Quickstart

Create a monitor, copy its ping URL, and call that URL when the job finishes. A missing ping is the incident. These examples use a placeholder. The real URL is on the monitor page and looks like https://nightshiftwatchdog.com/ping/YOUR_TOKEN. Treat it like a password.

Create an account and choose New monitor. Set an interval or a 5-field cron expression, plus a grace period for jitter.
Copy the ping URL. For cron and GitHub Actions, put it in NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL.
POST it when the work succeeds. POST /start when a run begins (that does not move the deadline) and /fail when it errors.

JSON fields are optional. Send tokens and cost_usd from an agent loop so a spike can trip a spend alert on Pro or Team. duration_ms is optional too. The same fields work as query parameters on a GET.

curl

POST when the job finishes. Add tokens and cost when you have them.

curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST "https://nightshiftwatchdog.com/ping/YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"tokens":1234,"cost_usd":0.012}'

cron

Ping after the command succeeds, and /fail if it does not. Match the monitor's schedule to this crontab.

# crontab -e
0 * * * * /usr/local/bin/nightly-job && curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST "$NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL" -H "content-type: application/json" -d '{"tokens":0,"cost_usd":0}' || curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST "$NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL/fail"

n8n

Add an HTTP Request node at the end of the workflow, and an error branch that calls /fail.

Method: POST
URL: https://nightshiftwatchdog.com/ping/YOUR_TOKEN
Body content type: JSON
JSON body:
{
  "tokens": {{$json.tokens}},
  "cost_usd": {{$json.cost_usd}}
}

On error, POST https://nightshiftwatchdog.com/ping/YOUR_TOKEN/fail

Make

HTTP > Make a request, as the last module. Use the Break error handler to POST /fail.

URL: https://nightshiftwatchdog.com/ping/YOUR_TOKEN
Method: POST
Body type: Raw
Content type: application/json
Request content:
{"tokens": {{tokens}}, "cost_usd": {{cost}}}

Zapier

Webhooks by Zapier > POST. Put it after the steps that do the work.

URL: https://nightshiftwatchdog.com/ping/YOUR_TOKEN
Payload type: json
Data:
tokens: (number, optional)
cost_usd: (number, optional)

GitHub Actions

Store the ping URL as a secret. The finish step runs even when the job fails.

- name: Tell Nightshift the job started
  run: curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST "$NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL/start"
  env:
    NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL: ${{ secrets.NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL }}

- name: Tell Nightshift the job finished
  if: always()
  env:
    NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL: ${{ secrets.NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL }}
  run: |
    if [ "${{ job.status }}" = "success" ]; then
      curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST "$NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL"
    else
      curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST "$NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL/fail"
    fi

Vercel cron

Call this route from vercel.json. Ping after the work, and /fail if it throws.

export async function GET() {
  const ping = process.env.NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL!;
  try {
    await doTheWork();
    await fetch(ping, {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
      body: JSON.stringify({ tokens: 0, cost_usd: 0 }),
    });
    return Response.json({ ok: true });
  } catch (error) {
    await fetch(ping + "/fail", { method: "POST" });
    throw error;
  }
}

Python loop

Ping once per iteration so a stuck loop trips the schedule, and a spike trips runaway detection.

import os, requests

URL = os.environ["NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL"]

while True:
    try:
        result = run_once()
        requests.post(
            URL,
            json={"tokens": result.tokens, "cost_usd": result.cost_usd},
            timeout=5,
        )
    except Exception:
        requests.post(URL + "/fail", timeout=5)
        raise

Node loop

Same idea as the Python loop. A missing ping is the signal, so do not swallow the error before /fail.

const url = process.env.NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL;

while (true) {
  try {
    const result = await runOnce();
    await fetch(url, {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
      body: JSON.stringify({ tokens: result.tokens, cost_usd: result.costUsd }),
    });
  } catch (error) {
    await fetch(url + "/fail", { method: "POST" });
    throw error;
  }
}

Claude Code

A Stop hook pings when a Claude Code session ends. Loops should still ping from inside the agent.

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST \"$NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL\" -H \"content-type: application/json\" -d \"{\\\"tokens\\\":0,\\\"cost_usd\\\":0}\" >/dev/null || curl -fsS -m 10 -X POST \"$NIGHTSHIFT_PING_URL/fail\" >/dev/null || true"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

More detail