> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://checkly-422f444a-mda-troubleshooting-section.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # URL Monitor Configuration > Configure your URL monitor to ensure your HTTP-based services are always available. ### Basic Setup Monitor public URLs by specifying the endpoint you want to track. URL monitor setup interface showing IP family selection, URL input field, Skip SSL, Follow redirects and Should fail option * **Request method:** Always GET. * **URL:** The HTTP(S) URL to monitor (e.g. [https://api.example.com](https://api.example.com)). * **IP family:** Defaults to IPv4. * **Follow redirects:** Automatically follow 30x redirects. * **Skip SSL:** Skip SSL certificate validation. * **This request should fail:** Treat HTTP error codes (4xx and 5xx) as passed. Please note that successful responses still pass. Only failed assertions will cause the check to fail. ### Assertions Use assertions to validate the status code of your URL request. When one or more assertions fail, an alert is triggered: URL monitor assertions interface showing status code configuration For more details, see our documentation on [Assertions](/detect/assertions). ### Response Time Limits Set performance thresholds to ensure your application meets speed requirements: URL monitor response time limits interface showing degraded and failed thresholds **Degraded After**: Time threshold (in milliseconds) after which the check is marked as degraded but not failed. Use for performance warnings without triggering failure alerts. **Failed After**: Time threshold after which the check fails completely. Use for hard performance limits where slow responses should trigger alerts. ### Frequency Determine how often your monitors run. URL monitor frequency selection interface showing available check intervals Choose a frequency that balances monitoring coverage with resource usage. Higher frequencies provide faster detection but may not be necessary for all services. ### Scheduling Strategy Choose when and how your checks run across multiple locations: URL monitor scheduling strategy interface showing round robin vs fixed schedule options **Round Robin** (Default): Checks run on one of the selected locations each time it is scheduled. **Parallel**: Checks run from all selected locations simultaneously. Higher consumption but provides immediate global visibility for critical services. ### Locations Select from Checkly's global monitoring locations to test your URLs from different regions: URL monitor locations selection interface showing global monitoring locations We recommend to chose at least 2-3 locations that best represent your user base for optimal monitoring coverage. See [Locations](/concepts/locations) for the complete list of available regions and guidance on location selection. **Private Locations**: Run checks from your own infrastructure to monitor internal applications, check services behind firewalls, or maintain data residency compliance. [Set up Private Locations →](/detect/private-locations/overview) ### Retries Select the retry strategy to determine how failed checks are retried: URL monitor retries interface showing retry strategy options | Strategy | Description | | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **None** | No retries - fail immediately on first failure for fastest detection | | **Single** | Retry once after failure with configurable delay | | **Fixed** | Retry a specific number of times with consistent intervals between attempts | | **Linear** | Increase retry delay linearly with each attempt to avoid overwhelming failed services | | **Exponential** | Double the retry delay with each attempt for maximum protection against service overload | ### Alert Settings Configure notifications for your team: URL monitor alert settings interface showing notification configuration options #### Notification Scope Choose how alerts are configured for this monitor: | Option | Description | | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Use global account notification settings** | Inherit notification preferences from Global Notification Settings | | **Use specific notification settings** | Configure alert behavior exclusively for this check | #### Escalation Rules Control when alerts are triggered: **Primary Trigger** (Choose one): * **When a check has failed X time(s)**: Sends alert after specified consecutive failures * **When a check is failing for more than Y minutes**: Sends alert if failure duration exceeds threshold **Additional Condition** (Optional): * **When a check is failing in Z% of locations**: Only applies to checks running in parallel across multiple locations #### Reminders Configure follow-up alerts after initial failure notification: | Setting | Description | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | | **Maximum reminders** | Number of follow-up alerts (0 = no reminders) | | **Reminder interval** | Time between reminders (only if maximum reminders > 0) | #### Alert Channels Define where notifications are sent when checks fail or recover. Additional channels can be configured in global notification settings. **Alert Types** (per channel): * ✅ **Success/Recovery**: Check has recovered from failure * ⚠ **Degraded**: Check is degraded but not failed * ❌ **Failure**: Check has failed **Global Alert Settings**: By default, monitors inherit your account's notification preferences. Select "Use specific notification settings" to customize alerts for individual monitors.