Monitor Types

StatusRadar offers six monitor types. They all share the common fields (name, interval, timeout, retries, probe selection, notifications) described in the Monitors Overview. This page covers the target format and the options unique to each type.

HTTP / HTTPS

Checks a web page or API endpoint over HTTP or HTTPS. This is the most common monitor type, used for websites, REST APIs, health-check endpoints, and webhooks.

Target: a full URL.

https://example.com
https://api.example.com/v1/health
http://example.com/status

Per-type options:

SSRF protection. HTTP/HTTPS targets are validated on creation. URLs that resolve to private IP ranges, localhost, link-local addresses, or cloud metadata endpoints (for example 169.254.169.254) are rejected.

See Advanced Options for full details on method, expected status, expected string, and headers.

SSL

Checks a TLS certificate's validity and warns you before it expires.

Target: a hostname (the certificate's host). Do not include a scheme or path.

example.com
api.example.com

Per-type options:

The monitor reports the certificate's expiry date and goes into an alerting state once the certificate is within the configured number of days of expiring. See SSL expiry alerts for details.

TCP

Checks that a TCP port is open and accepting connections — useful for databases, mail servers, SSH, message brokers, and any non-HTTP service.

Target: the hostname or IP. The port is set separately.

db.example.com   + port 5432   (PostgreSQL)
mail.example.com + port 25     (SMTP)
cache.example.com + port 6379  (Redis)

Per-type options:

A successful TCP handshake within the timeout counts as up. The check measures connection time, not application-level health.

Ping

Checks host reachability using ICMP echo (ping).

Target: a hostname or IP address.

example.com
8.8.8.8

Ping has no extra options beyond the common fields. It reports round-trip time as the response time and marks the monitor up if the host replies within the timeout. Use Ping for basic reachability; use TCP or HTTP to confirm a service is actually serving.

DNS

Checks that a DNS record resolves and (optionally) that it matches an expected value.

Target: the domain name to resolve.

example.com
mail.example.com

Per-type options:

If dns_expected is empty, the check passes as long as the record resolves. If set, the resolved value must match. See DNS record checks for details.

Server

Monitors a server's system metrics (CPU, memory, disk, network) and optional service plugins through the StatusRadar Agent installed on the host. Unlike the probe-based types above, a Server monitor is fed by an agent that runs on your own server and pushes metrics to StatusRadar.

Server monitors are set up by installing the agent rather than entering a target in the monitor form:

TOKEN='your-token' bash -c "$(curl -sL https://statusradar.dev/install-agent.sh)"

Once the agent reports in, the server appears in the dashboard with its metrics and any enabled plugins (Redis, MySQL, Nginx, Docker, and more). See the agent and plugin guides for full setup.

Choosing a Type

Next Steps

• Intervals & Probes - Check frequency, timeout, retries, and probe locations
• Advanced Options - HTTP, SSL, and DNS specifics in depth
• Agent Installation - Set up Server monitoring
• Plugins Overview - Monitor services on your servers
• Monitors Overview - Lifecycle and common fields