Setup Monitoring

Monitoring in PerfAgents is the practice of performing continuous, low-volume checks on your application's endpoints and user flows from various global locations. Unlike load testing, which is run on demand to test scalability, monitoring runs on a schedule to sustain reliability and detect issues like downtime, performance degradation, or certificate expiry in real-time.

Understanding Types of Monitoring

PerfAgents supports three distinct types of synthetic monitoring, allowing you to cover everything from basic availability to complex user interactions:

Type	Purpose	Focus
Website	Checks the availability and performance of a single URL.	Uptime, response time, SSL validity.
REST API	Checks the performance and correctness of API endpoints.	API response, data validation (assertions), multi-step chaining.
Sequence	Simulates multi-step user flows (e.g., login, search, checkout).	End-to-end user experience validation.

Create Your First Monitoring (Website)

This guide walks you through setting up a basic Website monitor, which is ideal for tracking the uptime and performance of a single URL.

Navigate to: Monitoring → Create Monitoring

The setup is a 4-step guided flow:

Step 1: Type Selection

Select Website as the monitoring type.

Step 2: Configurations

1. Monitoring Name: Provide a descriptive name (e.g., Homepage Uptime Monitor).

2. Tags (Optional): Add metadata for filtering (e.g., production, critical).

3. Endpoint Configuration:

   1. Method: GET is selected by default for Website Monitoring.

   2. URL: Enter the target endpoint (e.g., https://example.com).

4. SSL Certificate Monitoring (Optional): Enable this to monitor SSL expiration and trigger alerts before the certificate expires.

5. Advanced Configuration: Use the tabs for Params, Authorization (Basic Auth, Bearer Token), and Headers if required.

Step 3: Frequency

Define how often the monitor runs (e.g., Every 1 minute, Every 5 minutes). Higher frequency allows for faster issue detection.

Step 4: Alerts & Notifications

Use Global Alert Rules: Enable this to apply organization-level alert settings.

Integrations: Configure where alerts should be sent. Available integrations include Email, AWS SNS, Jira, Linear, Microsoft Teams, PagerDuty, Slack, Splunk, and Webhook.

Final Step: Create Monitor

Click Create. Your monitor will now execute automatically at the defined intervals, log response data, and trigger alerts when thresholds are breached.

Create Your First Monitoring (REST API)

REST API Monitoring allows you to continuously validate the availability, performance, and correctness of your APIs. It ensures endpoints respond as expected and meet defined response criteria.

Step 1: Type Selection

Select REST API - Monitor APIs as the monitoring type. This option is used to test single or multi-step API endpoints.

Step 2: Configurations

1. Basic Details: Provide the Monitoring Name and optional Tags.

2. Endpoints Configuration: Each API monitor can include one or more endpoints.

   1. Endpoint Settings: Define the HTTP Method (GET, POST, PUT, etc.), Protocol (HTTP/HTTPS), and the URL.

   2. Multi-Step Toggle: Enable this to chain API calls, allowing you to pass data (e.g., tokens) between steps.

3. Request Configuration Tabs: Each endpoint supports detailed configuration:

4. Params: Add Query Parameters (Key–Value pairs).

5. Body: Define the request payload (for POST/PUT methods).

6. Authorization: Supports authentication types such as API Keys, Bearer Tokens, and Basic Auth.

7. Headers: Add custom request headers.

8. Assertions: Define validation rules such as Status code checks, Response body validation, JSON path assertions, and Response time thresholds.

Step 3 & 4: Frequency and Alerts

These steps are identical to the Website Monitoring setup, allowing you to define the monitoring interval and configure your Alerts & Notifications via integrations like Slack, Jira, and Email.

Create Your First Monitoring (Sequence)

Sequence Monitoring is designed for browser-based user journey monitoring. It simulates real user flows across multiple pages or actions, making it ideal for validating critical workflows like login, checkout, or form submissions.

Step 1: Type Selection

Select Sequence Monitor Browser Flows as the monitoring type.

Step 2: Configurations

1. Basic Details: Provide the Monitoring Name and optional Tags.

2. Select Framework: Choose the automation framework used to execute the sequence: Playwright, Selenium, Puppeteer, or Cypress.

3. Script Options: Configure your script as follows:

   1. Import Script: Upload your existing test scripts.

   2. Generate with AI (Beta): Auto-generate script logic.

   3. Create Script: Manually create a new test script.

   4. You can also upload Dependencies and required supporting files.

4. Device Configuration: Simulate the monitoring environment:

   1. Browser Type: Choose between Chromium or WebKit.

   2. Device Resolution: Set the resolution (e.g., 1920 × 1080) to ensure consistent UI validation.

Step 3 & 4: Frequency and Alerts

These steps are identical to the other monitoring types. Alerts can trigger Script failure, Assertion failure, Timeout, or Performance threshold breach.