# Quickstart: your first monitor

This guide takes you from a fresh account to a live monitor that alerts you when your site goes down - in
about two minutes.

## Before you start

- A [HostTracker account](https://www.host-tracker.com/en/user/signup) - sign up with email, or with Google,
  Microsoft or LinkedIn. New accounts start on a [30-day free trial](/account/trial/) with up to 100 monitors
  at a 1-minute check interval, no card required.
- The URL of a website you want to watch.

## 1. Add a monitor

1. On the **Sites** dashboard (`/sites`), click **Add monitor**.
2. Leave the type as **Website / HTTPS** (the default).
3. Paste your **URL** (for example `https://example.com`).
4. Give it a **name** you'll recognise in alerts.

![The New Monitor panel, where you enter the URL and configure the check.](../../../assets/screenshots/new-monitor-panel.png)

*The New Monitor panel. Enter the URL at the top; the collapsible groups below hold every setting (all covered in [Create a website monitor](/monitors/types/http/)).*

## 2. Choose how often to check

Set the **interval** - how often HostTracker checks the site. One minute is the trial default and a good
starting point; the fastest interval a paid account can use depends on its plan (see
[Plans and packages compared](/account/plans/)). Leave the **timeout** at its default unless your site is
unusually slow.

## 3. Decide where to check from

The monitor inherits your [default monitoring locations](/monitors/default-locations/). For a first monitor,
**All world** is a safe choice. You can change this later, per monitor or as the account default.

## 4. Add an alert contact

1. Open the **Alerts** section of the form.
2. Add your **email** (or connect [Telegram, Slack, SMS and more](/alerts/overview/)).
3. Choose to be alerted on **Down** and **Up**.

## 5. Save

Click **Save**. Your monitor starts checking immediately. Within a minute you'll see its first result on the
dashboard, and if the site fails a confirmed check (HostTracker re-checks from other locations before it
calls it down - see [How down detection works](/monitors/down-detection/)), you'll get an alert.

## Do it with the API or MCP

Mint a token at **Integrations -> API** (`/integrations/api`), then create a monitor with:

```
POST /monitor
Authorization: Bearer <token>
{
  "type": "http",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "name": "Example site",
  "interval": 60,
  "locations": { "pools": ["allworld"] }
}
```

`interval` is in **seconds** and must be one of the account's allowed intervals (`GET /account` ->
`limits.intervals`, also in seconds) - `60` is one minute. An AI assistant with an MCP connection uses the
`create_monitor` tool with the same fields, then `subscribe_contact` to attach an alert contact.

## What next?

- [Set your default locations](/monitors/default-locations/) so every future monitor starts in the right place.
- [Explore the monitor types](/monitors/monitor-types/) - API, transaction, SSL, DNS, database and more.
- [Build a status page](/status-pages/overview/) to share uptime with your users.