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checkly

Expert guidance for Checkly, the synthetic monitoring platform that runs Playwright-based browser checks and API checks from locations worldwide. Helps developers implement monitoring-as-code (MaC) with the Checkly CLI, set up API and browser checks, configure alerting, and integrate monitoring into CI/CD pipelines.

#synthetic-monitoring#e2e-testing#api-monitoring#playwright#monitoring-as-code
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Source

Usage

$
✓ Installed checkly v1.0.0

Getting Started

  1. Install the skill using the command above
  2. Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
  3. Reference the skill in your prompt
  4. The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically

Example Prompts

  • "Deploy the latest build to the staging environment and run smoke tests"
  • "Check the CI pipeline status and summarize any recent failures"

Documentation

Overview

Checkly, the synthetic monitoring platform that runs Playwright-based browser checks and API checks from locations worldwide. Helps developers implement monitoring-as-code (MaC) with the Checkly CLI, set up API and browser checks, configure alerting, and integrate monitoring into CI/CD pipelines.

Instructions

Monitoring as Code

bash
# Install Checkly CLI
npm install -g checkly

# Initialize in your project
checkly init

# Project structure
# checkly.config.ts — Global configuration
# __checks__/
#   api/
#     health.check.ts
#     orders-api.check.ts
#   browser/
#     login-flow.check.ts
#     checkout.check.ts
typescript
// checkly.config.ts — Global configuration
import { defineConfig } from "checkly";
import { EmailAlertChannel, SlackAlertChannel } from "checkly/constructs";

const slackAlert = new SlackAlertChannel("slack-alerts", {
  webhookUrl: process.env.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL!,
  channel: "#alerts",
  sendFailure: true,
  sendRecovery: true,
  sendDegraded: true,
});

const emailAlert = new EmailAlertChannel("email-ops", {
  address: "ops@example.com",
  sendFailure: true,
  sendRecovery: true,
});

export default defineConfig({
  projectName: "My SaaS",
  logicalId: "my-saas-monitoring",
  repoUrl: "https://github.com/myorg/my-saas",
  checks: {
    locations: ["us-east-1", "eu-west-1", "ap-southeast-1"],
    frequency: 5,                        // Check every 5 minutes
    tags: ["production"],
    runtimeId: "2024.02",
    alertChannels: [slackAlert, emailAlert],
    browserChecks: {
      frequency: 10,                     // Browser checks every 10 min
      testMatch: "**/__checks__/browser/**/*.check.ts",
    },
    apiChecks: {
      frequency: 1,                      // API checks every 1 min
      testMatch: "**/__checks__/api/**/*.check.ts",
    },
  },
});

API Checks

typescript
// __checks__/api/orders-api.check.ts — API endpoint monitoring
import { ApiCheck, AssertionBuilder } from "checkly/constructs";

new ApiCheck("orders-api-health", {
  name: "Orders API — Health Check",
  request: {
    method: "GET",
    url: "https://api.example.com/v1/health",
    headers: [{ key: "Authorization", value: `Bearer {{MONITORING_API_KEY}}` }],
    assertions: [
      AssertionBuilder.statusCode().equals(200),
      AssertionBuilder.jsonBody("$.status").equals("healthy"),
      AssertionBuilder.responseTime().lessThan(2000),   // Under 2 seconds
    ],
  },
  degradedResponseTime: 1000,          // Mark as degraded if > 1s
  maxResponseTime: 3000,               // Mark as failed if > 3s
});

new ApiCheck("orders-create", {
  name: "Orders API — Create Order Flow",
  request: {
    method: "POST",
    url: "https://api.example.com/v1/orders",
    headers: [
      { key: "Authorization", value: "Bearer {{MONITORING_API_KEY}}" },
      { key: "Content-Type", value: "application/json" },
    ],
    body: JSON.stringify({
      items: [{ productId: "test-product", quantity: 1 }],
      test: true,                       // Flag so backend doesn't charge
    }),
    assertions: [
      AssertionBuilder.statusCode().equals(201),
      AssertionBuilder.jsonBody("$.id").isNotEmpty(),
      AssertionBuilder.jsonBody("$.status").equals("pending"),
    ],
  },
  setupScript: {
    // Run before the request — generate dynamic data
    content: `
      const crypto = require('crypto');
      request.headers['X-Idempotency-Key'] = crypto.randomUUID();
    `,
  },
  teardownScript: {
    // Run after the request — clean up test data
    content: `
      if (response.statusCode === 201) {
        const orderId = JSON.parse(response.body).id;
        // Delete the test order
        await fetch(\`https://api.example.com/v1/orders/\${orderId}\`, {
          method: 'DELETE',
          headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + process.env.MONITORING_API_KEY },
        });
      }
    `,
  },
});

