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Simplify crons index page and add critical product strategy questions
- Simplify crons/index.mdx: Remove heavy card components, change 'easiest' to 'recommended' - Add PRFAQ open questions: What's the bare minimum for working cron monitoring? - Clarify UI-first vs code-first approach and define 'easiest' vs 'most complete' - Ready for team review on product strategy and simplified UX
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  • .cursor/project/features/005-unified-cron-monitoring-experience
  • docs/platforms/javascript/common/crons

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‎.cursor/project/features/005-unified-cron-monitoring-experience/PRFAQ.md‎

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@@ -155,6 +155,38 @@ A **Unified Cron Monitoring Experience** that clarifies the two-step process and
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- Scan for existing cron-related code patterns
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- Suggest optimal integration approach based on tech stack
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## 🔍 Open Questions
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**PRIORITY 1: What is the bare minimum to get working cron monitoring?**
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**Option A: Code-First Approach**
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- Developer adds `Sentry.captureCheckIn()` calls to existing cron job
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- Gets cron execution signals in Sentry immediately
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- ❓ **But does this create alerts by default? Or just raw data?**
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- ❓ **Do they need to finish setup in the UI afterwards for alerting?**
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**Option B: UI-First Approach**
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- Developer creates monitor definition in Sentry UI (includes alert configuration)
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- Then adds minimal instrumentation code to their job
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- Gets both execution data AND configured alerts immediately
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**Key Questions:**
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1. **What's the ideal customer flow we want to encourage?** UI-first or code-first?
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2. **What does "easiest" actually mean?** Least code changes vs most value vs fastest time-to-alerts?
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3. **Should we position UI setup as "most complete" rather than "easiest"?**
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4. **Does bare-minimum code instrumentation provide enough value without UI configuration?**
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**PRIORITY 2: How do we define "easiest" vs "most valuable"?**
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Current documentation positions UI setup as "easiest" but this may be misleading:
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- **UI Setup**: More setup steps, but provides complete monitoring + alerting
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- **Code-only**: Fewer steps, but may provide incomplete monitoring experience
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We need to clarify whether we're optimizing for:
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- **Minimal code changes** (technical ease)
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- **Fastest time to value** (getting alerts working)
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- **Most complete monitoring** (full feature set)
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## ❓ Frequently Asked Questions
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**Q: Why not just improve the existing documentation instead of changing the product?**

