Create a monitor

Base URL: https://{kibana_url}

POST /api/synthetics/monitors
POST /s/{space_id}/api/synthetics/monitors

Refer to Spaces for more information.

Create a new monitor with the specified attributes. A monitor can be one of the following types: HTTP, TCP, ICMP, or Browser. The required and default fields may vary based on the monitor type. You must have all privileges for the Synthetics feature in the Observability section of the Kibana feature privileges.

Authentication

Api key

Authorization: <value>

These APIs use key-based authentication. You must create an API key and use the encoded value in the request header. For example: Authorization: ApiKey base64AccessApiKey

Basic

Authorization: Basic <credentials>

Request body

One of:

type: browser

type enum required

The monitor type.

Values: browser

alert object

The alert configuration. The default is { status: { enabled: true }, tls: { enabled: true } }.

enabled boolean · default: true

Specify whether the monitor is enabled.

labels map string to string

Key-value pairs of labels to associate with the monitor. Labels can be used for filtering and grouping monitors.

locations string[]

The location to deploy the monitor. Monitors can be deployed in multiple locations so that you can detect differences in availability and response times across those locations. To list available locations you can:

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Management and click Create monitor. Locations will be listed in Locations.

External docs

name string required

The monitor name.

namespace string · default: default

The namespace field should be lowercase and not contain spaces. The namespace must not include any of the following characters: *, \, /, ?, ", <, >, |, whitespace, ,, #, :, or -.

params string

The monitor parameters.

private_locations string[]

The private locations to which the monitors will be deployed. These private locations refer to locations hosted and managed by you, whereas locations are hosted by Elastic. You can specify a private location using the location's name. To list available private locations you can:

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Settings and click Private locationsr. Private locations will be listed in the table.

Note

You can provide locations or private_locations or both. At least one is required.

retest_on_failure boolean · default: true

Turn retesting for when a monitor fails on or off. By default, monitors are automatically retested if the monitor goes from "up" to "down". If the result of the retest is also "down", an error will be created and if configured, an alert sent. The monitor will then resume running according to the defined schedule. Using retest_on_failure can reduce noise related to transient problems.

schedule number

The monitor's schedule in minutes. Supported values are 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240. The default value is 3 minutes for HTTP, TCP, and ICMP monitors. The default value is 10 minutes for Browser monitors.

service.name string

The APM service name.

tags string[]

An array of tags.

timeout number · default: 16

The monitor timeout in seconds. The monitor will fail if it doesn't complete within this time.

For browser monitors, the minimum timeout is 30 seconds. Browser monitor timeouts are only applied when the monitor runs on private locations. If a browser monitor specifies a timeout but has no private locations configured, the timeout will have no effect and a warning will be returned in the response.

ignore_https_errors boolean · default: false

Ignore HTTPS errors.

inline_script string required

The inline script.

playwright_options object

Playwright options.

screenshots enum · default: on

The screenshot option.

Values: on off only-on-failure

synthetics_args string[]

Synthetics agent CLI arguments.

type: http

type enum required

The monitor type.

Values: http

alert object

The alert configuration. The default is { status: { enabled: true }, tls: { enabled: true } }.

enabled boolean · default: true

Specify whether the monitor is enabled.

labels map string to string

Key-value pairs of labels to associate with the monitor. Labels can be used for filtering and grouping monitors.

locations string[]

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Management and click Create monitor. Locations will be listed in Locations.

External docs

name string required

The monitor name.

namespace string · default: default

params string

The monitor parameters.

private_locations string[]

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Settings and click Private locationsr. Private locations will be listed in the table.

Note

You can provide locations or private_locations or both. At least one is required.

retest_on_failure boolean · default: true

schedule number

service.name string

The APM service name.

tags string[]

An array of tags.

timeout number · default: 16

The monitor timeout in seconds. The monitor will fail if it doesn't complete within this time.

check object

The check request settings.

ipv4 boolean · default: true

If true, ping using the ipv4 protocol.

ipv6 boolean · default: true

If true, ping using the ipv6 protocol.

max_redirects number · default: 0

The maximum number of redirects to follow.

mode enum · default: any

The mode of the monitor. If it is all, the monitor pings all resolvable IPs for a hostname. If it is any, the monitor pings only one IP address for a hostname. If you're using a DNS-load balancer and want to ping every IP address for the specified hostname, you should use all.

