Web Monitor

Track web pages for changes. Stores snapshots, computes diffs, supports CSS selectors.

Quick Start

# Add a URL to watch
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py add "https://example.com" --name "Example"

# Add with CSS selector (monitor specific section)
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py add "https://example.com/pricing" -n "Pricing" -s ".pricing-table"

# Check all watched URLs for changes
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py check

# Check one specific URL
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py check "Example"

# List watched URLs
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py list

# View last diff
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py diff "Example"

# View current snapshot
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py snapshot "Example" --lines 50

# Remove
uv run --with beautifulsoup4 python scripts/monitor.py remove "Example"

Commands

Command	Args	Description
`add`	`<url> [-n name] [-s selector]`	Add URL to watch, take initial snapshot
`remove`	`<url-or-name>`	Stop watching a URL
`list`	`[-f json]`	List all watched URLs with stats
`check`	`[url-or-name] [-f json]`	Check for changes (all or one)
`diff`	`<url-or-name>`	Show last recorded diff
`snapshot`	`<url-or-name> [-l lines]`	Show current snapshot

Output Symbols

🔔 CHANGED — page content changed (shows diff preview)
✅ No changes
📸 Initial snapshot taken
❌ Error fetching

Data

Stored in ~/.web-monitor/ (override with WEB_MONITOR_DIR env var): - watches.json — watch list config - snapshots/ — stored page content + diffs

Tips

Use --selector to monitor specific elements (prices, article lists, etc.)
Use --format json for programmatic checking (heartbeat integration)
CSS selectors require beautifulsoup4 (included via --with flag)
Text is normalized to reduce noise from timestamps, whitespace, ads