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Start by separating email delivery from urlwatch’s change-detection rules. Run urlwatch --test-reporter email in the same environment as your normal run. If the test fails, investigate reporter configuration, SMTP or sendmail settings, credentials, and scheduler access. If the test succeeds, check whether urlwatch had anything it was configured to report.
1. Test email delivery directly
Run this from a terminal where urlwatch is installed and configured:
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urlwatch --test-reporter emailThe email reporter must already be configured and enabled for this test. It sends a test message independently of whether any monitored page changed, so it helps isolate delivery from change detection.
If it fails, repeat with verbose logging:
urlwatch --test-reporter email --verboseRead the error for clues about configuration, connection, authentication, or credentials. Verbose output can expose details useful for diagnosis; avoid sharing logs publicly without checking them for sensitive information.
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2. Confirm urlwatch had a reason to send a report
Open the active configuration with urlwatch --edit-config. Urlwatch does not necessarily send an email on every run: by default, reports include changes, new jobs, and errors, while unchanged pages are omitted.
- To include unchanged pages, check the
displaysettings and setunchanged: trueif that is what you want. - Check
empty-diff. When it is false, a change that produces an empty filtered diff is omitted from the report.
Thus, a successful run with no message can be normal if there was no reportable event under your settings. A successful test email confirms the reporter can send independently; it does not mean every run should produce a notification.
3. Check the email reporter configuration
In the configuration, confirm the reporter settings are under report, and that the email reporter is explicitly enabled. The common reporter option enabled defaults to false.
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- Check
enabledis true for the email reporter. - Check the sender (
from) and recipient (to) addresses for spelling errors and unintended whitespace. - Confirm the selected delivery method matches the settings you supplied: SMTP and the system
sendmailcommand are different routes and require different setup.
If using sendmail, verify that the system command is installed and usable by the account that runs urlwatch, and that the sendmail reporter block has its enabled state, sender, and recipient configured.
4. Verify SMTP host, port, TLS, and credentials
Compare urlwatch’s SMTP settings with your provider’s current requirements. Host, port, authentication, TLS mode, sender, and recipient must be mutually compatible. Provider policies can change, so do not assume an old account-security instruction still applies.
Gmail configuration example
The urlwatch example configuration uses smtp.gmail.com, port 587, authentication enabled, and starttls: true. Treat this as urlwatch’s documented example, not a guarantee that every Google account or network will accept the same login method. Check the provider’s current supported authentication and SMTP requirements for your account.
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Store and check the SMTP password
Urlwatch documents urlwatch --smtp-login as the command to query for the password, check the login, and store the password in the keychain for later runs:
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5. If a shell test works but scheduled email does not
Cron and other schedulers can run urlwatch with a different environment from your interactive shell. Compare the scheduled command with the successful manual command, then check the following:
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- Execution identity: Is the scheduler running as the same user who configured urlwatch and stored its credentials?
- Configuration and working directory: Does the job use the intended urlwatch configuration and paths, rather than relying on a shell’s current directory or environment?
- Environment: Does the scheduled process have the required environment variables and access to the same executable?
- Keyring availability: Can the scheduler’s process access the keyring? Keyring access may not work in cron even when it works in an interactive session.
- Job output: Capture or inspect the scheduler’s output and logs; a scheduler’s handling of output depends on its configuration.
If you need to test the scheduled context, run a diagnostic command through that scheduler and inspect its output rather than assuming an interactive test proves the scheduled environment is identical.
Plaintext password fallback: understand the risk
Urlwatch documents insecure_password as a fallback if keyring storage is not possible, but warns that a plaintext password can be exposed to software or other local users and may appear in logs. It should not be used with a primary email account. The documentation suggests, if someone chooses this tradeoff, using a dedicated throwaway sending account or local sendmail instead. Prefer fixing scheduler/keyring access where practical; plaintext credentials are not a safe general-purpose fix.
6. Troubleshoot by symptom
| Symptom | Likely area to inspect | Next action |
|---|---|---|
--test-reporter email fails |
Reporter disabled or misconfigured; SMTP or sendmail connection; authentication or credential access | Check the email reporter block, addresses, delivery method, SMTP parameters, and verbose output. |
| The test succeeds, but ordinary runs send nothing | No reportable event under current display settings | Check whether the page changed, whether unchanged pages are enabled, and whether empty-diff excludes the result. |
| Manual run sends mail; cron does not | Different user, environment, paths, configuration, output handling, or keyring access | Compare the scheduled execution context with the working shell and inspect scheduler logs. |
| Urlwatch appears to send, but the recipient sees no message | Recipient-side filtering or provider/account/network conditions | Check spam or quarantine and verify recipient handling with the mail provider or administrator; the urlwatch test alone cannot establish inbox delivery. |
7. Choose another delivery route only if email is the problem
If the email reporter itself is unsuitable, urlwatch documents email through SMTP and system sendmail, plus non-email reporters including Matrix, Slack, Telegram, ntfy, Pushbullet, and Pushover. Choose based on infrastructure you already operate and the notification channel you need; the documentation does not establish that a paid service is necessary.
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- Use sendmail if a local mail transfer agent is already available and usable by the scheduled account.
- Use SMTP if you have a working provider account and the scheduled process can access its credentials.
- Choose a push or chat reporter if email is not required and your preferred service is already part of your workflow.
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Urlwatch is for monitoring webpage changes and notifying you; it is not a replacement for its email reporter. If the separate task is generating webpage screenshots through an API, ScreenshotNeo is an alternative to try first: it removes cookie/consent banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture, and only clean shots are billed.
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