How to Add a Heartbeat Check to Any Automation

Best monitoring pattern

A heartbeat belongs after the work that matters. If the automation sends the heartbeat before updating the CRM, sending the report, or syncing the data, you can get a false healthy signal.

Step-by-step setup

1. 1Create a PulseProbe probe with a clear name.
2. 2Choose the expected interval based on how often the automation should finish.
3. 3Copy the heartbeat URL when it is shown.
4. 4Add an HTTP request as the final successful step in the automation.
5. 5Run the automation once and confirm PulseProbe records a check-in.
6. 6Temporarily stop the workflow in a safe test window to confirm a missed alert.
7. 7Start it again and confirm the next check-in resolves the incident.

Common mistakes

• Using the same probe for unrelated automations.
• Alerting too aggressively without allowing a grace period.
• Sending sensitive payloads with the heartbeat.
• Forgetting to test both missed and recovered behavior.

When built-in platform errors are enough

If you only need to debug an execution that already failed visibly, the platform's built-in run history or error handling may be enough. If you need an alert when expected completion goes missing, add heartbeat monitoring.

When not to use PulseProbe

• Do not use heartbeat monitoring as the only control for safety-critical, medical, emergency, financial trading, or regulated systems.
• Do not send secrets, customer records, prompt text, API keys, or private payloads to the heartbeat URL.
• Heartbeat monitoring proves a check-in arrived. It does not inspect the quality of the workflow output.

FAQ