VitalSentinel Documentation

Find answers to common questions about VitalSentinel.

VitalSentinel is your website's revenue insurance. It tells you in hours - not weeks - when something breaks your visibility, traffic, or revenue, so you can fix the leak before it shows up in your numbers.

Our monitoring modules:

RUM Monitoring - Core Web Vitals, user engagement, and JavaScript errors from your visitors' browsers
CrUX Monitoring - Chrome User Experience Report data Google uses for ranking
Synthetic Monitoring - On-demand Lighthouse tests from a controlled environment
Uptime Monitoring - Availability checks, SSL and domain expiration tracking
Robots.txt Monitoring - Crawl directive validation and change detection
Indexing Monitoring - URL inspection status via Google Search Console API
Web Analytics - Privacy-focused, cookie-free analytics with automatic e-commerce tracking
Google Search Console - Keyword rankings, search performance, and indexing insights
Google Analytics - GA4 traffic and audience data in a unified dashboard
Reports - Custom report templates that combine any of the above into stakeholder-ready snapshots

What's the difference between VitalSentinel and a generic uptime/RUM tool?

Most tools cover one slice: uptime, or RUM, or rank tracking, or analytics. VitalSentinel collects all of them in one workspace and joins them at query time, so you can answer questions like "did this LCP regression cost me search clicks?" or "is the page that just lost rankings also the one with broken JavaScript?". The Correlations and Trends views in GSC are built specifically on top of that joined dataset.

Who is VitalSentinel for?

Website Owners - Get a clear picture of your website's health without needing deep technical expertise
Web Developers - Access real user performance data and run on-demand Lighthouse tests to debug issues faster
SEO Professionals - Track technical SEO health and web performance in one dashboard
Agencies - Manage all your client websites from a single account with team collaboration and role-based access

Is there a free plan?

Yes! The free plan includes:

1 domain
25,000 RUM page views/month
100,000 analytics events/month
5 CrUX URLs, 3 Synthetic URLs (1 location – Google's Servers)
3 Inspector tests/month
5-minute uptime checks
Daily synthetic tests
6-month data retention

Do I need a separate workspace per client, or can one workspace cover all of them?

Either works. One workspace can hold many domains and team members, and you can group domains for clients using Domain Groups. Use separate workspaces when clients need separate billing, isolated team access, or different plans per client. See Managing Workspaces for guidance.

What languages and currencies are supported in the dashboard?

The dashboard UI is in English. Currency is configured per-domain for the Web Analytics e-commerce display – set it on the domain edit page so revenue renders in the right symbol. Billing currency is set during checkout and matches your account region in Stripe.

Scripts & Installation

Do I need to install scripts?

Many monitoring features work immediately without any scripts:

CrUX Monitoring - Chrome User Experience Report data
Synthetic Monitoring - Lighthouse performance tests
Uptime Monitoring - Availability checks
SSL Monitoring - Certificate status and expiration
Domain Expiration Monitoring - Registration expiry tracking
Robots.txt Monitoring - Crawl directive validation
Indexing Monitoring - URL inspection via Google Search Console API
Google Search Console - Search performance data (requires GSC connection)
Google Analytics - GA4 data import (requires GA4 connection)

Scripts are only needed for:

RUM Monitoring - Real user performance data from visitors' browsers (installation guide)
Web Analytics - Privacy-focused traffic analytics (installation guide)

Will the scripts slow down my website?

No. Both scripts are:

Lightweight (~11KB gzipped each)
Loaded asynchronously
Non-blocking
Optimized for performance

Do the scripts use cookies?

By default, no cookies are used. The Web Analytics script can use cookies for returning visitor tracking if you grant consent (for GDPR compliance).

Yes. By default:

No cookies
No persistent identifiers
No cross-site tracking
IP addresses are not stored

You can use VitalSentinel without a cookie consent banner.

Can I install both scripts on the same site?

Yes – they're independent and intentionally split so you can opt into one without the other. Most sites install both: RUM for performance, Web Analytics for traffic. They can sit next to each other in <head> and don't conflict.

Do the scripts work on staging/preview environments?

Yes, but only if the staging environment uses the production tracking ID. We recommend using a separate VitalSentinel domain for staging so staging traffic doesn't pollute production metrics. See RUM Script Installation for the installation pattern.

