collector

name	collector
description	Autonomous intelligence monitor -- continuous web monitoring, change detection, knowledge graph updates, and event alerts
version	1.1.0
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["productivity","intelligence","monitoring","alerts"],"category":"productivity"}}

When to Use

Activate on a schedule to track targets (companies, sectors, instruments, people, technologies), collect data from the web, build knowledge over time, detect changes, and alert when something significant happens.

Configuration

• target_subject: What to monitor (company, person, technology, market sector, etc.). Required.
• collection_depth: surface (headlines only), deep (full articles), or exhaustive (multi-hop research). Default: deep.
• focus_area: Intelligence lens to apply -- market, business, competitor, technology, or general. Default: market.
• alert_on_changes: Send a Telegram alert when significant changes are detected. Default: true.
• max_sources_per_cycle: How many sources to process each collection sweep (10, 30, 50, or 100). Default: 30.
• track_sentiment: Analyse sentiment trends over time. Default: true.
• Use the native Memex plugin tools (memex_*). Do not shell out to curl.

Procedure

Memory

Use Memex for state and persistence (namespace: app:hermes:collector:*):

memex_kv_get(key="app:hermes:collector:{key}")
memex_kv_write(key="app:hermes:collector:{key}", value="...")
memex_retrieve_notes(query="...")   # search existing knowledge
memex_list_entities(query="{topic}") # entity exploration

Phase 0: Load State

1. Get last run timestamp:

memex_kv_get(key="app:hermes:collector:last_run")

2. Get previous known state snapshot:

memex_kv_get(key="app:hermes:collector:known_state")

3. Read target_subject and focus_area from configuration.

Phase 1: Source Discovery

Based on target_subject and focus_area, construct search queries:

• Market focus: "{target} stock price", "{target} analyst rating", "{target} earnings"
• Business focus: "{target} partnerships", "{target} revenue", "{target} expansion"
• Competitor focus: "{target} vs {competitor}", "{target} market share"
• Technology focus: "{target} release", "{target} update", "{target} benchmark"

Run 5-15 web_search queries depending on collection_depth.

Phase 2: Collection Sweep

For each search result:

1. Evaluate relevance (does it mention the target?).
2. Use web_fetch on promising URLs to extract: key facts, dates, names, numbers.
3. Tag data with confidence: HIGH (official source), MEDIUM (news), LOW (blog/social).
4. Compare against known_state from Phase 0 -- is this new information?

Phase 3: Change Detection

Compare collected facts against the previous known_state:

• New entity: a person, company, product, or event not seen before
• Changed attribute: a number, status, or description that differs from last run
• New relationship: a connection between entities not previously known
• Removed entity: something in the previous state that is no longer mentioned

Score each change:

• CRITICAL: leadership change, acquisition, regulatory action, earnings surprise
• IMPORTANT: partnership, pricing change, product launch, analyst revision
• MINOR: blog mention, minor personnel change, routine update

Phase 4: Persist and Alert

1. Update known_state in KV with the latest facts:

memex_kv_write(key="app:hermes:collector:known_state", value="{...updated facts...}")

2. Save a collection report to Memex:

memex_retain(
  title="Collector Report: {target_subject} - {date}",
  author="collector",
  description="...",
  tags=["collector", "intelligence", "{target_subject}"],
  markdown_content=$REPORT_MARKDOWN,
  vault_id="inbox",
  background=True
)

Capture the returned note id into NOTE_ID if you need it later.

3. Update last run:

memex_kv_write(key="app:hermes:collector:last_run", value="{ISO-timestamp}")

4. If alert_on_changes is enabled AND any CRITICAL or IMPORTANT changes were detected, send via Telegram with the format:

COLLECTOR -- {target}: {change_summary}

If no significant changes, do nothing (no Telegram spam on quiet days).

Phase 5: Stats

Update KV counters:

memex_kv_write(key="app:hermes:collector:data_points", value="{total}")
memex_kv_write(key="app:hermes:collector:entities_tracked", value="{count}")
memex_kv_write(key="app:hermes:collector:reports_generated", value="{count}")
memex_kv_write(key="app:hermes:collector:last_update", value="{ISO-timestamp}")

Guidelines

• Attribute every fact to its source
• Distinguish facts from analysis
• Respect rate limits -- do not hammer the same domain
• Prioritise recent information over old
• If the target is not found in search results, say so -- do not fabricate data

Pitfalls

• Always load the previous known_state before collection so change detection works correctly. Without it, every fact looks new.
• Only send Telegram alerts for CRITICAL or IMPORTANT changes -- never for MINOR changes or quiet runs.
• KV namespace is app:hermes:collector: -- do not use the old app:openfang:collector: prefix.
• Respect web rate limits. Do not fetch the same domain more than a few times per cycle.