Introducing SSL Certificate Monitoring

The problem with expired SSL certificates

An expired SSL certificate is one of those things that shouldn't happen but does - all the time. Your site goes from "secure" to a scary browser warning page overnight. Users bounce. Search rankings drop. And you probably won't notice until someone tells you.

The worst part? It's completely preventable. You just need a reminder before it happens.

What we built

Chirp now supports SSL certificate monitoring as a standalone monitor type. You give us a domain, we check the certificate on a schedule you pick (every 1, 6, 12, or 24 hours) and alert you as it approaches expiry.

You add your domain (just the hostname, no full URL needed), and Chirp connects via TLS to read the certificate details. When expiry gets close, you get notified at 30, 14, 7, 3, and 1 day before it happens. You can also see the issuer, validity dates, covered domains, and days remaining right in your dashboard.

No configuration needed beyond entering your domain. The defaults work for 99% of cases.

Why thresholds instead of a single alert

A single "your cert expires in 30 days" email is easy to ignore. Life gets busy. By the time you remember, you're at 2 days and panicking.

Chirp uses progressive thresholds. The first alert at 30 days is a gentle heads-up. If you haven't renewed by 14 days, you get another one. Then 7, 3, and 1 day. Each alert only fires once - we won't spam you - but the increasing urgency makes it hard to forget.

If you renew your certificate, Chirp detects it automatically and resets the alerts. No manual action needed.

What you see in the dashboard

Your SSL monitor shows:

• Days until expiry - color-coded green, yellow, or red
• Certificate issuer - Let's Encrypt, Cloudflare, DigiCert, etc.
• Covered domains - all SANs (Subject Alternative Names) on the cert
• Check history - every 6-hour check with the days remaining at that point

Getting started

SSL monitoring is available on both Free and Pro plans. It counts toward your monitor limit (3 on Free, 5 on Pro) just like HTTP monitors.

To add one:

1. Go to your dashboard and click "Add Monitor"
2. Select "SSL Certificate" as the type
3. Enter your domain (e.g., example.com)
4. Choose your check interval (1h, 6h, 12h, or 24h)
5. Done

Your first check runs within minutes. You'll see the certificate details right away.

What's next

Since shipping SSL monitoring, we've also launched heartbeat monitoring for cron jobs and background tasks. Next up: multi-region checks and more notification channels.

If you have ideas for what we should build, reach out on X. We're building this in public and your feedback shapes the roadmap.