How do I exclude internal team traffic from analytics?

The Web Analytics script supports optOut() for visitor-level exclusion. The simplest pattern is to call window.VitalSentinelAnalytics.optOut() from a bookmarklet your team runs once on your site – it stores an opt-out flag in the visitor's browser. See Data & Privacy for the snippet.

Why are page paths showing query strings I don't want?

By default, query parameters are preserved in the path. Add data-filter-query-params="true" to the RUM and Analytics script tags to strip them. UTM parameters are still captured separately for traffic-source attribution.

Data & Privacy

What data do you collect?

RUM Script (Real User Monitoring):

Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP, TTFB, FCP)
Navigation timing and resource loading times
JavaScript errors
Session data (anonymous ID, page URLs, timestamps)
Device data (browser, OS, screen size, device type, connection type)
Engagement metrics (scroll depth, time on page, click patterns)

Web Analytics Script:

Page views, referrer URL, UTM parameters
Traffic source classification
Session data (anonymous ID, pages per session, duration)
Device data (same as RUM)
E-commerce events (product views, cart actions, purchases - no payment details)

What data do you NOT collect?

Names, emails, or personal identifiers
IP addresses (hashed and discarded)
Passwords or sensitive form data
Payment card information
Health or financial data
Precise location (city-level only)

Where is data stored?

Data is stored securely in cloud infrastructure with:

Encryption at rest and in transit
Access controls and audit logging
Regular security assessments

For detailed privacy information, see Data & Privacy.

How long is data retained?

Depends on your plan:

Free: 6 months
Starter: 12 months
Lite: 16 months
Standard: 24 months
Advanced: 24 months

Can I delete my data?

Yes. You can:

Delete individual domains (removes all associated data)
Cancel your workspace subscription (data deleted after grace period)
Request full account deletion via support

Monitoring

How often do uptime checks run?

Minimum interval depends on your plan:

Free/Starter/Lite/Standard: Every 5 minutes
Advanced: Every 1 minute

What is the difference between RUM and CrUX?

RUM (Real User Monitoring):

Your tracking script
All browsers
Real-time data
100% of your visitors (adjustable)

CrUX (Chrome User Experience Report):

Google's data from Chrome users
28-day aggregates
Updated monthly
Used for search ranking

What is Synthetic Monitoring?

Synthetic Monitoring runs Lighthouse tests from a controlled environment. Unlike RUM which measures real users, synthetic tests are consistent and reproducible.

Why don't I have CrUX data?

CrUX requires:

Significant Chrome traffic
Publicly accessible pages
Time to collect data (28 days)

Low-traffic pages may not have CrUX data.

Why is my LCP different in RUM vs. CrUX vs. Synthetic?

Each source measures a different population:

RUM is your real visitors across every browser, device, and country, in real time.
CrUX is only Chrome users who opted into Chrome usage statistics, aggregated over the past 28 days.
Synthetic is one Lighthouse run from a fixed device profile and network throttle.

The numbers diverging is normal. Use RUM and CrUX for "what users are experiencing", and Synthetic for "what changes when I deploy something".

Why does my Synthetic score change run-to-run when nothing changed?

Lighthouse scores naturally vary 3–5 points between runs because of CPU jitter, third-party timing, and dynamic content. Look at trends over multiple runs, not single-run deltas. If you need stable numbers for a comparison, run several tests close together and average them.

Can I monitor a staging or password-protected site?

CrUX needs the URL to be publicly indexed by Google, so it won't work on a staging site behind auth. RUM and Web Analytics work on any site that can load the script. Synthetic and Uptime require the URL to be reachable from VitalSentinel's monitoring IPs – allow them through your auth or use a public staging URL.

What counts as one "Inspector test" against my quota?

Every Run inspection that passes URL validation counts as one quota unit, regardless of which checks succeeded. Tests rejected before running (invalid scheme, private IP, unresolvable host) don't count. See Inspector for details.

Can I monitor subdomains as separate domains?

Yes. Each subdomain is added as its own domain in VitalSentinel and counts toward your domain quota. CrUX, GSC, Uptime, and the tracking scripts all key off the exact hostname, so www.example.com and app.example.com are tracked independently.

