🕸️ Dynamic Website Change Monitor with Smart Email Alerts
Never miss important website updates again! This workflow automatically tracks changes on dynamic websites (think React apps, JavaScript-heavy sites) and sends you instant email notifications when something changes. Perfect for keeping tabs on competitors, monitoring product updates, or staying on top of important announcements.
✨ What makes this special?
🚀 Handles Dynamic Websites: Uses Firecrawl API to scrape JavaScript-rendered content that basic scrapers can't touch
📧 Smart Email Alerts: Only sends notifications when content actually changes (no spam!)
📊 Historical Tracking: Keeps a complete log of all changes in Google Sheets
🛡️ Bulletproof: Continues working even if one part fails
⚡ Ready to Deploy: Webhook-triggered, perfect for cron jobs or external schedulers
🎯 Perfect for monitoring:
- Competitor pricing pages
- Job board postings
- Product availability updates
- News sites for breaking stories
- API documentation changes
- Terms of service updates
🛠️ What you'll need to get started:
API Accounts & Keys:
-
Firecrawl Account 🔥
- Sign up at firecrawl.dev
- Grab your API key from the dashboard
- Create a "Bearer Auth" credential in n8n
-
Google Cloud Setup ☁️
- Enable Google Sheets API
- Enable Gmail API
- Set up OAuth2 credentials
- Add both as credentials in n8n
-
Google Sheets Document 📋
- Create a new spreadsheet
- Add two tabs: "Log" and "comparison"
- Follow the structure outlined in the workflow notes
🚀 How it works:
- Webhook receives trigger → Starts the monitoring process
- Firecrawl scrapes website → Gets fresh content (even JavaScript-rendered!)
- Smart comparison → Checks against previously stored content
- Change detected? → If yes, send email + log everything
- Update storage → Prepares for next monitoring cycle
⚙️ Setup Steps:
- Import this workflow into your n8n instance
- Configure credentials for Firecrawl, Google Sheets, and Gmail
- Update the target URL in the Firecrawl node
- Set your email address in the Gmail node
- Create your Google Sheets with the required structure
- Test it manually first, then activate!
🎨 Customize it your way:
- Target any website by updating the URL
- Change email templates to match your style
- Adjust monitoring frequency with external cron jobs
- Switch between markdown/HTML extraction formats
- Fine-tune change detection sensitivity
🔧 Troubleshooting:
- Firecrawl errors? Check your API key and rate limits
- Google Sheets issues? Verify OAuth permissions and sheet structure
- Email not sending? Check Gmail API quotas and spam folders
- Webhook problems? Make sure the workflow is activated
Ready to never miss another website change? Let's get this automation running! 🎉