--- title: Heartbeat & cron job monitoring description: A nightly backup that silently stopped running three weeks ago is the failure no uptime check can see. The new heartbeat monitor works in reverse: your… canonical: https://watchfor.io/changelog/2026-07-26-heartbeat-cron-monitoring --- [All updates](/changelog/page/7#2026-07-26-heartbeat-cron-monitoring) ✨ New Jul 26, 2026 · v 4.6.2 # Heartbeat & cron job monitoring A nightly backup that silently stopped running three weeks ago is the failure no uptime check can see. The new heartbeat monitor works in reverse: your backup, cron job or worker pings a unique URL when it runs, and WatchFor alerts you when the ping does not arrive on time. Set an interval or cron schedule with a grace period, report exit codes, and reuse Healthchecks-compatible ping URLs. A heartbeat counts as a regular monitor — no separate pricing. Copy the ping URL and add one line to your job. Every ping, missed window and run duration in one log. ## How it works - Create a monitor and choose Heartbeat for a job that checks in every N minutes, or Cron job for one that runs on a cron schedule in your timezone. - Set a grace period for normal variation. A backup that takes 10 to 40 minutes needs more slack than a worker that pings every minute. - The Setup tab gives you a unique ping URL and commands ready to paste. Any HTTP method works, and you can attach up to 10 KB of output, such as the job's last log lines. - Add the exit code ( /p//$? ) or call /fail , and a broken run is reported as run failed instead of a misleading missed . - Send a /start ping as well, and every run gets a measured duration. ## Example Your backup runs at 03:00 and usually takes 20 minutes. You set the cron schedule 0 3 * * * with 45 minutes of grace and add one line to the job: 0 3 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup.sh; curl -fsS https://ingest.watchfor.io/p//$? After a server rebuild the crontab never comes back, so nothing pings. At 03:45 the Missed schedule incident opens and your team hears about it the same morning, not three weeks later when someone needs a restore. ## Coming from Healthchecks The URL suffixes /start , /fail , / and ?rid= work the same way. Replace the base of the URL and keep the rest. ## Where New monitor → Heartbeat or Cron job . The [heartbeat guide](/docs/monitors/heartbeat) covers every endpoint and alert rule. Since then, a bug where a non-zero exit code did not open a Run failed incident has been fixed. See [the fix](/changelog/2026-09-03-heartbeat-exit-codes). Share this update --- Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/changelog/2026-07-26-heartbeat-cron-monitoring · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt