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

# Heartbeats

> Track expected job signals and detect silent failures in scheduled workloads.

## Why Heartbeats Matter

Many high-risk failures are silent: no endpoint breaks, but scheduled jobs stop running.

Heartbeats let teams detect missing execution signals for cron jobs, workers, and automation pipelines.

## Business Outcomes

* Earlier detection of non-obvious production failures.
* Reduced data-loss and processing-backlog risk.
* Improved confidence in asynchronous system reliability.
* Better operational coverage beyond endpoint uptime.

## Heartbeat Model (High Level)

1. A workload is expected to report on a defined cadence.
2. Warrn tracks whether expected signals arrive on time.
3. Missing signals trigger alerts for the owning team.
4. Escalation and incident workflows follow when impact grows.

## How Heartbeats Connect

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
  workloads["ScheduledWorkloads"] --> heartbeats["HeartbeatSignals"]
  heartbeats --> alerts["AlertsWhenSignalsAreMissing"]
  alerts --> teams["OwningTeamResponse"]
```

## Multi-Tenant Considerations

<Warning>
  Heartbeat definitions and signal history are isolated within each organization boundary.
</Warning>

## Best Practices

1. Start with revenue-critical and compliance-critical jobs.
2. Set realistic grace windows to avoid noise.
3. Assign each heartbeat to a clear owning team.
4. Periodically test alerting paths for missed runs.

## Next Read

Go to [Status Pages](/components/status-pages) to understand how external communication is handled during active disruptions.