Getting Started with CronRadar

Monitor your first cron job in under 60 seconds. This guide walks you through creating an account, getting your API key, and sending your first ping.

Create an Account

Sign up for a free CronRadar account to get started:

  1. Go to app.cronradar.com
  2. Sign in with GitHub, Google, or Microsoft
  3. Create your first Team (or use your personal workspace)

Free Trial: No credit card required. Monitor up to 5 jobs free for 14 days.

Create an Application & Get API Key

Applications group related monitors together (e.g., "Production", "Staging"). Each application has its own API key.

  1. Click "New Application" in your dashboard
  2. Enter a name (e.g., "Production Cron Jobs")
  3. Copy your API key (format: ck_app_xxxxx)

Keep it secret: API keys are hashed and cannot be retrieved later. Store them securely.

Send Your First Ping

Add CronRadar monitoring to any scheduled job by sending an HTTP ping when it runs:

Option A: Bash/Curl (Universal)

# Add to your crontab
0 2 * * * /path/to/backup.sh && curl -u YOUR_API_KEY: \
  'https://cron.life/ping/daily-backup?schedule=0%202%20*%20*%20*'

Option B: Using Framework SDKs

services.AddHangfire(config =>
    config.MonitorAll(apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY")
);

Verify Monitoring is Working

Check your CronRadar dashboard to confirm monitoring is active:

  • Monitor Auto-Created: If you included the schedule parameter, the monitor was automatically created on first ping.
  • Recent Pings Visible: View the last 10 pings in your dashboard with timestamps and status.
  • Next Expected Ping Calculated: CronRadar parses your schedule and knows when to expect the next execution.

Configure Alerts (Optional)

By default, alerts are sent via email. You can configure additional channels:

  • Email: Enabled by default for all team members
  • Slack: Add webhook URL in Application settings
  • Webhooks: Send alerts to your own systems
  • PagerDuty: Integrate with on-call rotations
  • Discord: Post alerts to Discord channels

What's Next?

Common Issues

I'm getting a 401 Unauthorized error

Make sure you're using Basic Auth with your API key as the username and an empty password:

curl -u YOUR_API_KEY: https://cron.life/ping/job

I'm getting a 404 Monitor Not Found error

Add the schedule parameter to your first ping:

curl -u YOUR_API_KEY: 'https://cron.life/ping/job?schedule=0%202%20*%20*%20*'

The monitor will be auto-created with the provided schedule.

How do I URL-encode my cron schedule?

Spaces become %20:

  • 0 2 * * * → 0%202%20*%20*%20*
  • */15 * * * * → */15%20*%20*%20*%20*

Can I test without waiting for my cron schedule?

Yes! Send a ping manually to test immediately:

curl -u YOUR_API_KEY: https://cron.life/ping/test-job?schedule=0%202%20*%20*%20*

You'll see the ping in your dashboard instantly.

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