What is it?
Tools to find problems before users do: synthetic monitoring runs automated checks from global locations, and k6 tests how your system performs under load.
When you need it
| Scenario | What proactive testing provides |
|---|---|
| You want to catch outages before users report them | Synthetic checks run continuously. |
| You need to verify critical user flows work | Browser-based tests simulate real users. |
| You’re launching a new feature or expecting traffic | Load testing reveals breaking points. |
| You need to monitor from different regions | Global test locations show regional issues. |
Questions answered
| With proactive testing, you can answer… |
|---|
| Is my site up right now from users’ perspective? |
| Does the checkout flow actually work end-to-end? |
| Can we handle Black Friday traffic levels? |
| How does performance vary across regions? |
Problems solved
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| “Users report issues before we know about them” | Synthetic monitoring detects issues first. |
| “We don’t know if critical flows work until users fail” | Browser tests verify user journeys. |
| “We don’t know our capacity limits” | Load testing reveals breaking points. |
| “We’re surprised by performance issues in production” | Pre-production testing catches problems early. |
Script
The best way to find out about a problem is before your users do. That’s what proactive testing is about.
Synthetic monitoring runs automated checks continuously from global locations. Is your site up? Does the login flow work? Can users complete checkout? These tests run every few minutes, 24/7, and alert you the moment something breaks.
k6 is load testing. It finds out how your system behaves under pressure before that pressure comes from real traffic. Can you handle Black Friday? What happens if traffic doubles? Where does the system start to break down?
This answers questions that are impossible to answer reactively: Is the site working right now from users’ perspective? Not from your monitoring, but from an actual simulated user in Tokyo or London or São Paulo. Does the checkout flow actually work end-to-end, not just the individual services?
The goal is simple: no more finding out about problems because a customer complained on Twitter. You know first.