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What persists, and why the mount matters
Containers can be removed and recreated. Files written only inside a container may disappear with it. The urlwatch Docker project expects its working files under /data/urlwatch; mounting a host directory there preserves those files independently of the container.
The project’s scheduled command uses urls.yaml, urlwatch.yaml, hooks.py, and cache.db. Keep the whole working directory mounted, rather than preserving only the YAML configuration: the job definitions, optional hooks, and cache all belong to the same working set.
Prepare the data directory
-
In a project directory, create the host-side data directory:
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mkdir -p data -
Put the jobs you want to monitor in
data/urls.yaml. The Docker project points to its example jobs file and to urlwatch’s Jobs documentation for job syntax. Use job definitions appropriate to the urlwatch version in the image you run. -
Copy the project’s
data/urlwatch.template.yamltodata/urlwatch.yaml, then configure at least one reporter if you want notifications. Reporter-specific settings go below thereportkey. Treat mail passwords, tokens, and other credentials as secrets; do not commit real credentials to a public repository. -
Add
data/hooks.pyif your setup uses hooks. The cache file,data/cache.db, is maintained as part of the working directory when urlwatch runs.
Urlwatch’s global configuration controls general behavior and reporters, while each job describes what to check. The urlwatch 2.29 configuration manual documents urlwatch --edit-config for editing the global configuration; check that the command and options match the urlwatch version included in your selected image. By default, the documented configuration reports new pages and errors, but not unchanged pages.
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Run Urlwatch with Docker Compose
Create the Compose file
Save this minimal service definition as compose.yaml in the directory containing data/:
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services:
urlwatch:
image: ghcr.io/mjaschen/urlwatch
volumes:
- ./data:/data/urlwatchThe image reference above is the floating reference used in the project’s examples; the cited README does not establish an immutable tag or digest. If you need repeatable deployments, choose and verify an image version or digest using the project’s current image-publishing information rather than assuming this reference is pinned.
Start, inspect, and stop the service
-
Start the service in the background from the directory with
compose.yaml:docker compose up -d -
Follow its output to confirm it is running and to diagnose job, configuration, or reporter issues:
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Stop the Compose service when needed:
docker compose down
Stopping or recreating the container does not remove the host-side data/ directory. Keep that directory in place when updating or replacing the container; it is the persistence boundary.
Use Docker directly instead
Compose is convenient for managing a project service with up, logs, and down. For a one-time interactive run or a single background container, the project also documents direct docker run commands. Both approaches mount the same host data folder at /data/urlwatch.
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One-time interactive run
docker run --rm --interactive --tty
--volume "$(pwd)/data":/data/urlwatch
--volume /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
ghcr.io/mjaschen/urlwatchRun in the background
docker run --detach
--restart unless-stopped
--name urlwatch
--volume "$(pwd)/data":/data/urlwatch
--volume /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
ghcr.io/mjaschen/urlwatchFollow the background container’s output with:
docker logs --follow urlwatchThese examples include a read-only mount of /etc/localtime from the host. The host-side data path is based on running the command from the directory containing data/; adjust the host path if you run it elsewhere, but keep the container destination at /data/urlwatch for this image.
Understand and change the checking schedule
The mjaschen/urlwatch-docker README says its image runs every 15 minutes by default. This is the default schedule documented for that image, not a guarantee for every urlwatch container or community image.
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For an hourly schedule, the README gives this cron entry:
0 * * * * cd /data/urlwatch && urlwatch --verbose --urls urls.yaml --config urlwatch.yaml --hooks hooks.py --cache cache.dbTo use that schedule, the modified crontab must be mounted into the container. Preserve the working-directory paths and filenames used in the command. The README’s example explicitly supplies all four working-file options; do not move the data mount to a different container path without also changing the command to match the image and your configuration.
Troubleshoot common problems
-
Jobs or settings seem to reset after a container replacement: check that the host directory is mounted at
/data/urlwatchand that you are editing files in the host-side directory actually used by Compose ordocker run. Preserve that directory when updating the container.Rank #4
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No jobs run or the job list is empty: confirm that the file is named
urls.yamland is inside the mounted host data directory. Check the YAML and job syntax against the urlwatch version in the image.PC Slower Than It Used to Be?
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Notifications are missing: verify that
urlwatch.yamlwas created from the template, that a reporter is configured underreport, and that its credentials and settings are valid. Inspect the container logs for configuration or delivery errors. -
A schedule change has no effect: the hourly example requires the modified crontab to be mounted into the container. Also verify that the command uses the mounted working directory and the intended file names.
-
Commands or settings behave differently from documentation: the configuration manual cited here is for urlwatch 2.29, and the image example uses a floating image reference. Confirm the version actually included in your image, then use matching documentation and options.
-
A Compose example from another image uses a different path: do not mix paths between container images. This project’s examples use
/data/urlwatch; other images may use a different location.What’s actually slowing this PC down?
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Or skip the browser setup
Urlwatch checks for changes and can notify you; ScreenshotNeo solves a different problem: capturing a web page as an image or PDF. It is not a substitute for scheduled change monitoring, but it can be useful when you need a clean screenshot instead of configuring a browser capture yourself. Its API accepts a URL in one GET request. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation.
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp-
Before capture, it accepts cookie or consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each of these steps can be turned off.
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Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed. The response includes
X-Page-VerdictandX-Billedheaders identifying the result. -
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