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This guide walks you through the fastest path to a working Overwatch setup: creating an account, adding an HTTP monitor, wiring up a Slack alert channel, and verifying that alerts fire correctly. By the end you will have live uptime monitoring and will receive a notification the next time your endpoint changes status.
1

Sign up at overwatchapp.dev

Go to overwatchapp.dev and click Start free trial. You get 14 days free with no credit card required. After signing up, Overwatch takes you through a short onboarding flow where you name your organization and choose a plan.
If you want to self-host instead of using the managed cloud, see the open-source core on GitHub.
2

Create your first HTTP monitor

From the dashboard, click Add monitor and select HTTP as the check type. Fill in the fields:
FieldDescription
NameA label for the monitor, e.g. Production API.
URLThe endpoint to check, e.g. https://api.example.com/health.
IntervalHow often to run the check. The minimum depends on your plan (5 minutes on Starter, 1 minute on Pro).
Click Save. Overwatch queues the first check immediately — the monitor status updates within a few seconds.
3

Add a Slack alert channel

Go to Settings → Alert channels and click Add channel. Select Slack, then follow the prompts to authorize the Overwatch Slack app and choose a channel to post to.Once saved, return to your monitor, open its settings, and enable the Slack channel under Alert channels. Overwatch sends an alert to that channel whenever the monitor’s status changes — for example, from up to down, or back to up when it recovers.
You can connect up to the number of alert channels your plan allows (1 on Starter, 5 on Pro). The same channel can be attached to multiple monitors.
4

Test the alert

To confirm alerts are wired up correctly, click Send test alert on the alert channel settings page. Overwatch posts a sample notification to your Slack channel. If you do not receive it, check that the Slack app is still authorized and that the channel name is correct.
5

Create a monitor via the API (optional)

If you prefer to manage monitors programmatically, you can use the REST API. First, generate an API key at Settings → Security. Your key starts with ow_live_sk_ and is shown only once — copy it now.Pass the key as a Bearer token in the Authorization header:
curl -X POST https://overwatchapp.dev/api/v1/monitors \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ow_live_sk_<your-key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Production API",
    "type": "HTTP",
    "config": {
      "url": "https://api.example.com/health",
      "interval": 300
    }
  }'
A successful response returns 201 Created with the new monitor object:
{
  "data": {
    "id": "3f8a1c2e-...",
    "name": "Production API",
    "type": "HTTP",
    "status": "unknown",
    "enabled": true,
    "config": {
      "url": "https://api.example.com/health",
      "interval": 300
    },
    "createdAt": "2026-04-15T10:00:00.000Z"
  }
}
The interval value is in seconds. Passing a value below your plan’s minimum (300 for Starter, 60 for Pro) returns a 422 error.
See the API reference for all available endpoints and request fields.

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What’s next

Core concepts

Understand how monitor types, statuses, and alert channels fit together.

Monitor types

Configure TCP, TLS, DNS, and cron job monitors.

Alert channels

Connect Discord, Teams, email, or a custom webhook.

Team roles

Invite teammates and control what each person can do.