Health check endpoint
A health check endpoint is an API endpoint that reports whether an application or service is operating correctly or ready to handle requests.
Shipping Go: Develop, deliver, discuss, design, and go again
A health check endpoint is a network-accessible API endpoint that reports whether a service or deployed application is operating normally.
- How it is used
- Signals a long-running service’s status to its deployment platform so it can assess readiness, failures, and replacement.
- How deep it goes
- Works through a Go handler and deployment probe settings, while leaving dependency-aware checks as a design consideration.
- Examples
- Shows a JSON /health handler, App Engine check settings, and Kubernetes HTTP probes; contrasts a running API with an unwarmed cache.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it by registering /health and pointing liveness and readiness checks at an appropriate service signal.
GitHub Actions in Action: Continuous integration and delivery for DevOps
A health endpoint is an application endpoint that reports whether the application or a component is operational and ready to serve requests.
- How it is used
- Gates deployment progression until an installed application reports readiness, then supports monitored traffic shifts.
- How deep it goes
- Explains readiness and liveness roles and demonstrates polling JSON status, but defers application-side endpoint implementation.
- Examples
- Uses a curl-and-jq readiness loop and an Azure Web App staging-slot deployment validated with Playwright tests.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it as a deployment gate by polling readiness before tests or traffic routing and monitoring liveness during rollout.
Building Distributed Applications that Work
A health-check endpoint is an application endpoint that reports health or readiness information about the application.
- How it is used
- Lets Aspire monitor service health and delay dependent service startup until the API service is healthy.
- How deep it goes
- Works through host registration, HTTP mapping, aliveness filtering, and production caveats; leaves production endpoint protections scenario-specific.
- Examples
- Uses an API service’s `/health` registration, a live-tagged `/alive` mapping, and a startup exception visible in the dashboard.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it by exposing application endpoints, registering the health path in Aspire, and gating dependent service startup.
Read how Building Distributed Applications that Work explains health check endpoint →
Spring in Action, Sixth Edition
A health endpoint is an Actuator HTTP endpoint that returns the health status of an application and optionally its health-indicator details.
- How it is used
- Provides a quick HTTP-based check of application health and supports operational monitoring through Spring Boot Admin.
- How deep it goes
- Explains requests, JSON status, indicator details, path configuration, exposure, and security, but not custom health-indicator implementation.
- Examples
- Uses curl responses, YAML path and exposure settings, and MongoDB and disk-space health details.
- What you can do after
- Operate and configure the endpoint, inspect health JSON, change its base path, expose details, and control related endpoint exposure.
Read how Spring in Action, Sixth Edition explains health check endpoint →
Logs and Telemetry
A health endpoint is an HTTP endpoint that reports whether an application or service is operating normally.
- How it is used
- Connects application monitoring to Docker and Kubernetes container management through an HTTP health signal.
- How deep it goes
- Defines status semantics and Fluent Bit configuration, but does not detail response bodies beyond an optional ok value.
- Examples
- Uses the conventional /health path, a localhost health URL, Fluent Bit configuration, and curl requests.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure Fluent Bit to expose and query an HTTP health endpoint for container or Pod checks.
Read how Logs and Telemetry explains health check endpoint →
Related concepts
- endpointkind of · An endpoint is a network-accessible address or interface through which a service exposes a resource or operation and handles requests and responses.
- liveness checkused by · A liveness check is an automated health test that determines whether a running workload remains functional or should be restarted.
- waitforused by · WaitFor is a .NET Aspire app-model API method that declares a startup dependency on another resource being ready.
- Actuator endpointkind of · An Actuator endpoint is a Spring Boot Actuator management interface that exposes operational data or operations through supported communication mechanisms.
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