How to Install changedetection.io on macOS

changedetection.io is a tool that enables you to monitor changes in web pages and get notified of such changes via email. In this tutorial, we will cover the steps to install changedetection.io on your macOS machine.

Prerequisites

Before you can install changedetection.io, ensure the following requirements are met:

  • A macOS machine
  • An active internet connection
  • Node.js version 10 or later installed on your macOS machine

Installation

Follow the steps below to install changedetection.io:

  1. Open the Terminal app on your macOS machine.
  2. Change to the directory you want to install changedetection.io using the cd command. Example:
cd ~/Desktop
  1. Clone the changedetection.io repository from GitHub using the command below:
git clone https://github.com/dgtlmoon/changedetection.io.git
  1. Change to the changedetection.io directory using the following command:
cd changedetection.io
  1. Install the dependencies required by changedetection.io using the command below:
npm install

Configuration

With changedetection.io installed on your macOS machine, the next step is to configure it to start monitoring web pages. The configuration file is located at ~/Desktop/changedetection.io/src/config.json, and you can edit it using your favorite text editor.

Follow the steps below to configure changedetection.io:

  1. Open the config.json file using a text editor of your choice. Example:
nano ~/Desktop/changedetection.io/src/config.json
  1. Find the PORT section and change the value to the port number you want changedetection.io to listen on. Example:
"PORT": 3000
  1. Find the MAIL_SETTINGS section and enter your mail server details. Example:
"MAIL_SETTINGS": {
  "HOST": "smtp.gmail.com",
  "PORT": 465,
  "SECURE": true,
  "AUTH": {
    "USER": "YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS",
    "PASS": "YOUR_EMAIL_PASSWORD"
  }
}
  1. Find the WATCH_LIST section and add the URLs you want to monitor. Example:
"WATCH_LIST": [
  {
    "URL": "https://www.example.com",
    "INTERVAL": 15
  }
]
  1. Save the changes and exit the text editor.

Starting changedetection.io

To start changedetection.io, use the following command:

npm start

You should see output similar to the following:

> [email protected] start /Users/username/Desktop/changedetection.io
> node src/app.js

listening on http://localhost:3000

Assuming the configuration was done correctly, changedetection.io will now start monitoring the URLs you specified.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have covered the steps to install changedetection.io on a macOS machine and configure it to start monitoring web pages. With changedetection.io, you can keep track of changes on web pages and get notified of such changes, making it easier to stay up-to-date on developments that matter to you.