Read Dead Man's Snitch monitors and status; create, tag, pause and unpause snitches. For developers and sysadmins who monitor cron jobs and scheduled tasks with Dead Man's Snitch. Hosted by usefulapi — connect from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client.
Team and Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector for the organization first.
Run this command, then run /mcp in Claude Code to log in:
Add to Cursor or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"dead-mans-snitch": {
"url": "https://dead-mans-snitch.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}Add to VS Code or add this to .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"dead-mans-snitch": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://dead-mans-snitch.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}No Add custom MCP server option? It depends on your account or workspace settings: see OpenAI's guide.
Run these commands. The second one opens the login page:
Other MCP clients (Windsurf, Cline, Zed and more): add the URL as a remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). The client then opens the login page in your browser. Do not add an Authorization header: see Before you connect.
The AI lists snitches with their status (pending, healthy, failed, errored, paused), interval, alert type, tags and last check-in. You see which jobs need attention.
deadmanssnitch_list_snitches
The AI opens one snitch with its full details, including its check-in URL. The URL is a secret, so share it with care.
deadmanssnitch_get_snitch
The AI creates a new snitch and returns its check-in URL, which the job must call on every run. It fails when the plan's snitch limit is reached.
Changes data · deadmanssnitch_create_snitch
The AI pauses a snitch, which silences its alerts, with a setting for when alerting resumes, or unpauses it. A job that stops while paused goes unnoticed.
Changes data · deadmanssnitch_pause_snitch deadmanssnitch_unpause_snitch deadmanssnitch_list_snitches
The AI changes a snitch's fields, such as alert email recipients, and adds or removes tags. You can group monitors, for example backups.
Changes data · deadmanssnitch_update_snitch deadmanssnitch_add_tags deadmanssnitch_remove_tag
The login page asks for your Dead Man's Snitch API key.
Create a key on the API Keys page of your Dead Man's Snitch account (the API needs a paid plan). A separate key for this connection makes it easy to revoke. Your key is used only to call the Dead Man's Snitch API on your behalf; it is never shown to anyone.
Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Dead Man's Snitch API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
Turn on the Dead Man's Snitch connector, then ask in plain words. The AI picks the tools.
| Tool | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
deadmanssnitch_list_snitches | read | List snitches List the snitches (cron/heartbeat monitors) of the account with status (pending, healthy, failed, errored, paused), interval, alert type, tags and last check-in. Tokens are masked (the token is also the check-in secret); pass the masked token or the name to the other snitch tools. The API has no paging: all snitches come back. Optionally filter by tags (must have all) or status. GET /v1/snitches. |
deadmanssnitch_get_snitch | read | Get snitch One snitch with its full details, including the check-in URL (https://nosnch.in/<token>). The check-in URL is a secret: anyone who has it can check in and so silence the alert; share it only where the job runs. GET /v1/snitches/{token}. |
deadmanssnitch_create_snitch | write | Create snitch WRITE: create a new snitch (monitor). Returns it with its check-in URL (https://nosnch.in/<token>), which the job must call on every run; keep it secret. Fails with 402 when the plan's snitch limit is reached. POST /v1/snitches. |
deadmanssnitch_update_snitch | write | Update snitch WRITE: change a snitch. Only the fields you pass change. `tags` REPLACES the whole tag list (use deadmanssnitch_add_tags to add) and `alert_email` replaces the alert recipients (an empty list = all team members). Returns the updated snitch with the token masked. PATCH /v1/snitches/{token}. |
deadmanssnitch_add_tags | write | Add tags WRITE: add one or more tags to a snitch, keeping the existing ones. Returns the snitch's full tag list. POST /v1/snitches/{token}/tags. |
deadmanssnitch_remove_tag | write | Remove tag WRITE: remove one tag from a snitch (the snitch itself is untouched). Returns the remaining tags. DELETE /v1/snitches/{token}/tags/{tag}. |
deadmanssnitch_pause_snitch | write | Pause snitch WRITE: pause a snitch, which SILENCES its alerts: a job that stops running goes unnoticed while it is paused. `until` says when alerting resumes: 'healthy' (default: on the next healthy check-in), 'unpaused' (stays paused until deadmanssnitch_unpause_snitch) or a future ISO 8601 time. A snitch that has never checked in (pending) cannot be paused. POST /v1/snitches/{token}/pause. |
deadmanssnitch_unpause_snitch | write | Unpause snitch WRITE: resume alerting for a paused snitch (safe on a snitch that is not paused). POST /v1/snitches/{token}/unpause. |
deadmanssnitch_usage_status | Usage status (free-tier meter) Report the caller's current usage: the plan, calls used this month, the limit of the plan (the free monthly cap or the Pro fair use limit), remaining, and whether the limit is reached. Read-only; does not count against the meter. | |
deadmanssnitch_request_feature | Request a missing feature Tell usefulapi that the user needs something the Dead Man's Snitch tools cannot do yet (a missing tool, field or filter). Call it only when the user asks for something none of the tools can do, and tell the user that you send the request. Do not call it for errors or for normal requests. Do not include personal data, credentials or customer records. Stored with the product name and the client type (for example Claude or Cursor), without the user's account. At most 5 requests per day. Does not count against the meter. | |
deadmanssnitch_upgrade | Upgrade to Pro (unlimited*) Get Pro: unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 a month) on Dead Man's Snitch (the free tier caps monthly usage). Plans: "monthly" — $9/month; "yearly" — $90/year (2 months free). Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period, so it also suits a one-time job. *A fair use limit applies. For heavy use (near Pro's limit): "plus" or "plus_yearly" — Pro+, $39/month or $390/year, unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 100,000 a month); an existing Pro subscription changes to Pro+ in place (needs confirm: true; the price difference for the rest of the period is charged at once). Otherwise returns a short link to open in your browser (it opens Stripe Checkout); after payment the account upgrades automatically. Does not count against the meter. | |
deadmanssnitch_cancel_subscription | Cancel the Pro subscription Cancel the caller's Dead Man's Snitch Pro subscription at the end of the paid period (no refund for the current period; Pro continues until then, then the free tier applies). Requires confirm: true. Run deadmanssnitch_upgrade later to undo the cancel before the period ends. Does not count against the meter. |
| Plan | Price | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 tool calls / month |
| Proper user | $9/mo · $90/yr | Unlimited* |
*Pro fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month on this server. For more, write to [email protected].
Pro covers this Dead Man's Snitch server only. Subscribe with deadmanssnitch_upgrade (it returns a Stripe Checkout link). Cancel any time with deadmanssnitch_cancel_subscription: Pro continues to the end of the paid period, with no refund for the current period, and running deadmanssnitch_upgrade before then undoes the cancel. Or write to [email protected].
Find monitors that are failing or late. Look at the details of one monitor. Create a monitor for a new scheduled job. Pause or unpause a monitor during maintenance. Change a monitor or sort monitors with tags. See what you can do for the details.
No. usefulapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dead Man's Snitch. The server calls the Dead Man's Snitch API with your own Dead Man's Snitch access, so it sees only the data that your account can see.
Yes. In Claude, add this server's URL as a custom connector. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP server in Plugins. Then log in once. Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code and Codex work too. See the setup steps.
The login page asks for your Dead Man's Snitch API key. See Before you connect for where to find it.
No. Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Dead Man's Snitch API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
The login stores them encrypted in the authorization grant of your connection. The server uses them to call the Dead Man's Snitch API for you and to derive a private account id for usage metering. usefulapi does not show them on any page or in any reply. To stop all access, remove the connector and change or delete these credentials in Dead Man's Snitch.
Yes, if you approve it. 6 of the 8 Dead Man's Snitch tools can create or change data. The other 2 are marked read-only. Most MCP clients ask you to approve a tool call before it runs.
The Free plan gives 50 tool calls / month. Pro costs $9/mo or $90/yr, with unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month), for this Dead Man's Snitch server only. Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period. Run deadmanssnitch_usage_status to see how many calls you used.
Ask the AI to run deadmanssnitch_upgrade: it returns a Stripe Checkout link. To cancel, run deadmanssnitch_cancel_subscription. Pro continues to the end of the paid period.
Tell the AI what you wanted to do. It can send the request with deadmanssnitch_request_feature. We store the text with the server name, the type of AI client and the tool you tried, not with your account, and read every request when we plan new tools. You can send up to 5 requests per day.
Any client that supports remote MCP servers (Streamable HTTP) with OAuth login: Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others.
This is a Model Context Protocol endpoint — meant to be connected from an AI client, not opened in a browser. An invalid_token response at the URL is the auth gate working as designed; clients authenticate automatically.