example access tokens) and pass them to the next step. Assert on status codes, JSON paths, or latency budgets. If any step fails, the run fails and you’re notified — matching how SitePuls actually executes checks today.
Failures and downtime you can detect
Broken auth, unexpected 4xx/5xx responses, regressions after deploys, and slow endpoints that breach your thresholds. Track whether an API is “up” in a meaningful way, not only that TCP connects.
Who uses API monitors
SaaS teams protecting public integrations, agencies maintaining client backends, and internal tool owners who need a simple health signal without running a full observability suite.
What you can verify with SitePuls here
- Scheduled API checks record HTTP status, response time and availability from outside your stack.
- Route downtime alerts to email, Telegram or webhooks attached as alert contacts.
- Incident timelines and response-time history help you debug outages after alerts fire.
Where incident alerts can go
- Email addresses saved as alert contacts receive messages when incidents open or resolve (according to your notification settings).
- Telegram notifications via the SitePuls bot after you link a chat to an alert contact (including the bot /start flow for pending contacts).
- HTTPS webhooks that receive JSON with event type, monitor identifiers, status, timestamp, optional incident id, and a short message for generic integrations.
- Slack-compatible incoming-webhook formatting: alert contacts can use a dedicated mode so payloads match Slack-style incoming webhook expectations.
Practical monitoring guide
Example content below is illustrative — values are placeholders, not live customer data.
Common API monitoring use cases
- Public API endpoint uptime and expected HTTP status codes.
- Internal API dependencies your product relies on during deploys.
- Latency and availability checks before users report failures.
Setup steps
- Choose the endpoint URL or health path you need to watch.
- Set expected status code and optional response assertions.
- Pick a check interval that balances freshness with rate limits.
- Attach alert contacts (email, Telegram or webhook) and test delivery.
Example alert preview
API monitor failed: GET /health returned 500 after 1.8s
Example webhook payload (illustrative)
{
"event_type": "down",
"monitor_type": "http",
"status": "down",
"response_time_ms": 1800,
"checked_at": "2026-03-31T12:00:00Z",
"incident_id": 456,
"message": "GET /health returned 500"
}Public and internal APIs
Public HTTPS endpoints are straightforward. Internal APIs must be reachable from SitePuls over the network paths you expose — there is no in-network agent; plan VPN or edge access accordingly.
Alerting workflow
Failed runs open incidents and notify contacts through the same channels as other monitors: email, Telegram, webhook. Review duration and history in the dashboard when you triage.
Pair with heartbeat monitoring
When a backend depends on batch jobs or queues, combine API checks with heartbeat monitors so you know both the HTTP surface and scheduled work are alive.
Getting started
Create a REST API monitor, define steps, headers, and assertions, then pick an interval and contacts. SitePuls executes the flow on schedule from our infrastructure and surfaces failures immediately.
Frequently asked questions
What does API uptime monitoring check?
It checks whether your API endpoint responds with the expected status, latency and availability before users report failures.
Can SitePuls alert my team when an API fails?
Yes. You can route downtime alerts to email, Telegram or webhooks depending on your workflow.
Can I monitor API latency?
Yes. SitePuls tracks response time so you can catch slow endpoints, not only complete outages.
Can I monitor GraphQL or gRPC?
REST multi-step monitors target HTTP JSON APIs. If you can exercise an endpoint over HTTPS with standard requests, you can model it — dedicated GraphQL/gRPC clients are not required, but complex proprietary protocols may need a thin HTTP wrapper.
How is this different from logging and APM?
SitePuls runs synthetic checks from outside your app. Logs and APM show what happened inside services; synthetic checks prove what a client experiences and alert when those expectations break.
Can I assert on JSON fields?
Yes. REST monitors let you assert on JSON paths so a 200 with the wrong payload still fails the check.
What about rate limits?
Pick intervals that respect your API’s limits. SitePuls runs on a schedule; if you need sparse checks, choose a longer interval.
Do you store request bodies?
Configure the monitor with the headers and bodies you need for the check. Treat secrets like production credentials — rotate tokens used in monitors if they leak.