Uptime monitoring with GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions gives you access to cloud compute that runs from your repository’s configuration files. Even on the free tier, that includes 2,000 minutes per month. Most workflows use that time for the obvious jobs: running tests and deploying code. But Actions isn’t limited to CI/CD pipelines. Since each workflow is just a container running whatever code you specify, it works like a serverless function with a schedule.
Actions can be triggered by repository events like pushes and pull requests, or on a cron schedule. That opens the door for jobs unrelated to the repo itself—image optimization, API calls, or capturing screenshots. The Actions marketplace makes it easy to pick up prebuilt steps for such tasks.
Upptime takes advantage of that model in a clever way: it sets up a free, configurable uptime monitor using nothing but GitHub infrastructure. Once configured, it periodically checks the endpoints you define, records results in the repository, and can publish a status page—all without you standing up any of your own monitoring server.
