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Monitoring as Code (MaC) is DevHelm’s approach to managing your monitoring infrastructure as version-controlled, reviewable, deployable code — just like your application.

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Why code over clicks

Dashboard (imperative)Monitoring as Code (declarative)
Click through UI formsDefine desired state in a file
Changes aren’t trackedVersion-controlled in Git
Hard to reproduce across environmentsSame config deploys to staging and production
Manual reviews and handoffsPull request review before deploy
One change at a timeAtomic deploys across monitors, channels, and tags

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DevHelm’s two workflows

DevHelm supports both imperative and declarative workflows. They serve different needs.

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Imperative: “Do this now”

devhelm monitors create --name "API" --type HTTP --url https://api.example.com/health
devhelm incidents resolve 42
The CLI as a management tool. The SDKs as scripting libraries. You interact with DevHelm directly, one command or call at a time. Best for ad-hoc operations, debugging, and automation scripts.

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Declarative: “Make it look like this”

version: "1"
monitors:
  - name: API Health
    type: HTTP
    config:
      url: https://api.example.com/health
    frequencySeconds: 60
    regions: [us-east, eu-west]

devhelm deploy -f devhelm.yml
You define what the world should look like, and DevHelm makes it so. Best for production monitoring setups, team-managed configs, and CI/CD pipelines.

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Choose your tool

ToolBest forFormat
YAML + CLIFast iteration, standalone monitoring configsdevhelm.yml
TerraformTeams managing cloud infra alongside monitorsHCL (.tf)
PulumiProgrammatic control with full language supportTypeScript, Python, Go
GitHub ActionAutomated CI/CD deploys for any of the aboveWorkflow YAML
Don’t manage the same resource with both YAML and Terraform. Pick one source of truth per resource to avoid drift and conflicts.

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The deploy lifecycle

Every MaC deployment follows the same pattern:
1

Validate

Check config syntax offline — no API calls. Catches typos, missing required fields, and schema violations.
2

Plan

Compare your config against the current state. See exactly what will be created, updated, or deleted.
3

Deploy

Apply the changes. DevHelm acquires a deploy lock, executes the plan, and releases the lock.
4

Verify

Check that your monitors are running and assertions are evaluating correctly.

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Next steps

YAML file format

Full schema reference for devhelm.yml.

Terraform provider

Manage monitors as Terraform resources.

Deploy workflow

Validate, plan, deploy in detail.

MaC tutorial

Step-by-step guide from scratch.