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 | [-n name] [-s selector] | Add URL to watch, take initial snapshot |

| remove | | 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 | | Show last recorded diff |

| snapshot | [-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