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Distill.io Not Detecting Website Changes? Troubleshooting Steps

Trace a missing Distill alert from check logs to snapshots, Change History, conditions, notifications, and quota.
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If Distill.io is not detecting a website change, first check the monitor’s log to see whether a check ran and succeeded. If it did, compare the captured snapshot with Change History to find out whether the changing content was selected and recorded. If Change History contains the change but no alert arrived, the issue is with conditions, notification actions, or quota—not detection.

1. Check whether the monitor ran

Open the monitor’s check log and look for a recent entry. Open View Details on the latest check to read its result and inspect the captured snapshot. Distill’s guide notes that an errored check will not detect new changes: Why Didn’t I Get an Alert?

  • No recent check: Confirm the monitor is ON. If it is a local monitor, open the Distill extension or desktop app and check the local Watchlist. The device and browser or app that run local checks must be available.
  • A recent check is listed: Continue to the error details. A check entry alone does not mean the page loaded successfully.

Local monitors run on your device; cloud monitors run on Distill’s servers. A closed or powered-off local device cannot perform its checks. See What is Distill?

2. If the check failed, use the error and snapshot to choose a fix

Do not change several settings at once. First use the error message and snapshot to identify what Distill could or could not see. Distill’s troubleshooting guide for errors describes common causes and remedies.

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SELECTION_EMPTY

This error can mean the selected element no longer exists, the content was not loaded when the check ran, or the site blocked cloud access.

  • If the page layout changed, edit the monitor and select the current element containing the content you want to track.
  • If the element appears only after the page has loaded further, try a delay. Distill’s configuration guide describes a configurable delay from 0 to 20 seconds and a dynamic setting that controls loading of dynamic webpage content. Adjust these only when the snapshot or timing points to a loading problem. See Config and advanced monitor options.
  • If the snapshot suggests the cloud could not access the page, consider a local monitor. For cloud monitoring, Distill documents proxies or a dedicated cloud device as options for pages that restrict access.

Distill documents CSS, XPath, JS, and XCSS selector types. The right selector depends on the page and the element you need to track.

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Authentication or access errors

If the page requires a login, refresh the login state and make sure the monitor is configured to access the authenticated content. On a dedicated cloud device, saved cookies can expire. Distill’s missing-alert guide recommends reconfiguring the monitor from Devices to refresh and save cookies.

3. If the check succeeded, find out whether the change was recorded

Compare the captured snapshot with the page’s visible state and with Change History. A successful check can still miss a change if the monitor is watching the wrong area or the content was not available at check time.

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  • The changed section is outside the selection: Edit the monitor and select the area that actually changes.
  • The content is missing from the snapshot but appears later: Add or increase the delay, then review a later snapshot. A delay is useful only if the content loads late.
  • The page is logged in: Verify the snapshot shows authenticated content. If access depends on an expired cookie, refresh the login state.
  • The page varies by location: Results can differ between locations. Distill’s guide to eliminating false alerts recommends local monitoring when results differ by location; it also describes proxies or a dedicated cloud device for geo-restricted pages in cloud monitoring.

If the changed content is present in the snapshot but there is no corresponding Change History entry, confirm the selection includes that content and review the monitor’s check details again. Distill’s missing-alert guide covers these checks.

4. If Change History shows the change, troubleshoot alert conditions

A change in Change History means Distill detected and recorded it. Now inspect the monitor’s conditions and their evaluation rather than changing the selection or loading settings. Distill’s guide to conditions explains how they determine which changes trigger alerts.

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  1. Open the condition evaluation or debugger for the monitor.
  2. Test the condition against the changed data and check whether it matches the kind of change that occurred.
  3. Correct conditions that are too strict or do not match the changed text or value.

Conditions are evaluated against changes: a keyword that was already on the page does not trigger an alert merely because it remains there.

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5. Verify notification actions and quota

If the change is recorded and the condition matches, check that the monitor has the intended notification action configured and that the notification channel is enabled. Then review usage statistics and applicable quotas. Distill says an exhausted cloud-check quota can halt checks; its documented options include switching to local monitoring, upgrading, or waiting for the monthly reset. Current plan prices and quota amounts are not stated in the documentation cited here.

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Or skip the browser setup

For a separate screenshot of what a page looks like, ScreenshotNeo offers a one-request screenshot API. It is not a substitute for Distill’s ongoing monitoring or alert conditions, but it can help capture a page for inspection.

With an API key, this cURL request saves a WebP screenshot of the target page. See the ScreenshotNeo documentation for request options.

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com -o shot.webp

ScreenshotNeo removes cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, failed loads, timeouts, and cache hits are not billed. It also has an MCP server with screenshot tools for AI agents. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.

Sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month, with no card required.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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