API Monitoring: Up Is Not Enough

John Sheehan, CEO of Runscope, highlights the critical importance of robust API monitoring in modern, distributed applications, where APIs serve as the connective tissue between various components. Traditional HTTP monitoring tools effectively address questions of availability and performance by measuring response times and uptime through frequent endpoint checks. However, ensuring API correctness requires a more nuanced approach that considers read and write operations and complex workflows involving multiple sequential API calls. Runscope Radar addresses these needs with a flexible assertion framework that verifies API responses against expected outcomes, enabling the extraction and chaining of data across requests. Integrations with platforms like GitHub, Zapier, and CircleCI facilitate seamless inclusion of API monitoring and testing in existing deployment processes, while connectivity with PagerDuty allows for immediate alerts in case of test failures. Runscope offers interested PagerDuty customers the opportunity to try its service with a complimentary Standard account.