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Check-ins

AppSignal Check-ins provide visibility into the state of background processes such as cron jobs. Check-ins help answer questions like:

  • ✅ Is my background process up and running?
  • ✅ Are my cron jobs running as scheduled?

Once configured, AppSignal will track the execution of background processes and scheduled jobs, giving insights into individual runs and notifying you if a process doesn't notify us of completion.

You can configure two kinds of check-ins with AppSignal: cron check-ins and heartbeat check-ins. Use cron check-ins to track the execution of processes scheduled to run at a specific time, such as cron jobs. Use heartbeat check-ins to track the uptime of a process that should run continuously, such as a server application or a background job processor.

Getting started

First, create a check-in in AppSignal, setting the expected schedule for your cron job, or the expected interval between heartbeat check-in events. For example, you can have a check-in for a scheduled job that should run every hour for at most 20 minutes, or a background job processor that should report a heartbeat check-in event at most every 5 minutes.

Then, configure your scheduled job or background process to send check-in events to AppSignal. A cron job should send a check-in event at the start and end of each occurrence, while a background job should send a check-in event at regular intervals.

AppSignal will then track the check-in events it receives and compare them to the expected occurrences. When AppSignal expects a check-in event but doesn't receive one in time, it will notify you as configured in the check-in, helping you ensure that your application's vital processes are working as expected.