> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.uptimeio.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quick Start

> Create your account and your first monitor, and get alerted when it goes down

This guide takes you from sign-up to a running monitor with alerts. It takes a few minutes.

## 1. Create your account

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign up">
    Go to [app.uptimeio.com](https://app.uptimeio.com) and register with your full name, email address and a password of at least 8 characters.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify your email">
    Click the link in the verification email. You cannot create monitors until your email address is verified.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 2. Create your first monitor

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start the wizard">
    Open **Monitors** in the sidebar and click **Create Monitor**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the type and target">
    HTTP is selected by default. Enter the URL, for example `https://example.com`. For another type (keyword, ping, port, DNS, heartbeat), open **Monitoring something else?**. Each type has its own guide, starting with [HTTP](/monitors/http).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the interval">
    Choose how often to check. The default is 5 minutes. The shortest interval is 5 minutes on Free and 1 minute on Pro and Scale. The longest is 24 hours.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose locations">
    Checks run from multiple [probe locations](/monitors/probe-locations). On Pro and Scale you can pick the locations for regular checks; on Free UptimeIO chooses for you.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick who gets alerted">
    Select one or more notification destinations. If you have none yet, add one under **Destinations** in the sidebar (email, Slack, webhook, Telegram or Pushover). See [Notifications](/notifications/overview).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create the monitor">
    Click **Create Monitor**. The first check runs shortly afterwards and the results appear on the monitor's page.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Or create it with the API

Create a `read_write` API key in **Settings > API Keys** ([details](/api-reference/authentication)), then:

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api.uptimeio.com/api/monitors \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "My Website",
    "type": "HTTP",
    "target": "https://example.com",
    "interval_seconds": 300,
    "monitoring_regions": [],
    "http_config": { "method": "GET", "expected_status_codes": [200] }
  }'
```

`"monitoring_regions": []` lets UptimeIO choose locations automatically. See [Create a monitor](/api-reference/monitors/create) for every field.

## 3. Test it

From the monitor's page click **Test Now** to run a check immediately and see the response time, status and result per location.

## How a failure becomes an incident

UptimeIO avoids false alarms by confirming failures from several locations before it opens an incident:

<Steps>
  <Step title="A check fails">
    A failed check does not open an incident by itself.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Retries from other locations">
    The check is repeated from other locations a second apart.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirmation">
    An incident opens only when several locations confirm the failure. You are then notified on the monitor's destinations.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Recovery is confirmed the same way before the incident is resolved. See [Understanding Incidents](/essentials/understanding-incidents).

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How many monitors can I create?">
    Free 50, Pro 100, Scale 500. Paused monitors still count toward the limit. See [Plans & Billing](/billing/plans).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I pause a monitor?">
    Yes. A paused monitor stops checking and does not alert. Resume it at any time; it is scheduled straight away.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I reduce false positives?">
    Failures are already confirmed from several locations. You can also increase the timeout or adjust the expected status codes for your endpoint.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Monitor types" icon="list-check" href="/monitors/http">
    HTTP, keyword, ping, port, DNS and heartbeat
  </Card>

  <Card title="Notifications" icon="bell" href="/notifications/overview">
    Email, Slack, webhooks, Telegram and Pushover
  </Card>

  <Card title="Status pages" icon="browser" href="/status-pages/creating-a-status-page">
    Publish a public status page
  </Card>

  <Card title="API reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/introduction">
    Automate everything
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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