Browser Checks (Playwright)

typescript
// __checks__/browser/checkout-flow.check.ts — E2E user flow monitoring
// Runs a real Playwright browser in Checkly's cloud every 10 minutes.
import { test, expect } from "@playwright/test";

test("Complete checkout flow", async ({ page }) => {
  // Step 1: Navigate to product page
  await page.goto("https://example.com/products/starter-plan");
  await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Starter Plan" })).toBeVisible();

  // Step 2: Add to cart
  await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Start Free Trial" }).click();
  await expect(page.getByText("Added to cart")).toBeVisible();

  // Step 3: Go to checkout
  await page.getByRole("link", { name: "Checkout" }).click();
  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/.*checkout/);

  // Step 4: Fill payment form (test card)
  await page.getByLabel("Email").fill("monitoring@example.com");
  await page.getByLabel("Card number").fill("4242424242424242");
  await page.getByLabel("Expiry").fill("12/28");
  await page.getByLabel("CVC").fill("123");

  // Step 5: Submit
  await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Subscribe" }).click();

  // Step 6: Verify success
  await expect(page.getByText("Welcome to Starter Plan")).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10000 });
});

test("Login flow works", async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto("https://example.com/login");

  await page.getByLabel("Email").fill(process.env.TEST_USER_EMAIL!);
  await page.getByLabel("Password").fill(process.env.TEST_USER_PASSWORD!);
  await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Sign in" }).click();

  // Verify dashboard loads
  await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "Dashboard" })).toBeVisible();
  await expect(page.getByText("Welcome back")).toBeVisible();
});

CI/CD Integration

yaml
# .github/workflows/deploy.yml — Run checks after deployment
- name: Deploy to production
  run: npm run deploy

- name: Run Checkly checks
  uses: checkly/checkly-github-action@v1
  with:
    apiKey: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_API_KEY }}
    accountId: ${{ secrets.CHECKLY_ACCOUNT_ID }}
    # Run all checks and fail the pipeline if any fail
    command: "checkly test --record"
bash
# Deploy checks to Checkly (like deploying infrastructure)
checkly deploy

# Test locally before deploying
checkly test

# Dry run — show what would change
checkly deploy --preview

Installation

bash
npm install -g checkly
checkly login
checkly init

Examples

Example 1: Setting up Checkly for a microservices project

User request:

I have a Node.js API and a React frontend running in Docker. Set up Checkly for monitoring/deployment.

The agent creates the necessary configuration files based on patterns like # Install Checkly CLI, sets up the integration with the existing Docker setup, configures appropriate defaults for a Node.js + React stack, and provides verification commands to confirm everything is working.

Example 2: Troubleshooting api checks issues

User request:

Checkly is showing errors in our api checks. Here are the logs: [error output]

The agent analyzes the error output, identifies the root cause by cross-referencing with common Checkly issues, applies the fix (updating configuration, adjusting resource limits, or correcting syntax), and verifies the resolution with appropriate health checks.

Guidelines

  1. Monitoring as code — Define checks in your repo alongside application code; version, review, and deploy together
  2. API + browser checks — API checks catch backend issues fast (every 1 min); browser checks validate user flows (every 10 min)
  3. Multi-region — Run checks from 3+ regions; catch regional outages and CDN issues
  4. Playwright for browser — Checkly uses Playwright natively; reuse your E2E tests as production monitors
  5. Degraded vs failed — Set degraded thresholds (e.g., > 1s) separate from failure (> 3s); catch slowdowns before they become outages
  6. Clean up test data — Use teardown scripts to delete test orders/users created by monitoring checks
  7. CI/CD integration — Run checks after every deployment; automatically catch regressions before users do
  8. Environment variables — Store API keys and test credentials as Checkly environment variables, not in code

Information

Version
1.0.0
Author
terminal-skills
Category
DevOps
License
Apache-2.0