How does Web Analytics count "unique visitors" without cookies?

By default the script generates an anonymous in-memory session ID per pageview, so "unique visitors" is closer to "unique sessions" – a returning visitor in a new tab counts as new. If you grant session or persistent consent, the script uses storage to recognize visitors across pageviews. See Web Analytics Script Installation for the consent levels.

Inspector

What does Inspector do that RUM/Synthetic don't?

Inspector is a one-shot audit of any URL, even URLs you don't monitor. It runs CrUX, headless Chrome, Uptime, SSL, WHOIS, and robots.txt checks in parallel and outputs a single Inspector Score with prioritized issues. Use it for a quick second opinion on a page, a competitor, or a staging URL – without adding the domain to your workspace.

Not yet. Inspector results are visible only inside the workspace that ran them. Public share links and PDF export are on the roadmap.

How long are Inspector results kept?

Inspector results are retained for 12 months. Past tests stay visible in the History sidebar until they expire.

Why does the Inspector Score differ from the Lighthouse score?

Inspector Score is a composite across five pillars (Performance, SEO, Security, Infrastructure, Availability) drawn from six checks – it's not just Lighthouse. Two pages can have identical Lighthouse scores and very different Inspector Scores if one has SSL or robots.txt problems. See Inspector Score for the breakdown.

Reports

What's the difference between Reports and the dashboard?

The dashboard is your live operating view across many domains. Reports are templated snapshots for one domain over a fixed window – built to share with a stakeholder. Reports use the same data sources but pin the time range and module selection so the output is reproducible.

Can clients view a Report without a VitalSentinel account?

Reports today render inside the VitalSentinel UI – they require a logged-in account with access to the workspace. If you need to send a report externally, export it from the in-app view.

Can Reports be scheduled or emailed automatically?

Not yet from inside Reports. The closest equivalent today is the Weekly Domain Reports email – a per-domain summary that goes out every Monday. Toggle it per domain in account Settings.

Integrations

Which Google services can I connect?

Both are connected at the workspace level via Workspace Integrations and then linked per-domain.

What data comes from Google?

Google Analytics 4:

Users (total, new, active) and sessions
Engagement rate and session duration
Page views (total, per session, per user)
Traffic sources (channels, sources, campaigns)
Geography (countries, cities, languages)
Technology (browsers, operating systems, devices)
Top pages and entry pages
Events
E-commerce (conversions, transactions, revenue, cart actions)

Google Search Console:

Clicks, impressions, CTR, average position
Queries (top queries, new queries)
Pages (top pages, new pages)
Countries and devices breakdown
Search types (Web, Image, Video, News, Discover)

Do I need Google integrations?

No. Core monitoring works without Google. Integrations add extra SEO and traffic insights.

What permissions does VitalSentinel request from my Google account?

Read-only scopes only: read access to GA4 reporting and read access to Search Console performance data. We never modify your GA or GSC properties. You can revoke access at any time from your Google Account permissions page or from the Integrations page in VitalSentinel.

Either the connected Google account doesn't have access to that property, or the property type is unsupported. GSC has Domain properties and URL-prefix properties – both work, but the connected account must be listed as an Owner or Full user. Verify access in Search Console and reconnect if needed.

Does GA4 sampling affect what I see in VitalSentinel?

Yes. VitalSentinel pulls GA4 data through Google's reporting API, which applies the same sampling rules as the GA4 UI. For high-volume properties, totals may be sampled estimates. The numbers should match GA4 directly within Google's reported sampling threshold.

Billing

How does billing work?

Monthly subscription per workspace
Plans based on features and limits
Cancel anytime

Can I change plans?

Yes. You can:

Upgrade instantly (prorated)
Downgrade at next billing cycle

What happens if I exceed limits?

You'll receive warnings as you approach limits. If exceeded:

Some features may be limited
You'll be prompted to upgrade
Existing data is preserved

Do you offer annual billing or annual-prepay discounts?

Yes – contact sales@vitalsentinel.com for annual billing on paid plans. Annual prepay comes with a discount versus paying monthly.

How are RUM page views and Analytics events counted?

