# Website Change Monitor (`unicentrocucuta/url-change-watch`) Actor

Website change detector and page monitor. Emits a row only when a public HTTPS page fingerprint changes. $0.05 per start.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta/url-change-watch.md
- **Developed by:** [daniel vera](https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.05 / actor start

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Website Change Monitor

**Website change detector** and **page monitor** for public HTTPS URLs. Each run fingerprints the page and emits a row **only when the website changed**. Use it as a website change tracker for pricing pages, status pages, docs, legal, storefronts.

This URL change monitor is not a browser farm and not an LLM summarizer.

Pay-per-event: **$0.05 per Actor start** + **$0.002 per result**.

### Website change detector — what you get

- `change=changed` when the fingerprint differs (website change alert)
- `change=unchanged` / first-seen rows so you can see coverage
- State kept in the Actor key-value store

### Input

| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `urls` | yes | 1–30 public `https://` URLs |
| `css_selector` | no | Optional text window hint (best-effort substring) |

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com/pricing"
  ]
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com/pricing",
  "change": "changed",
  "fingerprint": "a1b2c3d4e5f6",
  "observed_at": "2026-08-13T12:05:00Z"
}
```

### How to run this page monitor

Schedule every 15–60 minutes. Compare runs over a day — that history is the product.

### Pricing

**$0.05** when the Actor starts + **$0.002** per dataset item.

### Limits

- Public HTTPS only (no login walls, no bot-blocked sites guaranteed)
- Fingerprint is content-based; tiny HTML noise can flip a hash
- Not a full visual screenshot diff

### Related monitors

- [Product Price Tracker](https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta/product-price-watch)
- [RSS Feed Scraper — New Items](https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta/rss-new-item-watch)
- [GitHub Issues and PR Monitor](https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta/pr-watch-feed)
- [URL Snapshot Archive](https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta/public-source-archive-tick)
- [Greenhouse Jobs Scraper](https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta/greenhouse-job-watch)
- [App Store Reviews Scraper](https://apify.com/unicentrocucuta/appstore-watch)

Brand: **TemporalOps**.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Public HTTPS pages to fingerprint (max 30). Pricing, status, and docs pages work well.

## `css_selector` (type: `string`):

If set, only hash text near this substring (best-effort).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com/pricing"
  ],
  "css_selector": ""
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://example.com/pricing"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("unicentrocucuta/url-change-watch").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "urls": ["https://example.com/pricing"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("unicentrocucuta/url-change-watch").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com/pricing"
  ]
}' |
apify call unicentrocucuta/url-change-watch --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,unicentrocucuta/url-change-watch"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/ORSxJMxGi3bRbnwRw/builds/2iRQtpc7ENfScAvPn/openapi.json