heartbeat-monitor

Dead-man's-switch for cron jobs & AI agents.

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What it can do

    What data it sees

    Do you need an account

    No: the server works without sign-in

    Dead-man's-switch for cron jobs & AI agents. Import a crontab to arm one silent-miss alert per job.

    How to connect

    How to connect heartbeat-monitor to Claude

    The server address to paste into Claude settings:

    https://cronping.cronping-oren.workers.dev/mcp

    1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
    2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
    3. Click Add custom connector.
    4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
    5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

    Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

    Authorization

    After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

    How to connect heartbeat-monitor to ChatGPT

    The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

    https://cronping.cronping-oren.workers.dev/mcp

    1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
    2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
    3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
    4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
    5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
    6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

    OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

    Authorization

    On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

    How to connect heartbeat-monitor to Cursor

    The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

    https://cronping.cronping-oren.workers.dev/mcp

    Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

    Manually:

    1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
    2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
    3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

    Authorization

    If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

    Server tool list (7)

    Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

    create_heartbeatCreate a Cronping heartbeat monitor (dead-man's-switch). Returns a ping_url to call on each successful run of your agent loop, worker, or cron job, plus a claim_token to manage it. If pings stop arriving within period+grace, Cronping raises an alert. No account required. After creating, send one verification ping (call ping_heartbeat with the returned id) to confirm setup — the check flips from 'new' to UP so you know it's wired correctly. Alternatively, pass pull_url to make a PULL check: Cronping fetches that URL on schedule and alerts if it fails — for targets that can't call a ping URL (a health endpoint, status page, or API).
    ping_heartbeatSend a heartbeat signal to a Cronping check. signal="success" (default) marks it UP and resets the timer; "start" records that a run began (for duration); "fail" marks it DOWN immediately and alerts. Optionally pass progress_token (a digest of your run's actual output) on success pings: if the same token repeats for several consecutive runs, the check flips to STUCK — catching a "zombie" job that keeps pinging on schedule while its real work has stalled.
    get_heartbeat_statusGet the live status of a Cronping check (up/down/new, last ping time, ping count, and whether an alert channel is set).
    set_heartbeat_alertAdd or change the alert channel on an EXISTING Cronping check (use this instead of creating a duplicate). Sets the email and/or webhook (Slack/Discord/generic https) that Cronping notifies when the monitor goes silent or recovers. Without an alert channel a check tracks status but can't warn you — call this once per check to make the dead-man's-switch actually protect you.
    import_crontabArm a dead-man's-switch for EVERY line of a crontab in one call. Paste raw crontab text; Cronping parses each schedule, derives the expected interval from the cron expression itself (using the longest gap between runs so weekend/twice-daily schedules don't false-alarm), and creates one heartbeat monitor per job. Returns, for each line, a ping_url plus the same command with `&& curl -fsS <ping_url>` already appended so you can drop it straight back into the crontab. Also anchors each new check's first deadline to the schedule's real next run — so a fresh switch neither pages at t=0 nor sleeps a full period. No account required. Ideal when an agent or operator wants to instrument a whole box's scheduled jobs at once. Up to 20 lines per call. Lines with no fixed interval (e.g. @reboot) are skipped.
    delete_heartbeatPermanently delete a Cronping heartbeat monitor and all its events. Use this to tear down an ephemeral check your agent created (e.g. at shutdown, or after a one-off job) so it stops being monitored and can never raise a stale DOWN alert. Requires the claim_token returned by create_heartbeat. This is irreversible — the id and ping_url stop working immediately. To silence a check temporarily instead of deleting it, use pause_heartbeat.
    pause_heartbeatPause or resume monitoring on an existing Cronping check without deleting it. Pause during planned maintenance or a known downtime window so a silent job does not raise a false DOWN alert; resume to re-arm the dead-man's-switch. While paused, missed pings are ignored and no alerts fire. Requires the claim_token returned by create_heartbeat.