> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.statusstack.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating Stacks

> Learn how to create and organize your first Stack in StatusStack

## What You'll Learn

This guide walks you through creating your first Stack, adding services to monitor, and customizing Stack settings for your needs.

***

## Before You Start

<Check>
  **Prerequisites**

  * Active StatusStack account
  * Access to the customer dashboard
  * Team membership (or create your own team)
</Check>

***

## Creating Your First Stack

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Stacks">
    From your dashboard, click **Monitoring** → **Stacks** in the left sidebar

    <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/statusticker/images/guides/navigate-to-stacks.png" alt="Navigate to Stacks" />
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Create Stack">
    Click the **"Create Stack"** button in the top-right corner

    <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/statusticker/images/guides/create-stack-button.png" alt="Create Stack Button" />
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fill in Basic Information">
    Enter your Stack details:

    | Field           | Description                              | Example                            |
    | --------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
    | **Name**        | Descriptive name for your Stack          | "Production Infrastructure"        |
    | **Description** | Optional details about the Stack         | "Monitors all production services" |
    | **Team**        | Which team owns this Stack               | "Engineering Team"                 |
    | **Slug**        | URL-friendly identifier (auto-generated) | `production-infrastructure`        |

    <Note>
      The **slug** is used in your public status page URL: `statusstack.com/status/production-infrastructure`
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure Visibility">
    Choose who can see this Stack:

    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="Public">
        **Public Stack**

        * Visible to anyone with the link
        * Appears in public directory (optional)
        * Perfect for customer-facing status pages

        Use for: External services, customer portals, public APIs
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Private">
        **Private Stack**

        * Only visible to team members
        * Requires authentication to view
        * Hidden from search engines

        Use for: Internal monitoring, development environments
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Password Protected">
        **Password Protected**

        * Public URL, but requires password
        * Share password with authorized users
        * Good for client portals

        Use for: Client-specific monitoring (MSP use case)
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Customize Branding (Optional)">
    Make your Stack match your brand:

    * **Logo** - Upload your company/project logo
    * **Primary Color** - Main accent color for the status page
    * **Favicon** - Small icon for browser tabs

    <Note>
      Branding settings are available on Pro and Enterprise plans
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Stack">
    Click **Create** to save your Stack

    <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/statusticker/images/guides/stack-created.png" alt="Stack Created Successfully" />
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Stack Configuration Options

### Basic Settings

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Stack Name">
    The display name for your Stack

    **Best Practices:**

    * Be descriptive: "Production API Services" vs "Stack 1"
    * Include environment: "Production", "Staging", "Development"
    * Use client names for MSPs: "Client: Acme Corp"

    **Examples:**

    * ✅ `Production Infrastructure`
    * ✅ `Staging Environment`
    * ✅ `Client: Acme Corp Production`
    * ❌ `Stack 1`
    * ❌ `Test`
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Stack Description">
    Optional details about what this Stack monitors

    **Good descriptions:**

    * "Monitors all production services including API, database, and CDN"
    * "Development environment for testing new features"
    * "Client-facing services for Acme Corporation"

    **Use for:**

    * Documenting what's being monitored
    * Explaining the purpose to team members
    * Providing context for clients (MSP)
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Team Assignment">
    Which team owns and can manage this Stack

    * All Stack resources (components, monitors) belong to the team
    * Team members can view and edit based on their role
    * Cannot be changed after creation (must delete and recreate)

    **Tip:** Plan your team structure before creating Stacks
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Stack Slug">
    URL-friendly identifier for your Stack

    * Auto-generated from the Stack name
    * Used in public status page URL
    * Must be unique across StatusStack
    * Can be customized (Pro/Enterprise only)

    **Examples:**

    * `production-infrastructure` →  `statusstack.com/status/production-infrastructure`
    * `acme-corp` → `statusstack.com/status/acme-corp`
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Advanced Settings

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Auto-Subscribe Email Notifications">
    Automatically subscribe all team members to email updates

