Dead Man’s Switch

Enable DMS

Turn on Dead Man’s Switch, set a grace period, and copy the ping URL.

Step-by-step

  1. Open Collections → your collection → create or edit a task.
  2. Expand advanced settings.
  3. Enable Dead man’s switch.
  4. Set Grace period (seconds) — minimum 60, maximum 86400 (24 hours). Default in the form is often 900 (15 minutes).
  5. Save the task.
  6. Re-open the task in edit mode. Copy the Ping URL (shown only after the task exists).
  7. Add a ping call to the end of your job (see Ping URL).
  8. Turn on DMS Missed Ping under Notifications if you want alerts.

On create, the form notes that the ping URL appears after the task is saved. Always copy it from the edit view.

Grace period

The grace period is how long CronFox waits for a ping after the run before treating it as missed.

SituationGuidance
Fast scripts60–180 seconds may be enough
Queue + workerMatch typical queue lag + processing time
Long batch jobsSet gracefully high; max is 24 hours

If the grace period is too short, healthy jobs look missed. If it is too long, you learn about failures late.

Where to find the URL

  1. Edit the task with DMS enabled.
  2. Copy the read-only ping URL field (or use the copy button).
  3. The UI also shows a sample curl with ?status=ok.

URL shape:

https://ping.cronfox.com/{task_id}/{token}

Checklist

  • DMS enabled on the task
  • Grace period matches real job duration
  • Ping URL copied into your process
  • Tested with Run now and a successful ping
  • DMS Missed Ping notifications enabled