‎docs/platforms/javascript/common/crons/index.mdx‎

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Monitor the uptime and performance of your scheduled jobs in Node.js. Get alerts when jobs fail, timeout, or don't run as expected.
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## Choose Your Setup Method
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Select the approach that best fits your needs:
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<div className="flex flex-wrap gap-4 mb-8">
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<div className="w-full md:w-[calc(50%-8px)] p-6 border rounded-lg bg-white dark:bg-gray-800 shadow-sm">
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<div className="flex items-center gap-2 mb-2">
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<h3 className="text-lg font-medium m-0">UI Setup</h3>
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<span className="px-2 py-1 text-xs bg-green-100 text-green-800 dark:bg-green-900 dark:text-green-200 rounded">Easiest</span>
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</div>
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<p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-300 mb-3">Create monitors in Sentry's web interface. No code changes required.</p>
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<p className="text-sm font-medium text-purple-600 dark:text-purple-400 mb-0">Best for: Simple scripts, getting started quickly</p>
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<div className="mt-4">
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<a href="ui-setup" className="inline-block px-4 py-2 bg-purple-600 text-white rounded hover:bg-purple-700 text-sm font-medium">
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Get Started →
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</a>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div className="w-full md:w-[calc(50%-8px)] p-6 border rounded-lg bg-white dark:bg-gray-800 shadow-sm">
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<div className="flex items-center gap-2 mb-2">
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<h3 className="text-lg font-medium m-0">Automatic</h3>
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<span className="px-2 py-1 text-xs bg-blue-100 text-blue-800 dark:bg-blue-900 dark:text-blue-200 rounded">Recommended</span>
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</div>
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<p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-300 mb-3">Auto-instrument existing cron libraries with minimal code changes.</p>
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<p className="text-sm font-medium text-purple-600 dark:text-purple-400 mb-0">Best for: Apps using node-cron, cron, or node-schedule</p>
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<div className="mt-4">
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<a href="automatic" className="inline-block px-4 py-2 bg-purple-600 text-white rounded hover:bg-purple-700 text-sm font-medium">
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Get Started →
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</a>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div className="w-full md:w-[calc(50%-8px)] p-6 border rounded-lg bg-white dark:bg-gray-800 shadow-sm">
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<div className="flex items-center gap-2 mb-2">
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<h3 className="text-lg font-medium m-0">Manual Integration</h3>
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</div>
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<p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-300 mb-3">Full SDK integration with custom status updates and error handling.</p>
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<p className="text-sm font-medium text-purple-600 dark:text-purple-400 mb-0">Best for: Custom cron logic, maximum control</p>
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<div className="mt-4">
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<a href="manual" className="inline-block px-4 py-2 bg-purple-600 text-white rounded hover:bg-purple-700 text-sm font-medium">
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Get Started →
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</a>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div className="w-full md:w-[calc(50%-8px)] p-6 border rounded-lg bg-white dark:bg-gray-800 shadow-sm">
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<div className="flex items-center gap-2 mb-2">
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<h3 className="text-lg font-medium m-0">Advanced Setup</h3>
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</div>
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<p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-300 mb-3">Programmatically create and manage monitors via code.</p>
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<p className="text-sm font-medium text-purple-600 dark:text-purple-400 mb-0">Best for: CI/CD pipelines, managing many monitors</p>
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<div className="mt-4">
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<a href="advanced" className="inline-block px-4 py-2 bg-purple-600 text-white rounded hover:bg-purple-700 text-sm font-medium">
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Get Started →
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</a>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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## Not Sure Which to Choose?
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- **Just want notifications?** → [UI Setup](ui-setup)
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- **Using node-cron or similar?** → [Automatic](automatic)
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- **Need custom error handling?** → [Manual Integration](manual)
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- **Managing 10+ monitors?** → [Advanced Setup](advanced)
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## What You'll Get
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Once set up, Sentry cron monitoring provides:
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- **Failure Alerts**: Get notified when jobs don't run as expected
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- **Timeout Detection**: Catch jobs that exceed their maximum runtime
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- **Timeline View**: See a visual history of your job executions
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- **Error Integration**: Connect runtime errors to specific job runs
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- **Issue Management**: Automatically create and resolve issues based on job health
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## Learn More
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{/* ![Cron Monitoring Setup](placeholder-cron-setup.gif) */}
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## UI Setup (Recommended)
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The most complete way to monitor your crons is by creating monitors in Sentry's web interface:
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1. Create monitor in Sentry UI with your cron schedule
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2. Add notification code to your job
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3. Get alerts when jobs fail or don't run
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This approach gives you complete monitoring setup including alerts configuration.
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## Setup Methods
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Choose the method that matches your current setup:
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* [UI Setup](ui-setup) - Create monitors in Sentry's web interface
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* [Automatic Integration](automatic) - Auto-instrument existing cron libraries
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* [Manual Integration](manual) - Full SDK integration with custom handling
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* [Advanced Setup](advanced) - Programmatically create and manage monitors
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### Automatic Integration
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* [node-cron](automatic#node-cron)
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* [cron](automatic#cron-library)
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* [node-schedule](automatic#node-schedule)
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If you're using one of these popular cron libraries, use the automatic integration for seamless monitoring.
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### Manual Integration
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* [withMonitor() wrapper](manual#withmonitor)
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* [captureCheckIn() calls](manual#capturecheckin)
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* [Custom error handling](manual#error-handling)
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## Other Tools
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If you have custom cron logic or use a different scheduling library, we recommend the [manual integration approach](manual) which gives you full control over when and how check-ins are sent.
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For advanced use cases like CI/CD pipelines or managing many monitors, consider the [programmatic setup](advanced) which lets you create monitors via code.
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## Additional Resources
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* [Troubleshooting Cron Monitoring](troubleshooting)
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* [Cron Monitoring Best Practices](https://blog.sentry.io/cron-monitoring-best-practices)
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* [Debugging Failed Cron Jobs](https://blog.sentry.io/debugging-cron-jobs)
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