Cron job monitoring checklist
Scheduled work can fail silently. This checklist helps you pick jobs to watch, configure heartbeat windows, and alert when a run is missed.
Inventory scheduled work
List cron entries, backup jobs, ETL imports, invoice runs, and queue workers. Note expected frequency and acceptable delay.
Choose the heartbeat pattern
After each successful run, call a unique HTTPS heartbeat URL. SitePuls expects that ping inside the interval you configure.
Set interval and grace
Match the window to longest normal runtime plus buffer. Long jobs need wider windows to avoid false alerts during healthy runs.
One monitor per job
Separate heartbeat URLs tell you which pipeline stopped—not only that something in the batch layer failed.
Wire alert contacts
Route missed-heartbeat alerts to the team that can restart workers, fix scripts, or restore backups—not a generic inbox.
Pair with API uptime checks
Heartbeats prove batch work ran; API monitors prove online surfaces respond. Both layers matter for end-to-end reliability.
Practical monitoring guide
Example content below is illustrative — values are placeholders, not live customer data.
Jobs worth monitoring
- Nightly backups and data exports that must finish before business hours.
- Billing, invoicing or subscription renewal batch jobs.
- Search index rebuilds, cache warmers and ETL pipelines.
- Certificate renewal scripts and DNS sync tasks tied to uptime.
Heartbeat setup steps
- Create a heartbeat monitor with a grace window slightly longer than the job runtime.
- Ping only after the job completes successfully — not at start.
- Document the owner and expected schedule in your runbook.
- Run a controlled test by skipping one execution in a maintenance window.
Example missed cron alert
Heartbeat missed: invoice-export did not ping within the 45-minute window
Common mistakes
- Monitoring only server uptime while scheduled jobs silently stop.
- Heartbeats sent before work finishes, masking partial failures.
- No owner when cron logs rotate away before anyone reads them.
Frequently asked questions
What is a heartbeat check?
Your job pings a URL when it finishes. If the ping is missing inside the expected window, the monitor can alert your team.
Which cron jobs should I monitor first?
Backups, billing exports, data imports, and cleanup tasks that silently break reports or storage are strong candidates.
Does SitePuls run my cron jobs?
No. Your scheduler still runs the work. SitePuls only watches for the external completion signal.
Can serverless functions send heartbeats?
Yes, if the function can make an HTTPS request to the heartbeat URL when it completes successfully.