rockwell 👀

I always feel like somebody's watchin' me (Hee-hee-hee)

A website monitoring service that watches for changes in web pages and notifies you via email when they change. Named after Rockwell's 1984 hit song "Somebody's Watching Me" 🎵

Features

• Monitor any number of websites
• Configurable check frequency per website (e.g., every 30 minutes, hourly, daily)
• Email notifications when changes are detected
• SQLite database for storing website hashes and change history
• RESTful API for managing monitored websites

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone git@github.com:ehamiter/rockwell.git
cd rockwell

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a rockwell.env file with your email settings:

EMAIL_FROM=your-email@gmail.com
EMAIL_TO=your-email@gmail.com
EMAIL_APP_PASSWORD="your app password"

4. Set up as a systemd service (optional, for running as a daemon):

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/rockwell.service

Add this content (adjust paths as needed):

[Unit]
Description=Rockwell Website Monitor
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=your-username
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/rockwell
EnvironmentFile=/path/to/rockwell/rockwell.env
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
ExecStart=/path/to/.nvm/versions/node/v22.11.0/bin/node src/index.js
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl enable rockwell.service
sudo systemctl start rockwell.service

API Usage

Add a website to monitor

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/websites \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "https://example.com", "checkFrequency": 1}'

List monitored websites

curl http://localhost:3000/websites

View changes

curl http://localhost:3000/changes

Update check frequency

sqlite3 monitor.db
UPDATE websites SET check_frequency = 0.5 WHERE url LIKE '%example.com%';
.exit

View logs

sudo journalctl -u rockwell.service -f

How it Works

Rockwell fetches each monitored webpage at its configured interval, generates a hash of the content, and compares it with the previously stored hash. If they differ, it:

1. Records the change in the database
2. Sends an email notification
3. Updates the stored hash

The check frequency is configurable per website (e.g., 0.5 for every 30 minutes, 1 for hourly, 24 for daily).

License

MIT