---
title: "I only learn about outages from customers"
description: "AI-built apps ship with no monitoring, so customers find outages first. How to add uptime checks, error alerts and a weekly look at host logs."
url: https://whocanfixmyapp.com/problems/i-only-learn-about-outages-from-customers
---

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# I only learn about outages from customers

VC-65 · Any AI builder · Updated October 2026 · By [Nathaniel Kelley](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/authors/nathaniel-kelley)

Quick verdict

Partly fixable yourself. Alerts are settings, error tracking needs a small code change.

- **How serious**: Medium
- **Fix it yourself?**: Partly, some steps need a developer
- **Typical cost**: $49–$800 one-off check, or $100–$5,000 a month for ongoing care ([prices](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/pricing))
- **Top rated**: [Afterbuild Labs](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/companies/afterbuild-labs) · **10.0**/10

**What you see.** The app breaks for hours before a customer emails you, and you cannot tell when it started or why.

## Why it happens

AI builders produce an app, not an operation. Nothing watches it. You have no uptime check, no error tracking, and nobody looks at the host logs. So the first monitor is your customer.

The pieces exist and most are free to start. Vercel Observability is on every plan and shows error rate and logs per route. Supabase keeps logs for the API, Postgres, Auth, Storage and Edge Functions under Logs in the dashboard. An error tracking tool like Sentry can send a message to Slack or email when a new issue appears from a real user's browser or your functions. On top of that, a Free Plan Supabase project can be paused after seven days of low activity, which looks exactly like an outage to users. Monitoring is the difference between a five minute fix and a weekend of lost sign-ups.

## Fix it yourself

1. Set up an uptime monitor that loads your home page and one API route every few minutes and alerts your phone. Many have free tiers. Add your sign-in page too.
2. Add an error tracking tool to the frontend and your functions. Ask your builder to install it and have it alert you on every new issue. Set the alert channel to email or Slack.
3. Open the host dashboard once a week. On Vercel use **Observability** and sort routes by error rate. On Supabase open **Logs** and check Auth and API Gateway.
4. Keep the database awake. Move the Supabase project to a paid plan before launch, or at least know that free projects pause after a week of low activity.
5. Write a one-page runbook: where the logs are, how to roll back to the previous deployment on your host, and who to call. Keep it outside the app.
6. Subscribe to the status pages of your providers so you can tell their outage from yours.

## When to get an engineer

Get help when you want someone else to be woken up. Ongoing care at $100–$5,000 a month usually includes uptime checks, error alerts, dependency updates and a monthly look at the logs. A one-off check at $49–$800 can set up monitoring and leave you the dashboards. Tell them your host, your database, and which flows matter most, usually sign-up, sign-in and payment.

## Top-rated companies

Ranked by our score: published prices, scope of work, AI tools named, timing and a low-risk first step. [How we score](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/methodology#score).

- 1 · [Afterbuild Labs](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/companies/afterbuild-labs) · **10.0**/10 · Best for: A check before launch · Free first step · from $49
- 2 · [Redlab](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/companies/redlab) · **10.0**/10 · Best for: A full rescue by one team that keeps building · Free first step · from $490
- 3 · [Vibe Code Rescue (Lev Arakelyan)](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/companies/vibe-code-rescue-lev-arakelyan) · **9.0**/10 · Best for: A one-off check and a cleanup · From $299

[All 79 companies, ranked](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/directory#ranking)

## Check these

OPS-03 · High

Errors reach you before users do

Add error monitoring and uptime alerts. If you learn about outages from customers, this is missing.

OPS-01 · Critical

Database backups run automatically and a restore has been tested

Check what your database plan actually includes, then restore a backup into a test project once.

OPS-04 · Medium

Secrets live in the host's environment settings

Keys belong in environment variables on the server, not in the repository or in front-end code.

COST-03 · Medium

Key pages load fast on a phone

Run PageSpeed Insights on the home page and the main app screen, on mobile.

## Questions

### Is this worth it for an app with fifty users?

Yes. Fifty users who hit a broken sign-in and leave are hard to win back, and the free tiers of these tools cost nothing.

### What is the difference between uptime and error tracking?

Uptime tells you the site is unreachable. Error tracking tells you a button fails for some users while the site is up. You need both.

Sources: [Vercel: Observability](https://vercel.com/docs/observability); [Supabase: logs](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/telemetry/logs); [Sentry: alerts](https://docs.sentry.io/product/alerts/); [Supabase: production checklist](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/deployment/going-into-prod).

**Same category**

- [Bots and spam sign-ups are flooding the app](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/problems/bots-and-spam-signups-flooding-the-app)
- [Do I need a privacy policy for my vibe coded app?](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/problems/do-i-need-a-privacy-policy-for-my-app)
- [Can I launch this app safely?](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/problems/can-i-launch-this-app-safely)

[All launch and safety problems](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/problems#launch-and-safety)

**Run every check**

The [production checklist](https://whocanfixmyapp.com/checklist) has all 24 checks with a verdict.