Help

FAQ & troubleshooting

Answers to common questions and the usual reasons a check misbehaves.

My job runs but the check never went "up"

• Confirm the ping actually fires. Run the exact curl by hand and check for a 200 ok response.
• In cron, && only pings on success. If the job exits non-zero, no success ping is sent — that's by design. Use an exit-status ping if you want failures reported too.
• Make sure the UUID in the URL matches the check exactly. A wrong ID returns 404.

I get "down" alerts even though the job ran

• The ping probably arrived late, past the deadline. Increase the grace period to cover the job's real variability.
• The ping may be failing intermittently (network, DNS). Add --retry to curl and a short timeout so a blip doesn't look like a miss.
• For cron checks, double-check the timezone — a schedule in the wrong zone can make an on-time job look late.

Does the ping have to be a GET? Do I need a body?

No. Any method works (GET, POST, HEAD) and no body or headers are required. A bare GET is the normal case.

Is the ping URL a secret?

Yes — anyone who knows a check's ping URL can ping it. Keep it out of public repos and logs. For public README badges, use the badge URL, which uses an opaque token instead of the real check ID.

How do I stop alerts during maintenance?

Pause the check. Paused checks are never marked down. Resume when you're done.

Should a failed ping break my job?

No. Treat the ping as telemetry, not a dependency. Don't let a non-2xx ping response abort the real work — log it and move on. A short timeout plus a couple of retries is the right balance.

How long is history kept?

Recent events (pings and transitions) are visible on each check's page and via the events endpoint. Older event-log rows are pruned over time; the check's current status and schedule are always retained.

Can I get alerts in Slack?

Yes — add a slack: channel with a Slack Incoming Webhook URL and Alwaysbeat posts formatted alerts to that channel. See Notifications → Slack for the setup steps.

How do I delete my account?

In the dashboard, go to Settings and use the Danger zone at the bottom of the page. Deleting your account permanently removes all your checks, their history, and your API keys.