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Install urlwatch with Homebrew, define the pages or commands to monitor, test a run, then schedule it with cron. The interval between checks is controlled by your cron schedule; urlwatch’s guide recommends running checks no more often than every 30 minutes. The steps below follow the project’s documented workflow and the Homebrew formula, whose version and package details can change.
Install urlwatch on macOS
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Install Homebrew if it is not already available, then open Terminal.
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-
Run
brew install urlwatch. Homebrew’s urlwatch formula is the place to check current package details and macOS bottle support.Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy. -
Run
urlwatchonce. This initializes or migrates urlwatch’s data and gives you a first run to inspect.#1 Best Overall
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See the project’s urlwatch introduction for the documented setup and configuration workflow.
Configure your first monitoring job
Run urlwatch --edit to open the YAML job list, urls.yaml. Add the website or command you want checked, along with any filters needed to isolate the content that matters. Use urlwatch --edit-config to edit global settings, including reporters.
urlwatch retrieves or executes each job, applies configured filters, compares the result with the previous output, and reports detected differences. Start with the simplest job type that provides the content you need:
| Job type | When to use it | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
url |
For ordinary page retrieval when the relevant content is present in the response. | Uses regular URL retrieval rather than rendering the page in a browser. |
navigate |
When the page content depends on JavaScript rendering. | Runs a headless browser and is more resource-intensive; use it only when ordinary retrieval does not return the needed content. |
command |
To run a shell command and monitor its output. | The monitored result is command output rather than a fetched web page. |
The project documents filters for CSS and XPath selection, text, JSON, PDF, and other content. Filters can be chained. Filtering to a specific element or content type can reduce noise compared with tracking every change on a whole page.
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Run and verify checks before scheduling
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Run
urlwatchmanually after editingurls.yaml. -
Check that each job retrieves or produces the expected content and that filters leave the material you intend to compare.
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Review the terminal output. urlwatch compares processed results with stored prior output and reports differences; the project describes change reports as including the changed URL and a unified diff.
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Adjust the job or filters if the result includes irrelevant changes, then run it again before putting it on a schedule.
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Schedule urlwatch with cron
The project’s documented macOS scheduling approach is cron. Open your crontab with crontab -e and add this example entry to run urlwatch every 30 minutes:
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*/30 * * * * urlwatch
The schedule determines how often checks run. The urlwatch guide recommends not running more often than every 30 minutes. If cron cannot find the command in its restricted environment, use the full path to the urlwatch executable in the crontab entry. You can find the path in Terminal with command -v urlwatch.
Choose filters and notifications to fit the check
Reduce noisy page changes
Monitor the whole page when any change is useful. If navigation, timestamps, or other unrelated material creates noisy diffs, configure a CSS or XPath selection or an appropriate content filter so the comparison focuses on the target content. The documented filter set includes text, JSON, and PDF options, and filters may be combined.
Choose where change reports go
urlwatch can report in the terminal and supports configured reporters, including email and third-party services. External destinations are not automatic: configure them through urlwatch --edit-config. The project’s GitHub page describes urlwatch as a tool for monitoring changes and reporting them.
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brew install urlwatchdoes not work: Check the current formula page for package and macOS details, then confirm Homebrew is installed and available in the current shell.Rank #4
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No change is reported for a page that visibly changed: Run the job manually and inspect its retrieved or filtered output. The page may require JavaScript rendering; if ordinary
urlretrieval lacks the target content, consider anavigatejob. -
The report contains too many irrelevant differences: Use a CSS or XPath selector, or another suitable filter, to narrow the material being compared.
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Cron does not appear to run urlwatch: Check the crontab entry and use the executable path returned by
command -v urlwatchif the command is not found in cron’s environment.Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
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No email or third-party notification arrives: Confirm that the intended reporter is configured in the global settings opened by
urlwatch --edit-config. A terminal report alone does not configure an external destination.Best Value
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Or skip the browser setup
If you need a screenshot rather than change-diff monitoring, ScreenshotNeo is a screenshot API and MCP server for developers. A single GET request can return a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. It is not a replacement for urlwatch’s recurring change detection; use it when your task is to capture a page.
For example, this cURL request captures a page as WebP:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp
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See the ScreenshotNeo documentation for API options. Cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets are removed before capture; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are never billed. Its MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card, and paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for ScreenshotNeo.
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