SITEWATCH LOCAL 0.2.1

Your first website snapshot.

A short guide to the downloadable Python utility. You can read it before buying to make sure the workflow fits.

Before you start: You need Python 3.12 or newer, a terminal, and permission to check your target websites. This is source code you run yourself; it has no graphical installer, hosted monitoring or automatic alerts. It uses Python’s standard library with no extra package installation.

1. Download and unzip

After a successful purchase, open the download link in your Lemon Squeezy order confirmation or receipt. You can also retrieve your order through My Orders using the email address you used at checkout. Unzip the package into a folder on your computer.

2. Check Python and try the offline demo

Open a terminal in that folder. On Windows, use the Python launcher:

py -3 --version
py -3 sitewatch.py --self-test --output demo

On macOS or Linux, use your Python 3 command:

python3 --version
python3 sitewatch.py --self-test --output demo

Make sure the version shown is 3.12 or newer. The offline demo makes no website requests. Open demo/report.html in your browser. Its website addresses and observations are fictional examples.

3. Choose your websites

Copy targets.example.json to targets.json. Replace the example with a public HTTPS website you own or have permission to check, and set authorized to true. You can configure up to 20 targets. URLs with credentials or query parameters, private addresses and nonstandard ports are rejected.

4. Run a real check

py -3 sitewatch.py --config targets.json --output first-check

On macOS or Linux, replace py -3 with python3. The tool contacts the configured websites and saves report.html and report.json in your chosen output folder. The target servers may log those requests.

5. Compare with a later check

py -3 sitewatch.py --config targets.json --previous first-check/report.json --output second-check

Use a different output folder to preserve your earlier report. Running again into the same folder replaces its two report files. Comparisons accept real snapshots from version 0.2.0 or 0.2.1. Offline demonstrations cannot be used as a previous real check.

Reading the result

The report records HTTP status, TLS certificate expiry and observation timestamps in UTC. An unavailable check remains unknown. It is not proof of an outage, recovery, continuous uptime or a working checkout. Review the details and investigate before acting on a warning.

Need a hand?

Check the included README and the support page. Keep your order number, Python version and exact error message ready. Remove credentials, personal data and private URLs before sharing diagnostic information.