nolenfelten / url-stalker

A simple email-enabled URL watcher

URL Stalker is a simple program that, simply put, stalks a URL and knows immediately when it changes. Every ten minutes (configurable), the program downloads the file and compares it to the old one. If it has changed, it emails all subscribers with a copy of the new file. It needs its own email address, and all interaction with it is performed by sending it pithy messages over email.

Pull requests and bug reports are welcome. I'll update this as I need it, but it's otherwise not being actively developed.

Setup

To set it up, check the source code out into a directory somewhere, then edit settings.py to your satisfaction. You will need to provide it an email address with SMTP and IMAP access. Gmail works well (in fact, this isn't tested with anything else!)

The general settings are:

• stalked_file: The URL of the file to stalk
• saved_name: URL Stalker keeps a timestamped copy of each version, with this base name.
• wait_time: Time between email queries

Email specific settings are:

• email_address: The URL Stalker's email address, used for "From" field
• email_imap_server: The IMAP server to connect to
• email_smtp_server: The SMTP server to connect to
• email_password: Password to the SMTP and IMAP accounts
• email_subject: Base subject to use ("URL Stalker" works)

You should also fill out the sysadmin_name and sysadmin_email fields so people can contact you if the need arises.

Use

Send a blank email with the subject SUBSCRIBE to the configured address; your address will be added to the mailing list. Likewise, send UNSUBSCRIBE to have your name removed.