Healthchecks

Healthchecks is an open-source, self-hosted application that monitors cron jobs and scheduled tasks. It functions by listening for HTTP requests or email messages, known as pings, from background jobs. If a ping does not arrive within a specified timeframe, the system triggers alerts to notify the administrator that a task has failed or is running late.

The software is deployed as a server and includes a web dashboard for real-time monitoring of infrastructure health. It can be installed via a Dockerfile and pre-built Docker images or manually using a Python environment. Users manage their tasks through a web interface or an API, configuring the expected frequency of pings for each check to ensure consistent job execution.

Key features

• Monitoring of cron jobs via HTTP and email pings
• Configurable period and grace time parameters for each check
• Support for cron expressions to define expected schedules
• Live-updating dashboard and event logs for task status
• Over 25 integrations for delivering notifications
• WebAuthn 2FA support for secure access
• Team management including projects and read-only access
• Public status badges with unique URLs
• Automated monthly email reports

The application is built with Python 3.12 and Django 6.0, supporting PostgreSQL, MySQL, or MariaDB as the backend database. It includes a dedicated SMTP listener service to allow pings via email and a management command for polling the database to send alerts. The architecture allows for fine-tuned control over data retention through ping log limits and database cleanup commands, such as pruning old user accounts or rate-limiting records. It also provides a Django administration panel for managing user accounts and inspecting database tables.

Healthchecks is designed for DevOps engineers and system administrators who need to ensure the reliability of automated background processes and infrastructure tasks.