Price Monitor

Monitor website prices, inventory, and content changes using browser automation. Use when tracking e-commerce prices, competitor monitoring, stock alerts, or...

Security Scan

The skill's code and instructions match its stated purpose (price monitoring), but there are inconsistencies (notably an undeclared dependency on the agent-browser CLI and mismatches between documented alert options and implemented behavior) that you should resolve before trusting it.

Purpose & Capability

The SKILL.md and script both rely on the agent-browser CLI to navigate pages and extract content, but the skill metadata lists no required binaries. The script's use of agent-browser is necessary for its stated purpose, so the missing declared dependency is an inconsistency that could cause failures or hide an implicit requirement.

Instruction Scope

The runtime instructions (use agent-browser to open pages, snapshot, extract text; run the included Python script with a CSV) align with the price-monitor description. The instructions do suggest rate-limiting, proxies and rotating user agents for evasion, which are within scope for scraping but worth noting for legal/ethical risk and potential operational issues.

Install Mechanism

There is no install spec (instruction-only plus a local Python script). That minimizes hidden install risk. The single included Python script is readable and does not download or execute remote code.

Credentials

No environment variables or credentials are required by the code. SKILL.md mentions optional email (SMTP) and Discord webhook alerts, but the provided script does not implement those integrations; if you add them you will need to provide secrets. As-is, no excessive credential access is requested.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill is not always-on and does not request elevated platform privileges. It runs as a user-invoked script and writes only to local history files, which is consistent with the advertised behavior.

What to consider before installing

This skill appears to implement typical price-monitoring behavior, but check a few things before using it: 1) Install and verify agent-browser: The script calls the agent-browser CLI extensively, but the skill metadata does not declare that binary as required. Make sure agent-browser is installed and trustworthy before running the script. 2) Alerts are not implemented: SKILL.md mentions SMTP and Discord webhooks, but the included script only logs to a CSV and prints to console; if you need notifications you will have to add them and securely store credentials. 3) Rate-limiting and legality: The SKILL.md recommends long delays (30s+), but the script currently sleeps 2s between pages. Increase delays and respect target sites' robots/terms of service to reduce blocking or legal risk. 4) Local data: The script writes price-history.csv locally. Review that file for sensitive data and ensure you store it appropriately. 5) Review agent-browser output handling: The script parses JSON snapshots returned by agent-browser — ensure the CLI's output format matches expectations to avoid silent failures. If you want higher assurance, ask the skill publisher to (a) declare agent-browser as a required binary in the metadata, (b) implement/describe notification integrations clearly and securely, and (c) adjust defaults to safer rate limits.

Overview

Automated price and content monitoring skill using agent-browser. Tracks price changes, stock availability, and content updates on any website with configurable alerts and history logging.

Quick Start

# Monitor a product price
agent-browser open "https://example.com/product/123"
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser get text @e1  # Get price element

Core Workflows

1. Single Product Price Check

Use case: Check current price of a specific product

# Navigate to product page
agent-browser open "<product-url>"

# Get page snapshot to find price element
agent-browser snapshot -i

# Extract price (use appropriate ref from snapshot)
agent-browser get text @e1

# Optional: Save to history log
echo "$(date), $(price)" >> price-history.csv

2. Multi-Product Monitoring

Use case: Track prices across multiple products/competitors

Create a products.csv with URLs and price selectors:

url,selector,name
https://site-a.com/product1,.price-tag,Product A
https://site-b.com/item2,#price,Product B

Run monitoring script:

python scripts/monitor_prices.py products.csv

3. Stock/Inventory Alerts

Use case: Get notified when out-of-stock items become available

agent-browser open "<product-url>"
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser get text @e1  # Check for "In Stock" or "Out of Stock"

4. Price History Tracking

Use case: Build historical price data for analysis

Script automatically logs:

• Timestamp
• Product name/URL
• Current price
• Stock status

Output: price-history.csv or JSON format

Scripts

monitor_prices.py

Main monitoring script that:

• Reads product list from CSV
• Navigates to each URL
• Extracts price using CSS selector
• Logs results with timestamp
• Detects price changes
• Optional: Send alerts on significant changes

Usage:

python scripts/monitor_prices.py products.csv [--alert-threshold 10]

Arguments:

• products.csv - Product list with URLs and selectors
• --alert-threshold - Percentage change to trigger alert (default: 10%)

Configuration

Product List Format (CSV)

url,selector,name,min_price,max_price
https://amazon.com/dp/B08N5WRWNW,.a-price-whole,Sony Headphones,50,150
https://bestbuy.com/site/12345,.priceView-hero-price,TV,200,500

Alert Options

• Email alerts - Configure SMTP settings
• Discord webhook - Post to Discord channel
• File logging - Append to CSV/JSON
• Console output - Print changes to terminal

Best Practices

1. Rate limiting - Add delays between requests (30s+ recommended)
2. Error handling - Handle page load failures gracefully
3. Selector stability - Use stable CSS selectors, avoid dynamic classes
4. Headless mode - Run browser in headless mode for automation
5. Schedule wisely - Check prices during business hours for accuracy

Example: Daily Price Check Cron

# Run every day at 9 AM
0 9 * * * cd /path/to/skill && python scripts/monitor_prices.py products.csv

Troubleshooting

• Element not found: Re-run snapshot to get updated refs
• Price format issues: Adjust selector or parse with regex
• Page load timeout: Increase timeout or add wait condition
• Blocked by site: Add delays, rotate user agents, or use residential proxy