    **When enabled:**

    * New team members automatically get email notifications
    * Useful for critical production Stacks
    * Can be overridden per user

    **When disabled:**

    * Team members manually subscribe
    * Good for less critical Stacks
    * Reduces email noise
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Scheduled Maintenance">
    Display scheduled maintenance windows on status page

    * Show upcoming maintenance
    * Automatically set components to "Maintenance" status
    * Notify subscribers before maintenance begins

    **Use for:**

    * Planned deployments
    * Infrastructure upgrades
    * Regular maintenance windows
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Incident Tracking">
    Enable manual incident creation and updates

    * Create incidents for outages
    * Post updates as situations develop
    * Mark incidents as resolved
    * Display incident timeline on status page

    **Best for:**

    * Customer-facing status pages
    * Internal incident management
    * Post-mortem documentation
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Custom Domain (Pro/Enterprise)">
    Use your own domain for the status page

    * `status.yourcompany.com` instead of `statusstack.com/status/slug`
    * Requires DNS configuration
    * Free SSL certificate included

    **Setup:**

    1. Add CNAME record: `status.yourcompany.com` → `custom.statusstack.com`
    2. Add custom domain in Stack settings
    3. Verify DNS propagation
    4. SSL certificate auto-generated
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Adding Services to Your Stack

After creating a Stack, add services to monitor:

### Option 1: Add Third-Party Services

Monitor popular services like AWS, GitHub, Cloudflare:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Stack Details">
    Click on your newly created Stack
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Add Component">
    In the Components section, click **"Add Component"**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Search for Service">
    Browse or search for the service:

    * Type service name (e.g., "GitHub")
    * Browse by category (Cloud, Development, SaaS)
    * View popular services

    <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/statusticker/images/guides/add-component-search.png" alt="Search for Service" />
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Components">
    Choose which components to monitor:

    Example for GitHub:

    * ☑️ Git Operations
    * ☑️ API Requests
    * ☑️ Webhooks
    * ☑️ GitHub Pages
    * ☑️ GitHub Actions

    <Tip>
      Select only the components you actually use to reduce noise
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add to Stack">
    Click **"Add Selected Components"** to start monitoring

    <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/statusticker/images/guides/components-added.png" alt="Components Added" />
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Option 2: Add Custom Monitors

Monitor your own websites and APIs:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Website Monitors">
    Go to **Monitoring** → **Website Monitors**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Monitor">
    Click **"Create Monitor"** and configure:

    ```yaml theme={null}
    Name: Production API Health
    URL: https://api.yoursite.com/health
    Check Interval: 60 seconds
    Expected Status: 200
    Timeout: 10 seconds
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign to Stack">
    In the "Stacks" field, select your Stack
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save Monitor">
    Click **Create** to start monitoring
  </Step>
</Steps>

See [Custom Monitoring Guide](/guides/custom-monitoring) for detailed monitor configuration.

***

## Stack Organization Patterns

### Pattern 1: Environment-Based Stacks

Organize by deployment environment:

```
📦 Production Stack
  ├─ Production API
  ├─ Production Database
  ├─ Production CDN
  └─ Third-party services (Stripe, SendGrid)

📦 Staging Stack
  ├─ Staging API
  ├─ Staging Database
  └─ Third-party test accounts

📦 Development Stack
  └─ Dev API
```

**Best for:** Development teams, SaaS companies

### Pattern 2: Service-Based Stacks

Organize by service type:

```
📦 Core API Services Stack
  ├─ Auth API
  ├─ User API
  ├─ Payment API
  └─ Notification API

📦 Infrastructure Stack
  ├─ AWS Services
  ├─ Cloudflare CDN
  ├─ MongoDB Atlas
  └─ Redis Cloud

📦 External Dependencies Stack
  ├─ Stripe
  ├─ SendGrid
  ├─ Twilio
  └─ GitHub
```

**Best for:** Microservices architecture, large platforms

### Pattern 3: Client-Based Stacks (MSP)

Organize by client:

```
📦 Client: Acme Corp Production
  ├─ Acme Website
  ├─ Acme API
  └─ Acme Database

📦 Client: Acme Corp Staging
  └─ Acme Staging Environment

📦 Client: Beta Inc Production
  ├─ Beta Website
  └─ Beta Services
```

**Best for:** MSPs, agencies, consultants

See [MSP Setup Guide](/guides/msp-setup) for MSP-specific workflows.

