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Posted on • Originally published at apistatuscheck.com

How to Get API Outage Alerts in Discord with RSS Bots

#discord #rss #devops #tutorial

If your team lives in Discord, why monitor API outages anywhere else? Whether you're running a DevOps server, coordinating an open source community, or managing infrastructure for a gaming studio, getting API outage alerts in Discord keeps your team informed without context-switching between tools.

This guide shows you how to set up a Discord RSS bot to get real-time API status Discord notifications from API Status Check—no code required.

Why Discord for API Monitoring?

Discord has become the operational hub for modern engineering teams:

  • DevOps teams coordinate incidents in dedicated channels
  • Open source communities track dependencies and infrastructure
  • Gaming studios monitor third-party APIs (payment providers, auth services, matchmaking)
  • SaaS companies keep support and engineering aligned during outages

Unlike Slack or email, Discord offers:

  • Free unlimited message history
  • Rich embed formatting for status updates
  • Role-based pings for critical services
  • Mobile notifications that actually work
  • Webhook support for custom integrations

Let's get your API monitoring set up.

Method 1: MonitoRSS Bot (Most Popular)

MonitoRSS is the most powerful free Discord RSS bot with 2M+ servers using it. It supports custom formatting, filtering, and role mentions.

Setup Steps:

  1. Invite the bot to your server

    Visit https://monitorss.xyz/ and click "Invite" (requires Manage Webhooks permission)

  2. Create a dedicated channel

    Make a #api-status channel to keep alerts organized

  3. Add an RSS feed

    In your #api-status channel, type:

   ~rssadd https://apistatuscheck.com/feed.xml
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  1. Customize the message format (optional) Type ~rssembed to configure how alerts appear: 
   ~rssembed
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Then follow the prompts to set custom colors, add role mentions, or filter by keywords.

  1. Test it Type ~rsstest to preview how new alerts will look

Pro tip: Use per-service feeds for granular control. Instead of monitoring all 500+ APIs, subscribe only to your stack:

~rssadd https://apistatuscheck.com/feed/github
~rssadd https://apistatuscheck.com/feed/aws
~rssadd https://apistatuscheck.com/feed/stripe
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Method 2: RSS-Feed Bot (Simpler Alternative)

If you want something lighter without configuration complexity, try RSS-Feed Bot.

Setup Steps:

  1. Invite the bot

    Search "RSS-Feed" in Discord's App Directory or visit their website

  2. Add a feed

    In your channel, type:

   !rss add https://apistatuscheck.com/feed.xml
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  1. List feeds Verify with: 
   !rss list
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This bot is more barebones but gets the job done if you just need notifications without customization.

Method 3: Discord Webhooks + Zapier/Make (Advanced)

For ultimate control—like combining RSS with real-time webhooks or adding custom logic—use automation tools.

Setup with Make.com (formerly Integromat):

  1. Create a new scenario at https://make.com
  2. Add RSS trigger → Set URL to https://apistatuscheck.com/feed.xml
  3. Add Discord webhook module → Create webhook in Discord (Server Settings → Integrations → Webhooks)
  4. Map fields:
    • Content: RSS item title + description
    • Username: "API Status Bot"
    • Avatar URL: Your logo
  5. Add filters (optional): Only trigger on keywords like "Outage" or "Degraded"
  6. Schedule to check every 15 minutes

Setup with Zapier:

  1. Create Zap: RSS by Zapier → Discord
  2. RSS Feed URL: https://apistatuscheck.com/feed.xml
  3. Discord action: Send Channel Message
  4. Customize message: Use RSS fields (title, link, description)

This method lets you add conditional logic—like pinging @devops only for critical services or combining RSS with API Status Check's native Discord webhooks.

Using API Status Check Feeds in Discord

API Status Check offers flexible RSS feeds for any monitoring setup:

Main Feed 

https://apistatuscheck.com/feed.xml
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All 500+ tracked services. Great for comprehensive monitoring.

Per-Service Feeds 

https://apistatuscheck.com/feed/github
https://apistatuscheck.com/feed/aws
https://apistatuscheck.com/feed/openai
https://apistatuscheck.com/feed/stripe
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Replace {slug} with any service name. Find slugs on the service's status page URL.

Best Practice Setup:

  1. Create a #api-status channel in your Discord server
  2. Add feeds for your critical dependencies—GitHub, AWS, your payment provider, auth service, etc.
  3. Use separate channels for different service tiers:
    • #critical-apis → Payment, auth, database providers
    • #dev-apis → Third-party integrations, dev tools
  4. Set up role pings in MonitoRSS to alert @backend-team when Stripe goes down

Pro Tips for Discord API Monitoring

1. Customize Embed Colors

Use MonitoRSS's ~rssembed command to set:

  • 🟢 Green for "Operational"
  • 🟡 Yellow for "Degraded"
  • 🔴 Red for "Outage"

2. Combine with Native Webhooks

API Status Check also offers real-time Discord webhooks (faster than RSS polling). Set them up in your dashboard, then use RSS as a backup or for services you don't need instant alerts for.

3. Filter Noise

If you're monitoring many APIs, use MonitoRSS filters to only show outages:

~rssfilters
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Add a filter for titles containing "Outage" or "Down"

4. Mobile Notifications

Enable push notifications for your #api-status channel on mobile so you're alerted even away from your desk.

5. Archive and Search

Discord's search works great for incident history. Search in:#api-status stripe outage to find past incidents.

Bonus: Slack Users?

If your team uses Slack instead, check out our companion guide: "How to Get API Outage Alerts in Slack" (coming soon). The setup is similar but uses Slack's native RSS app or Zapier integrations.

Start Monitoring Today

Setting up API outage alerts in Discord takes less than 5 minutes with a Discord RSS bot. Whether you choose MonitoRSS's power user features, a simple bot, or custom webhooks, you'll catch outages before your users do.

Ready to get started?

  1. Create your #api-status channel
  2. Add the MonitoRSS bot
  3. Subscribe to your stack's feeds from API Status Check

Your team will thank you the next time AWS goes down and you're the first to know.

Need faster-than-RSS alerts? API Status Check offers real-time webhooks for Discord, Slack, email, and SMS. Sign up free to monitor 500+ APIs.

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