---
title: Service Check Monitor
description: Monitor status of arbitrary service checks.
breadcrumbs: Docs > Monitors > Monitor Types > Service Check Monitor
---

# Service Check Monitor

## Overview{% #overview %}

Service check monitors include any service check not reported by one of the [more than 1,000 integrations](https://docs.datadoghq.com/integrations.md) included with the Agent. Service checks can be sent to Datadog using a [custom Agent check](https://docs.datadoghq.com/extend/custom_checks/write_agent_check.md), [DogStatsD](https://docs.datadoghq.com/extend/dogstatsd.md), or the [API](https://docs.datadoghq.com/api/v1/service-checks.md). For more information, see the [Service Check Overview](https://docs.datadoghq.com/extend/service_checks.md#overview).

## Monitor creation{% #monitor-creation %}

To create a [service check monitor](https://app.datadoghq.com/monitors/create/custom) in Datadog, use the main navigation: **Monitors** –> **New Monitor** –> **Service Check**.

### Pick a service check{% #pick-a-service-check %}

Choose a service check from the dropdown menu.

### Pick monitor scope{% #pick-monitor-scope %}

Select the scope to monitor by choosing host names, tags, or choose `All Monitored Hosts`. If you need to exclude certain hosts, use the second field to list names or tags.

- The include field uses `AND` logic. All listed hostnames and tags must be present on a host for it to be included.
- The exclude field uses `OR` logic. Any host with a listed hostname or tag is excluded.

### Set alert conditions{% #set-alert-conditions %}

In this section, choose between a **Check Alert** or **Cluster Alert**:

{% tab title="Check Alert" %}
A check alert tracks consecutive statuses submitted per check grouping and compares it to your thresholds.

Set up the check alert:

1. Trigger a separate alert for each `<GROUP>` reporting your check.

   - Check grouping is specified either from a list of known groupings or by you. For service check monitors, the per-check grouping is unknown, so you must specify it.

1. Trigger the alert after selected consecutive failures: `<NUMBER>`

   - Choose how many consecutive runs with the `CRITICAL` status trigger a notification. For example, to be notified immediately when your check fails, trigger the monitor alert on `1` critical status.

1. Select `Do not notify` or `Notify` for Unknown status.

   - If `Notify` is selected, a state transition to `UNKNOWN` triggers a notification. In the [monitor status page](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/status.md), the status bar of a group in `UNKNOWN` state uses `NODATA` grey. The overall status of the monitor stays in `OK`.

1. Resolve the alert after selected consecutive successes: `<NUMBER>`.

   - Choose how many consecutive runs with the `OK` status resolve the alert. For example, to ensure an issue is fixed, resolve the monitor on `4` `OK` statuses.

{% /tab %}

{% tab title="Cluster Alert" %}
A cluster alert calculates the percent of checks in a given status and compares it to your thresholds.

Each check tagged with a distinct combination of tags is considered to be a distinct check in the cluster. Only the status of the last check of each combination of tags is taken into account in the cluster percentage calculation.

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/monitors/monitor_types/process_check/cluster_check_thresholds.a0293f2a3b0165cff25f7207d86b781f.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/monitors/monitor_types/process_check/cluster_check_thresholds.a0293f2a3b0165cff25f7207d86b781f.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="Cluster Check Thresholds" /%}

For example, a cluster check monitor grouped by environment can alert if more that 70% of the checks on any of the environments submit a `CRITICAL` status, and warn if more that 70% of the checks on any of the environments submit a `WARN` status.

To set up a cluster alert:

1. Decide whether or not to group your checks according to a tag. `Ungrouped` calculates the status percentage across all sources. `Grouped` calculates the status percentage on a per-group basis.

1. Select the percentage for alert and warn thresholds. Only one setting (alert or warn) is required.

{% /tab %}

#### Advanced alert conditions{% #advanced-alert-conditions %}

See the [Monitor configuration](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/configuration.md#advanced-alert-conditions) documentation for information on [No data](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/configuration.md#no-data), [Auto resolve](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/configuration.md#auto-resolve), and [New group delay](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/configuration.md#new-group-delay) options.

### Notifications{% #notifications %}

For detailed instructions on the **Configure notifications and automations** section, see the [Notifications](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/notify.md) page.

## Further Reading{% #further-reading %}

- [Configure your monitor notifications](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/notify.md)
- [Schedule a downtime to mute a monitor](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/downtimes.md)
- [Consult your monitor status](https://docs.datadoghq.com/monitors/status.md)