# Available Monitor Modes

Decube offers two monitoring modes to match different operational requirements and user preferences. Choose the mode that best fits your data quality workflow.

## Monitor Mode Comparison

| **Feature**      | **Scheduled**         | **On-Demand**          |
| ---------------- | --------------------- | ---------------------- |
| **Automation**   | Fully automated       | Manual execution       |
| **Best For**     | Production monitoring | Ad-hoc validation      |
| **Alerting**     | Continuous alerts     | Run-time notifications |
| **Use Case**     | SLA monitoring        | Data investigation     |
| **Setup Effort** | Higher (scheduling)   | Lower (simple setup)   |

***

## Scheduled Monitoring ⏰

**Recommended for:** Production environments, SLA monitoring, continuous data quality assurance

Scheduled monitoring runs automatically at specified intervals, providing continuous oversight of your data quality without manual intervention.

### Key Benefits

* **🔄 Automated Monitoring**: Set it once, monitor continuously
* **📧 Proactive Alerts**: Get notified immediately when issues occur
* **📊 Trend Analysis**: Build historical patterns for better insights
* **⚡ Early Detection**: Catch issues before they impact downstream systems

### Ideal Use Cases

* **Business-Critical Data**: Tables feeding real-time dashboards
* **SLA Compliance**: Ensuring data delivery commitments
* **Production Pipelines**: Monitoring ETL job completion
* **Regulatory Requirements**: Continuous compliance monitoring

### Supported Monitor Types

✅ All monitor types support scheduled mode:

* Freshness, Volume, Field Health, Custom SQL, Schema Drift, Job Failure

***

## On-Demand Monitoring 🎯

**Recommended for:** Data investigation, troubleshooting, development environments, manual validation

On-demand monitoring gives you complete control over when tests run, perfect for investigative work and manual validation scenarios.

### Key Benefits

* **🎛️ Manual Control**: Run tests exactly when needed
* **🔍 Investigation Focus**: Test specific scenarios during troubleshooting
* **💡 Flexible Testing**: Experiment with different thresholds
* **🚀 Immediate Results**: Get instant feedback on data quality

### Ideal Use Cases

* **Data Investigation**: Analyzing specific data quality issues
* **Development Testing**: Validating new data pipelines
* **Threshold Tuning**: Testing monitor sensitivity before scheduling
* **Ad-hoc Validation**: One-time data quality checks

### Supported Monitor Types

⚠️ **Note:** Cardinality tests are not available in On-Demand mode

* ✅ Freshness, Volume, Field Health (excluding Cardinality), Custom SQL

***

## Choosing the Right Mode

### Start with Scheduled If:

* You need continuous monitoring of business-critical data
* You want to ensure SLA compliance automatically
* You have established data quality requirements
* You need historical trend analysis

### Start with On-Demand If:

* You're investigating specific data quality issues
* You're developing and testing new monitors
* You need flexible, manual control over testing
* You're working in development environments

### Combined Approach 🎯

Many teams use both modes strategically:

1. **Scheduled** for production monitoring and critical SLAs
2. **On-Demand** for investigation, development, and threshold tuning

***

## Next Steps

Ready to set up monitoring? Choose your monitor type and mode:

{% content-ref url="../enable-asset-monitoring" %}
[enable-asset-monitoring](https://docs.decube.io/data-quality/enable-asset-monitoring)
{% endcontent-ref %}

**Setup Guides by Monitor Type:**

* [Freshness & Volume Monitors](https://docs.decube.io/data-quality/how-to-set-up-monitors/set-up-freshness-and-volume-monitors)
* [Field Health Monitors](https://docs.decube.io/data-quality/how-to-set-up-monitors/set-up-field-tests)
* [Custom SQL Monitors](https://docs.decube.io/data-quality/how-to-set-up-monitors/custom-sql-monitors)