Agent Wranglers

OPS-73Recommended

Show each part's state on the status page from outside checks

List every part users depend on, such as the website, sign-in, the API and payments, on the status page. Let outside checks mark a part down within 5 minutes, with no person needed.

By Agent Wranglers. Updated .

How to do it

A status page that waits for someone to update it stays green during the first, worst minutes of an outage. Point the outside monitor from Watch the service from outside at one check per part, and let it set that part's state. People then add the words, as Keep users informed says. Host the page with another provider, under a name served by another DNS provider. Then it survives your own host or DNS failing. Show 90 days of history and planned maintenance from Say when you'll be back. Offer email or feed updates. Link the page from the site footer, the help pages and error pages.

How to check

The status page lists every part named in the service levels. Stop one part on staging. Its entry changes from up to down within 5 minutes with no person acting, and back within 5 minutes of the restart. The page shows 90 days of history and offers a subscription.

For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/operations/incidents/status-page">Agent Wranglers operations and observability playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.