UptimeRobot US Monitoring Setup

Overview

This guide configures UptimeRobot to monitor BuyWhere's API and homepage from US locations with 5-minute check intervals and Slack/email alerting.

UptimeRobot Dashboard

URL: https://uptimerobot.com/dashboard

Step 1: Create Free Account

1. Go to https://uptimerobot.com
2. Click "Sign Up Free"
3. Use email: ops@buywhere.ai
4. Verify email and set password

Step 2: Add Monitors

After login, add the following monitors:

Monitor 1: API Health Endpoint (US)

Monitor 2: Homepage (US)

Step 3: Configure Alerts

Email Alerts

• Add alert contact: ops@buywhere.ai
• Alert when: Monitor goes down, then every 15 minutes until up

Slack Alerts

1. In Slack, create incoming webhook for #alerts channel
2. In UptimeRobot, go to Settings → Alert Contacts → Add Alert Contact
3. Select type: Slack
4. Paste webhook URL: https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL
5. Alert format:

{
  "channel": "#alerts",
  "username": "UptimeRobot",
  "icon_emoji": ":warning:",
  "attachments": [{
    "color": "#ff0000",
    "title": ":warning: {{monitor.friendlyName}} is DOWN",
    "title_link": "{{monitor.url}}",
    "text": "Status: {{monitor.status}\nURL: {{monitor.url}}\nTime: {{monitor.datetime}}",
    "fields": [
      {"title": "Monitor", "value": "{{monitor.friendlyName}}", "short": true},
      {"title": "Status", "value": "{{monitor.status}", "short": true}
    ]
  }]
}

Step 4: Create Status Page

1. Go to https://uptimerobot.com/dashboard → Status Pages
2. Click "Add Status Page"
3. Configure:

1. Copy the status page URL for sharing with team

Hosted Status Page URL: https://stats.uptimerobot.com/YOUR_DASHBOARD_ID

Step 5: Update This Document

After setup, update the table below with actual values:

Status Page URL: TBD

Configuration Status (BUY-3415)

Launch Day Verification Checklist

• UptimeRobot or Better Stack monitors active for api.buywhere.ai and buywhere.ai
• Alert contacts configured (ops@buywhere.ai, PagerDuty, Slack #alerts)
• Status page created and accessible
• Slack webhook integration tested (if using Slack alerts)
• Prometheus Blackbox alerts routing verified
• External monitoring agrees with internal monitoring (no split-brain)

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Launch-Day Verification Checklist (BUY-3415)

Confirm all monitors are active before launch:

• api.buywhere.ai/health monitor active (UptimeRobot or Better Stack)
• buywhere.ai (main homepage) monitor active
• Alert contacts configured (ops@buywhere.ai, PagerDuty, Slack #alerts)
• Status page created and accessible
• Slack webhook integration tested
• Prometheus Blackbox exporters returning metrics
• Alertmanager receiving alerts from blackbox exporter

Verification

1. Verify monitors appear in UptimeRobot dashboard
2. Test alert by manually triggering a monitor pause
3. Confirm Slack notification received
4. Confirm status page is publicly accessible

Existing Internal Monitoring

This UptimeRobot setup complements existing internal monitoring:

• Prometheus/Blackbox: Infrastructure-level monitoring (same datacenter)
• UptimeRobot (this): External US-based monitoring for customer-facing availability

Both should be used together for complete coverage.