Creating a Synthetic Monitoring Test

• Setup
• Schedule
• Fail Conditions
• Security Monitoring
• Lighthouse
• User journey
• Alerts

Start the Setup Process

1. Click “Create New Synthetic Test.”
2. Choose a ‘Project’

Enter Basic Test Information

3. Test Name – Give your test a descriptive name (e.g., “Checkout Flow Test”).
4. Startup Page URL – This is the first page where the test begins.
   • Example format: https://yourbusinesswebsite.com/login

Base Domain URL (Optional) – This can be used as a variable in test steps.

• Example format for using the base URL in steps: test.test.base.pageurl(“path/to/page”)

Device Selection

5. Select Emulation Device – Choose the type of device the test should simulate (Desktop or Mobile).

Configure Test Schedule

6. Select how often the test should run (based on your purchased package).
7. Click the slider to enable the schedule.

• Best practice: Choose a higher frequency for critical flows like checkout and login pages.

Define Fail Conditions

8. You can configure failure conditions to determine when a test should be marked as failed.
   • JavaScript Errors
   • HTTP Status Errors

Error Count Settings:

• HTTP 500 Errors – Set a failure threshold.
• HTTP 400 Errors – Set a failure threshold.
• HTTP 200 Errors – Set a failure threshold.

Ignore Non-Domain Errors: (Optional)

• Ignore non-domain 500x errors
• Ignore non-domain 400x errors
• Ignore non-domain 300x errors

Security Monitoring Options

• Domain & IP Monitoring – Fail the test if an unexpected domain or IP is detected.
• Domain & IP Whitelist – Ensure only known domains are allowed.
• Request Blocking – Add a list of URLs or domains to block (e.g., to prevent loading Google Analytics during testing).

Enable Lighthouse

• Enable Lighthouse Audits (Optional) – This provides performance and accessibility insights.

Select Testing Locations – Choose where the test should run from (e.g., London, Frankfurt, Ohio).

Need details? Click here for a full list of available test locations.

Set Up a User Journey (Optional, but highly recommended)

A user journey allows you to simulate how a user interacts with your website. Manually add test steps (up to a certain number based on your package). You can perform the following actions:

• Click

• Fill

• Select

• Hover

• Upload

• Wait

• Screenshot

• See Element

• Run JavaScript

• Extract Email Text

• Assert Email Received

• Import an Existing Journey – Use a journey previously created for another test.

• Save This Journey for Future Use – Add it to the journey library.

Use the Chrome Extension – Record your interactions on a website, capturing clicks, scrolls, and navigation.

Save Your Test

Once all settings are configured, click “Save”. The system will now redirect you back to the Project View Page, where your new synthetic test will be displayed.

Need more details? Click here for a full breakdown of the Synthetic Test Dashboard.

Setting Up Alerts for Synthetic Monitoring

Enabling Alerts by Request Type

Before configuring notifications, you need to select the request types that should trigger alerts when failures occur.

1. Click “Set Alert” on the Synthetic Test Dashboard.
2. Under Request Type Monitoring, select one or multiple request types to monitor:
   • Fetch-XHR
   • JavaScript (JS) Errors
   • CSS Failures
   • Image (IMG) Load Failures

📌 If an error occurs within the selected request type(s), an alert will be triggered based on your fail count settings.

After selecting the alerts by request type, you can configure how and where notifications should be sent.

Email Notifications

• Enter one or multiple email addresses.
• Set a shared minimum fail count (e.g., send an alert after 3 consecutive failures).

Slack & Microsoft Teams Alerts

• Select the channels where alerts should be sent.
• Set a shared fail count for all selected channels (e.g., after 2 failed checks).

Webhook Alerts

• Enter a POST endpoint URL where alerts should be sent.

Desktop Notifications

• Set a minimum fail count (e.g., notify after 3 failures).

Don’t forget to toggle the notification to enable it.

Testing Your Alerts

Once alerts are configured, you can test them to ensure they are working correctly.

3. Click “Test Alert” in the alert settings.

A test notification will be sent to all enabled channels (Email, Slack, Teams, Webhook, or Desktop).

4. Verify that you receive the alert as expected.

📌 If you don’t receive an alert, check your fail count settings and ensure your notification method is properly configured.