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To track whether a PDF link is added, removed, or pointed somewhere new, use URLwatch on the webpage that contains the link and filter the page down to the link’s href. If instead you want to know whether the PDF’s text changes, monitor the PDF URL itself with URLwatch’s pdf2text filter. These are separate jobs because one compares a link destination and the other compares extracted document text.
Choose what you want to monitor
URLwatch retrieves a job’s output, applies its filters, compares the result with the previous run, and reports detected changes through enabled reporters. For this task, make the output as specific as possible: a changed PDF destination is easier to detect when the comparison contains the destination rather than the entire page. See the URLwatch introduction.
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- Link destination: Monitor the containing webpage and extract the matching link or its
href. This detects a change to that link’s URL, subject to the selector continuing to match the page. - PDF text: Monitor the PDF file directly and extract its text. This can detect changes to extracted text, but does not establish that every visual or layout change in the PDF has been detected.
Install URLwatch and create a job
- Install URLwatch using the instructions for your system in the official introduction.
- Run URLwatch once, then run
urlwatch --editto create or edit the job list, usually namedurls.yaml. - Add a job for the webpage that contains the PDF link. Replace the example URL and adapt the XPath to the target page’s markup:
name: "PDF link on example page"
url: "https://example.org/documents/"
filter:
- xpath: '//a[contains(@href, ".pdf")]/@href'
- sort:The XPath selects the href attribute of anchor elements whose destination contains .pdf. The optional sort filter puts multiple matching destinations in a stable order, so a reordered list is less likely to appear as a change. If the page uses a different URL pattern, a query string, uppercase extension, or a link that does not include “.pdf,” change the XPath to match the actual HTML. URLwatch supports XPath and CSS selection and chained filters; examples and filter details are in its filter documentation.
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Test the selector before relying on it
Run urlwatch --test-filter and check that the result contains exactly the intended PDF link destination or destinations. This preview helps catch an XPath that matches nothing or selects too much. A selector is specific to the site’s HTML; there is no universal selector that can be guaranteed to fit every page.
If the result is empty, inspect the page’s markup and adjust the XPath or CSS selector. If the page creates the link with JavaScript, a regular URL job may not receive the rendered link. URLwatch also documents a navigate job that uses a headless browser for pages requiring JavaScript; consult the job documentation for its configuration and use the filter preview to verify the rendered output.
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Monitor changes inside the PDF instead
For document-content changes, make a separate job whose URL is the PDF itself and put pdf2text first in the filter chain:
name: "PDF document text"
url: "https://example.org/documents/report.pdf"
filter:
- pdf2text
- stripThe pdf2text filter consumes binary PDF data and produces text, so it must come first. The optional strip filter removes surrounding whitespace. This workflow requires pdftotext and its operating-system dependencies. Installation requirements can vary by platform; see the PDF filter documentation.
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Text extraction is not a visual comparison. A layout, image, or formatting change that leaves the extracted text unchanged may not appear as a change in this job’s output.
Set a schedule and choose where alerts go
URLwatch checks when it is run, so the schedule is determined by the scheduler you configure. The official introduction recommends not running it more often than every 30 minutes. Its quick start describes cron scheduling and points Windows users to Windows Task Scheduler; choose an interval appropriate to how quickly you need to know about an update and to the site’s acceptable request frequency.
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By default, results are available from the run itself. To send change reports elsewhere, configure a reporter with urlwatch --edit-config. The documentation lists email and third-party messaging options; each requires its own configuration. Confirm the chosen reporter is enabled and configured before depending on notifications.
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server, not a replacement for URLwatch’s filtered change detection. It can capture a page for visual review with one GET request:
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.org/documents/ -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Cookie banners, popups, and chat widgets are removed before the shot; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed. Its MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots, and the free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. A screenshot shows the page visually, but URLwatch remains the appropriate tool here when you need an alert specifically for a changed link destination or extracted PDF text.
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Troubleshooting
- No link appears in the test output: The selector may not match the site’s current markup, or a standard URL job may be receiving HTML before JavaScript renders the link. Inspect the markup, revise the selector, or investigate a
navigatejob; verify again withurlwatch --test-filter. - Unrelated page edits trigger changes: Narrow the filter to the specific link’s
hrefor text instead of comparing the full page. If multiple links are selected, use a stable ordering filter where appropriate. - The PDF job fails to extract text: Check that
pdftotextand the required system dependencies are installed, and thatpdf2textis the first filter. The PDF must also be retrievable and processable in the local environment. - No notification arrives: Check the reporter configuration with
urlwatch --edit-config, ensure that reporter is enabled, and review the run output for delivery errors. - A check does not happen when expected: URLwatch only runs when invoked. Verify the cron entry or Windows Task Scheduler task, including its command and execution account.
Reliability and request-frequency notes
The filter preview confirms what the current job extracts; it cannot guarantee that the site’s markup or link structure will remain stable. A site may render or reveal its link differently, block automated requests, or change the document format. The URLwatch documentation recommends a minimum interval of 30 minutes between runs. No particular website is guaranteed to work without checking its behavior in your own environment.
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