A RUM page view is one initial page load tracked by the RUM script. A Web Analytics event is one captured event from the Analytics script – every pageview, custom event, outbound link click, and e-commerce action counts as one event. Both meters reset at the start of each billing cycle anchored to your workspace's activation day.

What happens if I exceed my monthly RUM page-view limit mid-cycle?

The dashboard shows a usage warning as you approach the limit and a clear "at-limit" indicator when you cross it. Existing data is preserved either way. Upgrade your plan or wait for the next billing cycle's reset to keep collecting at full volume.

Are taxes (VAT, GST, sales tax) included in the price?

The displayed price is excluding tax. Stripe automatically calculates and applies the right tax based on your billing country at checkout, and the final invoice itemizes it.

Can I get an invoice with my company name on it?

Yes. Open the workspace's Billing page, click Manage to open the Stripe portal, and update the billing details (company name, address, tax ID). Past and future invoices reflect the change.

Alerts & Notifications

How do alerts work?

You define conditions (e.g., LCP > 2500ms)
VitalSentinel monitors your metrics
When conditions are met, you're notified
When resolved, you get a resolution notice

See Setting Up Alerts for detailed instructions.

What notification methods are available?

In-app notifications (always on)
Email (configurable per alert)

See Notifications for configuration details.

Will I get duplicate alerts if a domain is in two workspaces?

A domain belongs to exactly one workspace at a time, so there's no duplication. If two workspaces independently monitor different copies of the same site, each has its own alerts and you'd receive both.

Can I mute alerts during a planned maintenance window?

Disable the relevant alert rules before the window and re-enable them after. There's no built-in maintenance window scheduler today – it's on the roadmap.

How are weekly summary emails different from alerts?

Weekly summary emails are a regular Monday digest of last week's headline metrics for a domain. Alerts are reactive – they fire only when a condition is met. Configure weekly summaries per domain in account Settings.

Workspace & Team

What can each role (Owner / Admin / Member) actually do?

Role	Capabilities
Owner	Full access, can cancel subscription, transfer ownership
Admin	Manage domains, members, integrations, and settings
Member	View and manage assigned domains

Only one user can be Owner per workspace. See Team Members for the detailed matrix.

Can I move a domain from one workspace to another?

Not directly. To move a domain, add it to the destination workspace and remove it from the source. Historical monitoring data does not transfer because billing, retention, and integrations are workspace-scoped.

What happens to my data if the workspace owner deletes their account?

Account deletion is blocked while you own a workspace with an active paid subscription. You'll be asked to either cancel the subscription or transfer ownership first. Once the workspace is unowned/free, deletion can proceed; the workspace's data is removed after the grace period unless another owner takes over.

How do team invitations work, and do they expire?

Open the workspace's Members page, enter an email and a role, and an invitation email goes out. The recipient clicks the link to accept and lands at /invitations/accept/[token]. Pending invitations stay valid until accepted or revoked – revoke by deleting the pending row from the Members list.

Account

I lost my 2FA device and my backup codes – how do I recover?

If you have at least one unused backup code, sign in with it and immediately disable 2FA from Settings. If both the device and the codes are gone, VitalSentinel cannot recover access on your behalf – contact support@vitalsentinel.com for a manual identity-verification process. Always store backup codes in a password manager when you enable 2FA.

Can I change my account email?

Not from the UI today – the email field on the Profile card is read-only. Email support@vitalsentinel.com from your existing address with the new address you want.

Are passwords required to meet specific complexity rules?

At least 8 characters with uppercase, lowercase, a number, and a special character. For extra safety, enable 2FA and use a password manager.

Technical

Which browsers are supported?

The tracking scripts support:

Chrome/Edge 90+
Firefox 89+
Safari 15+
Opera 76+

Older browsers gracefully degrade.

Can I use VitalSentinel with SPAs?

Yes. Both scripts automatically detect SPA navigation via the History API. For custom routing, you can manually trigger page views.

Does VitalSentinel work with my platform?

VitalSentinel works with any website. Special e-commerce support for:

Shopify
WooCommerce
Magento
Squarespace

Check this documentation
Use the in-app support widget
Email support@vitalsentinel.com

FAQ

Quick Start Guide

Troubleshooting

Glossary

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