***

## Stack Templates

Speed up Stack creation with pre-built templates:

### Using Stack Templates

<Steps>
  <Step title="Browse Templates">
    When creating a Stack, click **"Use Template"**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Template">
    Choose from popular templates:

    * **SaaS Starter** - Common SaaS dependencies
    * **E-Commerce** - Payment, shipping, email services
    * **Development** - GitHub, CI/CD, hosting services
    * **Infrastructure** - Cloud providers, CDN, monitoring
  </Step>

  <Step title="Customize">
    Review and customize the pre-selected components
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Stack">
    Click **Create from Template**
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Creating Custom Templates (Enterprise)

Save your Stack configuration as a template:

1. Open an existing Stack
2. Click **"Save as Template"**
3. Give template a name and description
4. Template becomes available to your organization
5. Reuse for new clients or environments

***

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Naming Conventions">
    **Use consistent, descriptive names**

    Good examples:

    * `Production - API Services`
    * `Staging - Full Stack`
    * `Client: Acme - Production`
    * `Development - Backend Only`

    Bad examples:

    * `Stack 1`
    * `Test`
    * `Misc`
    * `Stuff`
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Component Selection">
    **Only monitor what you use**

    * Don't add every component from a Source
    * Focus on services critical to your operations
    * Reduce noise and improve signal-to-noise ratio
    * Makes status pages more relevant to users
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Stack Granularity">
    **Find the right level of detail**

    **Too many Stacks:**

    * `Production API User Service`
    * `Production API Auth Service`
    * `Production API Payment Service`
    * Result: Hard to get overall picture

    **Too few Stacks:**

    * `All Services`
    * Result: Hard to pinpoint issues

    **Just right:**

    * `Production Services` (all production)
    * `Infrastructure` (hosting, CDN, DNS)
    * `Third-Party Dependencies` (Stripe, SendGrid)
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Regular Maintenance">
    **Keep Stacks up to date**

    * Remove deprecated services
    * Add new services as you integrate them
    * Update Stack descriptions
    * Review and update branding
    * Archive unused Stacks
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Troubleshooting

### Can't Create Stack

**Possible causes:**

1. **Quota reached** - Upgrade your plan
2. **Duplicate slug** - Stack with this slug already exists
3. **No team access** - You must be a member of at least one team

**Solutions:**

* Check your plan limits
* Try a different Stack name (generates different slug)
* Contact admin to be added to a team

### Stack Not Showing on Dashboard

**Check:**

1. You're viewing the correct team
2. Stack visibility settings
3. You have permission to view the Stack

**Solutions:**

* Switch teams in the dashboard header
* Ask Stack owner to verify visibility settings
* Contact team admin for access

### Components Not Updating

**Possible causes:**

1. **Source temporarily unavailable** - Wait for next polling cycle (1-5 min)
2. **Component deprecated** - Service may have changed their status page structure
3. **Connection issues** - Check StatusStack's own status

**Solutions:**

* Wait 5 minutes and refresh
* Remove and re-add the component
* Contact support if issue persists

***

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Adding Services" icon="plus" href="/guides/adding-services">
    Detailed guide on adding components and monitors
  </Card>

  <Card title="Notification Setup" icon="bell" href="/guides/notification-setup">
    Configure alerts for Stack status changes
  </Card>

  <Card title="Status Pages" icon="browser" href="/guides/status-pages">
    Customize and share your public status page
  </Card>

  <Card title="Stack Concepts" icon="book" href="/concepts/stacks">
    Deep dive into Stack architecture
  </Card>
</CardGroup>