Missed heartbeat

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Scheduled Jobs

Missed heartbeat

Missed heartbeat is a heartbeat that did not arrive within the allowed schedule and grace period.

What is missed heartbeat?

Missed heartbeat describes a heartbeat that did not arrive within the allowed schedule and grace period. In reliability work, the label is useful only when it maps to a measurable check, a clear owner, and a next action when expectations break. Without that operational meaning, the phrase becomes decoration in dashboards and status updates.

Why it matters

Missed heartbeat matters because teams need a precise shared meaning for a heartbeat that did not arrive within the allowed schedule and grace period. Vague language turns incidents into arguments about words instead of fixes.

When everyone uses the same definition, alerts, status updates, and post-incident reviews stay aligned.

How it works

In practice, a heartbeat that did not arrive within the allowed schedule and grace period shows up as a concrete signal you can measure or communicate. Operators define what good looks like, watch for deviations, and record what happened when expectations break.

The useful version of missed heartbeat is operational: it changes who gets notified, what customers see, or which metric a team reviews after an incident.

Practical example

Imagine a team operating around backup heartbeat missing after 02:15 UTC plus grace. When observed behavior stops matching the definition of missed heartbeat, the team treats that change as a reliability event with a clear owner and next step.

Common misconception

Missed means the server is on fire

That reading usually collapses distinct ideas into one slogan. Keep missed heartbeat tied to observable behavior so the definition stays useful under pressure.

How Fajita handles this

A missed heartbeat means the expected signal did not arrive. Investigate the job path.

Reading tip

This glossary page explains the concept. Product steps live in the documentation links below. The applicable agreement controls Fajita’s contractual obligations when a topic touches billing, privacy, or service commitments.

Related terms

• Late heartbeat
• Grace period
• Heartbeat monitoring

Related documentation

• Heartbeat monitoring

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On this page

• Why it matters
• How it works
• Practical example
• Common misconception
• Missed means the server is on fire
• How Fajita handles this