🔍 DiffBeep

A lightweight, containerized tool that monitors web pages for content changes and sends notifications when changes are detected

Features

• 🔍 Web Page Monitoring - Continuously monitors specified web pages for content changes
• 🎯 CSS Selector Targeting - Uses precise CSS selectors to monitor specific page elements
• 📱 Push Notifications - Sends instant notifications via notify.run when changes are detected
• ⏰ Configurable Intervals - Set custom monitoring intervals (default: 5 minutes)
• 🐳 Docker Support - Fully containerized for easy deployment
• ☸️ Kubernetes/Helm Ready - Includes Helm charts for Kubernetes deployment
• 🔧 Environment-Based Configuration - All settings configurable via environment variables
• ✅ Configuration Validation - Built-in validation ensures all required settings are present

Quick Start

Using Docker

Option 1: Using pre-built image from GitHub Container Registry

1. Create configuration file

   cp docker/config.env docker/config.local.env
   # Edit docker/config.local.env with your configuration
   

2. Run with pre-built image

   docker run --env-file docker/config.local.env ghcr.io/msafwankarim/diffbeep:latest
   

Option 2: Build locally

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/msafwankarim/DiffBeep.git
   cd diffbeep
   

2. Configure environment variables

   cp docker/config.env docker/config.local.env
   # Edit docker/config.local.env with your configuration
   

3. Build and run with Docker

   docker build -t diffbeep .
   docker run --env-file docker/config.local.env diffbeep
   

Using Python Directly

1. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Set environment variables and run

   export URL="https://example.com"
   export SELECTOR=".content"
   export EXPECTED_TEXT="Current content"
   export NOTIFY_RUN_CHANNEL="https://notify.run/your-channel"
   export INTERVAL_MINUTES="5"
   export NOTIFICATION_TITLE="Change Detected!"
   export NOTIFICATION_TEXT="The page content has changed"
   
   python main.py
   

Using Python Virtual Environment

1. Create and activate virtual environment

   python -m venv diffbeep-env
   source diffbeep-env/bin/activate  # On Windows: diffbeep-env\Scripts\activate
   

2. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Set environment variables and run

   export URL="https://example.com"
   export SELECTOR=".content"
   export EXPECTED_TEXT="Current content"
   export NOTIFY_RUN_CHANNEL="https://notify.run/your-channel"
   export INTERVAL_MINUTES="5"
   export NOTIFICATION_TITLE="Change Detected!"
   
   python main.py
   

4. Deactivate when done

   deactivate
   

Configuration

All configuration is done through environment variables:

Variable	Required	Description	Example
URL	✅	The web page URL to monitor	https://example.com/page
SELECTOR	✅	CSS selector for the element to monitor	.content, #main-text, table tr:first-child
EXPECTED_TEXT	✅	The expected text content (change triggers notification)	No updates available
NOTIFY_RUN_CHANNEL	✅	Your notify.run channel URL	https://notify.run/abc123
INTERVAL_MINUTES	✅	Check interval in minutes	5, 10, 30
NOTIFICATION_TITLE	✅	Title for notifications	Update Available!
NOTIFICATION_TEXT	❌	Custom notification text (optional)	Check the website now

Setting up Notifications

1. Visit notify.run and click "Create Channel"
2. Copy your unique channel URL (e.g., https://notify.run/abc123xyz)
3. Open this URL on your devices (phone, computer) and click "Subscribe"
4. Allow notifications when prompted
5. Use the channel URL as your NOTIFY_RUN_CHANNEL environment variable

Kubernetes Deployment

Option 1: Using Pre-built Helm Chart from OCI Registry

The easiest way to deploy DiffBeep to Kubernetes is using the pre-built Helm chart:

1. Install from OCI registry

   helm install diffbeep oci://ghcr.io/msafwankarim/charts/diffbeep \
     --set config.URL="https://example.com/page" \
     --set config.SELECTOR=".content" \
     --set config.EXPECTED_TEXT="Current content" \
     --set config.NOTIFY_RUN_CHANNEL="https://notify.run/your-channel" \
     --set config.NOTIFICATION_TITLE="Change Detected!"
   

2. Or create a values file and install

   # Create values.yaml with your configuration
   cat > my-values.yaml << EOF
   config:
     URL: "https://example.com/page"
     SELECTOR: ".content"
     EXPECTED_TEXT: "Current content"
     NOTIFY_RUN_CHANNEL: "https://notify.run/your-channel"
     INTERVAL_MINUTES: 5
     NOTIFICATION_TITLE: "Change Detected!"
     NOTIFICATION_TEXT: "Custom message"
   EOF
   
   # Install with values file
   helm install diffbeep oci://ghcr.io/msafwankarim/charts/diffbeep -f my-values.yaml
   

3. Upgrade deployment

   helm upgrade diffbeep oci://ghcr.io/msafwankarim/charts/diffbeep -f my-values.yaml
   

Option 2: Using Local Helm Chart

Deploy using the Helm chart included in this repository:

1. Configure values

   cp helm/values.yaml helm/values.local.yaml
   # Edit helm/values.local.yaml with your configuration
   

2. Deploy to Kubernetes

   helm install diffbeep ./helm -f helm/values.local.yaml
   

3. Upgrade deployment

   helm upgrade diffbeep ./helm -f helm/values.local.yaml
   

Helm Configuration

The Helm chart supports the same environment variables. Configure them in values.yaml:

config:
  URL: "https://example.com"
  SELECTOR: ".content"
  EXPECTED_TEXT: "Current content"
  NOTIFY_RUN_CHANNEL: "https://notify.run/your-channel"
  INTERVAL_MINUTES: 5
  NOTIFICATION_TITLE: "Change Detected!"
  NOTIFICATION_TEXT: "Custom message"

Use Cases

• Admission Lists: Monitor university admission results
• Job Postings: Track new job openings on career pages
• Product Availability: Watch for stock updates on e-commerce sites
• News Updates: Monitor news sites for breaking news
• Government Announcements: Track official websites for new announcements

File Structure

├── main.py              # Main application code
├── requirements.txt     # Python dependencies
├── Dockerfile          # Docker container configuration
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── build-and-publish.yml # GitHub Actions workflow
├── docker/
│   ├── config.env      # Environment template
│   └── config.local.env # Local configuration (gitignored)
├── helm/               # Kubernetes deployment chart
└── README.md          # This file

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.