Degraded vs outage labels on your StillOnline status page
Marking Major outage when only exports are slow burns trust. Marking Operational when login is broken burns support. Status labels should match what customers can actually do.
StillOnline derives overall status from HTTP checks and lets you open manual incidents on named components — customer-facing names. This guide picks the right label.
Quick answer
Use Operational when probes are green and no incident is open. Use Degraded when a non-critical feature fails or a third-party dependency hurts one component (e.g. Payments) while API checks stay green. Use Major outage / Down when your primary health URL fails or most customers cannot work. StillOnline marks checks DOWN after two consecutive failed probes — your incident title can still say Degraded if only one component is affected. See third-party status.
Label decision table
| Customer reality | Overall / component label | HTTP check |
|---|---|---|
| Everything works | Operational | Green |
| Slow reports, API fine | Degraded — Reports | Green |
| Stripe checkout down, API up | Degraded — Payments | Green on API |
API /health fails | Major outage — API | Red |
| Login broken, marketing up | Degraded or Major — Login | Depends if you monitor auth path |
| Planned deploy | Maintenance — scheduled | May be red briefly |
ITIL distinguishes service degradation from outage — same idea for indie pages. Google SRE incident comms focus on user-visible impact, not internal component names — match labels to what customers experience.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Red banner for vendor-only issue | Degraded + link to Stripe status |
| Green while login dead | Monitor right URL or manual Login incident — auth limits |
| One component name “All systems” | Split API vs Dashboard on Pro |
| Forgot to resolve Degraded | Close incident when symptom ends |
StillOnline mechanics
- Automated DOWN follows failed probes on registered URLs.
- Manual incidents let you describe Degraded without flipping the main check.
- Component scope limits blast radius on the public timeline.
Related guides
- Status page components design
- Third-party Stripe/Auth0 status
- Incident update cadence
- Public status page guide
FAQ
Does StillOnline have a separate “Degraded” probe state?
Checks are up/down (and PROBE_LIMITED yellow for antibot). Degraded is usually a manual incident or component narrative while probes are green.
Partial outage vs Degraded?
Use Partial outage in text when a subset of users/regions is hit; Degraded when the product works with limitations.
Should I open Major outage for 500 errors on one endpoint?
If that endpoint is your only monitored URL — yes. If optional — Degraded on the right component.
Free tier one URL — can I show Degraded?
Yes via manual incident text even when the single check is green — components guide.