Docker: a push when a container dies

July 14, 2026 · 4 min read

Containers restart quietly, crash-loop quietly, disappear quietly. A ten-line watcher on the Docker events stream makes every death ring your phone – with the container name in the notification.

The watcher

#!/bin/bash
docker events --filter event=die --format '{{.Actor.Attributes.name}} ({{.Actor.Attributes.exitCode}})' \
| while read line; do
  curl -s -X POST "$WEBHOOKY_URL" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d "{\"title\":\"🐳 Container died\",\"message\":\"$line\",\"sound\":\"error_1\"}" > /dev/null
done

Run it as a systemd service (or as a tiny container with the Docker socket mounted) and every non-zero exit rings your phone. Filter further with --filter container=… if only some containers matter, or check the exit code in the loop to ignore clean stops.

As a systemd unit

[Unit]
Description=Docker death notifier
After=docker.service

[Service]
Environment=WEBHOOKY_URL=https://api.webhooky.app/YOUR_KEY
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/docker-notify.sh
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Watchtower updates via shoutrrr

If Watchtower keeps your images fresh, it can report through shoutrrr's generic webhook provider:

WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_URL=generic+https://api.webhooky.app/YOUR_KEY?template=json&titlekey=title&messagekey=message

Now image updates land as tidy pushes too – use a friendly sound for those and keep the alarm for deaths.

Compose healthchecks

Pair this with proper healthcheck: blocks in your compose files: an unhealthy container gets restarted by Docker, the restart shows up as a die event, and you learn about flapping services before your users do.

Get Webhooky

Free for your first 100 notifications – set up your endpoint in two minutes.