Values: all any

password string

The password for authenticating with the server. The credentials are passed with the request.

proxy_headers object

Additional headers to send to proxies during CONNECT requests.

proxy_url string

The URL of the proxy to use for this monitor.

response object

Controls the indexing of the HTTP response body contents to the http.response.body.contents field.

ssl object

The TLS/SSL connection settings for use with the HTTPS endpoint. If you don't specify settings, the system defaults are used.

url string required

The URL to monitor.

username string

The username for authenticating with the server. The credentials are passed with the request.

type: icmp

type enum required

The monitor type.

Values: icmp

alert object

The alert configuration. The default is { status: { enabled: true }, tls: { enabled: true } }.

enabled boolean · default: true

Specify whether the monitor is enabled.

labels map string to string

Key-value pairs of labels to associate with the monitor. Labels can be used for filtering and grouping monitors.

locations string[]

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Management and click Create monitor. Locations will be listed in Locations.

External docs

name string required

The monitor name.

namespace string · default: default

params string

The monitor parameters.

private_locations string[]

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Settings and click Private locationsr. Private locations will be listed in the table.

Note

You can provide locations or private_locations or both. At least one is required.

retest_on_failure boolean · default: true

schedule number

service.name string

The APM service name.

tags string[]

An array of tags.

timeout number · default: 16

The monitor timeout in seconds. The monitor will fail if it doesn't complete within this time.

host string required

The host to ping.

wait number · default: 1

The wait time in seconds.

type: tcp

type enum required

The monitor type.

Values: tcp

alert object

The alert configuration. The default is { status: { enabled: true }, tls: { enabled: true } }.

enabled boolean · default: true

Specify whether the monitor is enabled.

labels map string to string

Key-value pairs of labels to associate with the monitor. Labels can be used for filtering and grouping monitors.

locations string[]

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Management and click Create monitor. Locations will be listed in Locations.

External docs

name string required

The monitor name.

namespace string · default: default

params string

The monitor parameters.

private_locations string[]

Run the elastic-synthetics locations command with the deployment's Kibana URL.
Go to Synthetics > Settings and click Private locationsr. Private locations will be listed in the table.

Note

You can provide locations or private_locations or both. At least one is required.

retest_on_failure boolean · default: true

schedule number

service.name string

The APM service name.

tags string[]

An array of tags.

timeout number · default: 16

The monitor timeout in seconds. The monitor will fail if it doesn't complete within this time.

host string required

The host to monitor; it can be an IP address or a hostname. The host can include the port using a colon, for example "example.com:9200".

proxy_url string

The URL of the SOCKS5 proxy to use when connecting to the server. The value must be a URL with a scheme of socks5://. If the SOCKS5 proxy server requires client authentication, then a username and password can be embedded in the URL. When using a proxy, hostnames are resolved on the proxy server instead of on the client. You can change this behavior by setting the proxy_use_local_resolver option.

proxy_use_local_resolver boolean · default: false

Specify that hostnames are resolved locally instead of being resolved on the proxy server. If false, name resolution occurs on the proxy server.

ssl object

The TLS/SSL connection settings for use with the HTTPS endpoint. If you don't specify settings, the system defaults are used.

Responses

A successful response. The response may include a warnings array when the monitor configuration has non-critical issues. For example, if a browser monitor specifies a timeout but has no private locations configured, a warning is returned indicating the timeout will have no effect.

application/json

Bad request. For browser monitors, a 400 error is returned if the timeout is less than 30 seconds.

application/json

Base URL: https://{kibana_url}

Examples

Request Console 1 / 2 languages

Create an HTTP monitor to check a website's availability.

Console Kibana Dev Tools

POST kbn:/api/synthetics/monitors
{
  "type": "http",
  "name": "Website Availability",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "tags": ["website", "availability"],
  "locations": ["united_kingdom"]
}

Generated from the API spec

curl Shell

curl -X POST "${KIBANA_URL}/api/synthetics/monitors" \
  -H "Authorization: ApiKey ${API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "http",
    "name": "Website Availability",
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "tags": ["website", "availability"],
    "locations": ["united_kingdom"]
  }'

Generated from the API spec

Response

A response when a browser monitor specifies a timeout but has no private locations.

{
  "type": "browser",
  "name": "Example journey",
  "enabled": true,
  "warnings": [
    {
      "id": "monitor-id",
      "message": "For browser monitors, timeout is only supported on private locations. Browser monitor \"Example journey\" specifies a timeout and is running on public locations: \"public-1, public-2\". The timeout will have no effect on these locations.",
      "publicLocationIds": ["public-1", "public-2"]
    }
  ]
}

{
  "statusCode": 400,
  "error": "Bad Request",
  "message": "Browser Monitor timeout is invalid",
  "attributes": {
    "details": "Invalid timeout 20 seconds supplied. Minimum timeout for browser monitors is 30 seconds."
  }
}

Request Console 1 / 2 languages

Create a TCP monitor to monitor a server's availability.

Console Kibana Dev Tools

POST kbn:/api/synthetics/monitors
{
  "type": "tcp",
  "name": "Server Availability",
  "host": "example.com",
  "private_locations": ["my_private_location"]
}

Generated from the API spec

curl Shell

curl -X POST "${KIBANA_URL}/api/synthetics/monitors" \
  -H "Authorization: ApiKey ${API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "tcp",
    "name": "Server Availability",
    "host": "example.com",
    "private_locations": ["my_private_location"]
  }'

Generated from the API spec

Response

A response when a browser monitor specifies a timeout but has no private locations.

{
  "type": "browser",
  "name": "Example journey",
  "enabled": true,
  "warnings": [
    {
      "id": "monitor-id",
      "message": "For browser monitors, timeout is only supported on private locations. Browser monitor \"Example journey\" specifies a timeout and is running on public locations: \"public-1, public-2\". The timeout will have no effect on these locations.",
      "publicLocationIds": ["public-1", "public-2"]
    }
  ]
}

{
  "statusCode": 400,
  "error": "Bad Request",
  "message": "Browser Monitor timeout is invalid",
  "attributes": {
    "details": "Invalid timeout 20 seconds supplied. Minimum timeout for browser monitors is 30 seconds."
  }
}

Request Console 1 / 2 languages

Create an ICMP monitor to perform ping checks.

Console Kibana Dev Tools

POST kbn:/api/synthetics/monitors
{
  "type": "icmp",
  "name": "Ping Test",
  "host": "example.com",
  "locations": ["united_kingdom"]
}

Generated from the API spec

curl Shell

curl -X POST "${KIBANA_URL}/api/synthetics/monitors" \
  -H "Authorization: ApiKey ${API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "icmp",
    "name": "Ping Test",
    "host": "example.com",
    "locations": ["united_kingdom"]
  }'

Generated from the API spec

Response

A response when a browser monitor specifies a timeout but has no private locations.

{
  "type": "browser",
  "name": "Example journey",
  "enabled": true,
  "warnings": [
    {
      "id": "monitor-id",
      "message": "For browser monitors, timeout is only supported on private locations. Browser monitor \"Example journey\" specifies a timeout and is running on public locations: \"public-1, public-2\". The timeout will have no effect on these locations.",
      "publicLocationIds": ["public-1", "public-2"]
    }
  ]
}

{
  "statusCode": 400,
  "error": "Bad Request",
  "message": "Browser Monitor timeout is invalid",
  "attributes": {
    "details": "Invalid timeout 20 seconds supplied. Minimum timeout for browser monitors is 30 seconds."
  }
}

Request Console 1 / 2 languages

Create a browser monitor to check a website.

Console Kibana Dev Tools

POST kbn:/api/synthetics/monitors
{
  "type": "browser",
  "name": "Example journey",
  "inline_script": "step('Go to https://google.com.co', () => page.goto('https://www.google.com'))",
  "locations": ["united_kingdom"]
}

Generated from the API spec

curl Shell

curl -X POST "${KIBANA_URL}/api/synthetics/monitors" \
  -H "Authorization: ApiKey ${API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "browser",
    "name": "Example journey",
    "inline_script": "step('\''Go to https://google.com.co'\'', () => page.goto('\''https://www.google.com'\''))",
    "locations": ["united_kingdom"]
  }'

Generated from the API spec

Response

A response when a browser monitor specifies a timeout but has no private locations.

{
  "type": "browser",
  "name": "Example journey",
  "enabled": true,
  "warnings": [
    {
      "id": "monitor-id",
      "message": "For browser monitors, timeout is only supported on private locations. Browser monitor \"Example journey\" specifies a timeout and is running on public locations: \"public-1, public-2\". The timeout will have no effect on these locations.",
      "publicLocationIds": ["public-1", "public-2"]
    }
  ]
}

{
  "statusCode": 400,
  "error": "Bad Request",
  "message": "Browser Monitor timeout is invalid",
  "attributes": {
    "details": "Invalid timeout 20 seconds supplied. Minimum timeout for browser monitors is 30 seconds."
  }
}