1What FoxPlug reads from Render
These are the exact things it reads, and nothing else.
| What | The details it takes |
|---|---|
| Your services | up to 20 listed, first 8 read; suspended services skipped: id, name, type, created time, service URL |
| Recent deploys per service | up to 10 per service: deploy id, status, finished or created time, first line of the commit message (120 characters). Still-running, cancelled and deactivated deploys are ignored |
| Custom domains per service | domain names only |
See what FoxPlug would tell you about your site and your Render
Paste your site address. FoxPlug reads its public pages and tells you the one thing to fix, the one to say and the one to skip. Free, no account, no card. Connect Render afterwards and the brief gets the numbers Render knows.
2Moments it finds, and what each becomes
A moment is one thing that happened in Render worth a second look. Each one is scored, then it becomes a post, a changelog entry, a thing to fix or an idea to email, or it is skipped.
A deploy finishes live
The moment is titled like this: Deployed api
Your service called api has a deploy that went live. FoxPlug makes the moment 'Deployed api' with the description 'Shipped api on Render - ' and the first line of the commit message, for instance 'Add rate limiting'.
A deploy fails
The moment is titled like this: Your api deploy is failing on Render. Fix this first.
The newest finished deploy of api failed (build, update or pre-deploy failure) in the last 7 days. The first card in Today says 'Your api deploy is failing on Render. Fix this first.' with how many failed in a row, since when and the last commit message. A later good deploy clears it.
A new service is created
The moment is titled like this: Launched a new web service: api
A service created in the last 14 days becomes 'Launched a new web service: api' (the kind is Render's own service type word) with the description 'A new web service went up on Render: api.'
A custom domain is added to a new service
The moment is titled like this: Added the domain api.acme.dev
While the service is less than 30 days old, each custom domain on it becomes 'Added the domain api.acme.dev' with 'api.acme.dev now points at api on Render.' An older service's domains are never announced.
The examples above show the shape of each moment. FoxPlug has no figures of its own from Render to show yet.
3How the brain uses it
The rules below are the ones that apply to Render. The same rules, with worked examples, are on the brain page.
- A service whose newest finished deploy failed in the last 7 days becomes the fix line, naming how many failed in a row and since when. Building or cancelled deploys are not failures. A later good deploy clears it. How the brain decides
- A clean deploy becomes an update, like Vercel and Netlify deploys. How the brain decides
- A new service or project (made in the last 14 days) can be a post, and so can its domain while the service is new; an old domain is never announced. How the brain decides
- Environment variables, logs and DNS are never read. How the brain decides
4Set up Render in a few steps
Access: API key. What to give it: API key (FoxPlug only reads).
- In Render, open Account Settings and then API Keys.
- Press Create API Key and name it FoxPlug (pick a read-only option if Render offers one).
- Copy the key now and paste it into FoxPlug; Render may show it only once.
What changed in Render lately
As of 14 November 2026, from Render's own release notes: 5 entries in the last 30 days, 11 in the last 90. The latest are below.
- 11 November 2026: Reduced median first-build time for Docker-based previews by 45%
- 11 November 2026: Render Sandboxes now available in beta
- 4 November 2026: Upcoming service preview and preview environment support for GitHub stacked PRs
Read the month-by-month list on FoxPlug's Render changelog page.
5Limits worth knowing
Where it stops, so nothing surprises you.
- First 8 of up to 20 services, 10 deploys each.
- A deploy counts as a failure when its status is build failed, update failed or pre deploy failed.
- A failing line shows only for a failure in the last 7 days.
- Clean deploys count from the last check, or the last 7 days on the first read; first read keeps only the single newest moment.
- Custom domains are best-effort: a failed domain lookup is ignored.
6What it never reads
Read only means read only, and the list below is what the code leaves alone.
- Environment variables and logs
- DNS records
- Suspended services, and deploys that are still building or were cancelled
7Questions
Can FoxPlug tell me when my Render deploy fails?
Yes, when you press Check for what's new. A service whose newest finished deploy failed in the last 7 days becomes the first card in your Today brief, and a later good deploy clears it.
Does it read my environment variables or logs?
No. It reads services, their finished deploys and custom domains only.
Does a cancelled deploy count as a failure?
No. Cancelled, deactivated and still-building deploys are ignored.
Is the key read-only?
The connect steps say to pick a read-only option if Render offers one. FoxPlug only makes read requests either way.
FoxPlug reads this tool only when you press Check for what's new, and only to read. Plans and limits are on the pricing page. Questions: support.