---
title: API monitor: run a request live and click to extract or assert
description: Typing JSONPaths from memory was the slow, error-prone part of setting up an API monitor. Building one is now point-and-click: hit Run request to fire the…
canonical: https://watchfor.io/changelog/2026-08-09-api-monitor-run-inspect
---

[All updates](/changelog/page/7#2026-08-09-api-monitor-run-inspect) ⚡ Improved Aug 9, 2026 · v 5.4.2

# API monitor: run a request live and click to extract or assert

Typing JSONPaths from memory was the slow, error-prone part of setting up an API monitor. Building one is now point-and-click: hit Run request to fire the call from a real probe, see the live response, and click any field to extract it as a chartable metric or assert on it. Each extracted value gets its own chart on its own scale, so a huge timestamp never flattens a small counter. Status code, response time and SSL now live on the Alerting tab (status uses a friendly 2xx/3xx picker), so every failure gets the right incident: unreachable, wrong status, or failed assertion.

Run the request once, then click a field to extract or assert on it.

## How it works

- In the monitor's Settings , fill in the URL (and method, headers or auth if the API needs them).

- Click Run request . The call goes out once from a real monitoring probe, through the same engine a scheduled check uses.

- The response appears: status, time, size, headers, and the body flattened into a list of fields such as owner.login = microsoft .

- Click Extract next to a number to chart it, or Assert next to any field to pin its value. The path is filled in for you.

What you see in the tester is what the monitor will do on every check.

## An example

You want to watch a GitHub repository through api.github.com/repos/microsoft/playwright . Run the request, then click Extract on stargazers_count and open_issues_count , and Assert that archived equals false . Save. The monitor page now has a chart for stars and a chart for open issues, each on its own scale, and the check fails the day the repository is archived.

## Each failure gets the right incident

Status code, response time and the certificate moved to the Alerting tab, with a simple 2xx / 3xx picker for accepted status codes. So an endpoint that can't be reached, an endpoint that returns 500 , and an endpoint that returns 200 with the wrong data each open their own, clearly named incident.

Details in [Build it live](/docs/monitors/api#build-it-live--run--inspect).

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Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/changelog/2026-08-09-api-monitor-run-inspect · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt