Today’s a big day at Checkly; we’re thrilled to announce that next to Browser and API checks we released a brand new check type to monitor your apps — say “Hello” to Heartbeat checks! In the realm of software, ensuring uninterrupted functionality is critical. While synthetic monitoring helps you discover user-facing problems early, keeping a close eye on the signals coming from your backend can be just as vital.

When we launched the Checkly CLI and Test Sessions last May, I wrote about the three pillars of monitoring as code. Code — write your monitoring checks as code and store them in version control. Test — test your checks against our global infrastructure and record test sessions. Deploy — deploy your checks from your local machine or CI to run them as monitors.

With Infrastructure as Code and service-oriented development, a modern web app can consist of countless moving parts developed by multiple development and DevOps teams. When establishing a high-velocity development environment, the main question is, "How can you guarantee a stellar end-user experience when lots of engineers are constantly pushing and deploying code?" Solid, easy-to-write, and clearly defined monitoring practices are the only answer to this question.