Overview
Manual status updates change the live status of a component (and its container) without creating an incident or maintenance. They are useful when you want the status page and APIs to show the right severity color quickly – for example, during a known issue you are handling internally, a false alarm from monitoring, or a planned change you are not announcing as a full incident.
Manual updates are not a replacement for incidents when you need subscriber communication, a public timeline, or structured postmortems.
What changes when you use a manual update
- Status page — The component’s status indicator and colors update to match the level you set. The overall status for the page is recalculated from all components, so the top-level message can change when manual updates affect severity.
- Status API / Developer API — Current component status reflects the manual update, consistent with other status sources.
- Not created — No incident record, no incident timeline, and no incident-driven subscriber notifications (email, SMS, Slack, webhooks, etc.).
How to perform a manual update
From the Status.io Dashboard
- Open your status page in the Status.io dashboard.
- On the main dashboard, find your Infrastructure components.
- Expand a component and choose the status level for the relevant container.
Via the Developer API
Use the component status update endpoint with your API credentials. The API expects a status page ID, component and container identifiers, the target status code, and a details string describing the change. See API documentation for parameters and examples.
Manual updates vs incidents
| Manual status update | Incident | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscriber notifications | No | Yes (per your notification settings) |
| Status page & API status | Yes | Yes |
| Status Charts | No | Yes |
| Best for | Quick visibility, internal coordination | Customer communication and record |
If subscribers should be informed, create or update an incident (or use maintenance for scheduled work) instead of relying on manual status alone.
FAQ
Are incidents created for manual status updates?
No. Manual updates only change component/container status and related history. They do not create an incident or attach to an existing incident automatically.
Are notifications sent for manual status updates?
No. Email, SMS, Slack, Microsoft Teams, webhooks, and other subscriber notifications tied to incidents and maintenance are not triggered by manual component status updates. To notify subscribers, publish an incident or maintenance update.
Do manual status updates change the status level on the status page?
Yes. The component’s displayed status and colors update, and the overall status summary for the page can change based on all components’ current severities.
Do manual updates appear in status history or charts?
No. They update current status on the page and in the API only; they do not appear in status charts or status page history.
Will monitoring integrations overwrite a manual status?
If you use email triggers, webhooks, or other integrations that update the same component/container, a new automated update can change status again. Manual and automated updates both drive the same “current status” for that component; the latest applicable update wins from a visitor’s perspective.
Is there an audit trail for manual updates from the dashboard?
Dashboard manual updates can be recorded in the audit trail (where enabled for your account), so team accountability is preserved even though no incident is created.