| name | parallel-monitor |
| description | Continuously track the web for changes on a recurring cadence. Use when the user asks to 'monitor', 'track changes to', 'watch', or 'alert me when' something on the web changes — e.g., 'Track price changes for iPhone 16', 'Alert me when Tesla files a new 8-K', 'Monitor competitor pricing pages weekly'. Also use to list, inspect, update, or stop existing monitors, including requests to delete them. |
| user-invocable | true |
| argument-hint | <create|list|events|get|update|trigger|cancel> [args] |
| compatibility | Requires parallel-cli >= 0.4.0 and internet access. |
| allowed-tools | Bash(parallel-cli:*) |
| metadata | {"author":"parallel"} |
Web Monitor
Action: $ARGUMENTS
Requires parallel-cli ≥ 0.4.0 for the GA Monitor commands. If a Monitor command or option is missing, tell the user to update through their installation method (see https://docs.parallel.ai/integrations/cli), then retry.
What this skill does
Monitors are long-running, server-side jobs that re-check the web on a cadence and emit events when something changes. Unlike search/research/findall (one-shot lookups), monitors persist until cancelled and can optionally deliver detected events through a webhook.
Decide the action
Parse the user's request and pick one:
| Intent | Action |
|---|
| "Track / watch / monitor / alert me when X" | create |
| "What am I monitoring?" / "List monitors" | list |
| "What changed?" / "Show me events for monitor X" | events |
| "Show monitor X" / "Get details for X" | get |
| "Change cadence / webhook for X" | update |
| "Check monitor X now" / "Run it now" | trigger |
| "Show me the full payload for event group X" | events with --event-group-id |
| "Stop / delete monitor X" | cancel (always confirm before cancelling) |
Create a monitor
parallel-cli monitor create "<query>" --frequency 1d --json
Frequency accepts <n><unit> with h, d, or w (for example 1h, 1d, or 1w). The aliases hourly, daily, weekly, and every_two_weeks are also accepted. Match cadence to how often the source actually changes — hourly for prices/news, weekly for filings/staffing.
Optional flags:
--webhook https://example.com/hook — deliver detected events to a URL--metadata '{"team":"competitive-intel"}' — attach JSON metadata for your own bookkeeping--output-schema '<json>' — structure the event payload (advanced)
Parse the JSON to extract the monitor_id. Tell the user:
- The monitor has been created with its ID
- The frequency (so they know how often the monitor checks)
- That recent events are available server-side — they can run
parallel-cli monitor events $MONITOR_ID later to see what changed
List monitors
parallel-cli monitor list -n 10 --json
Default to -n 10 for concise output. list returns active monitors only by default; add --status active --status cancelled when the user asks to include cancelled monitors. Raise the limit only for a larger set. Present as a table: ID, query or Task Run (truncated), frequency, created.
Note: monitor list is sorted newest-first. If a user is verifying creation, prefer monitor get $MONITOR_ID (using the ID returned by create) over scanning the list.
View events for a monitor
parallel-cli monitor events "$MONITOR_ID" --json
Events are returned newest-first. If the response contains next_cursor, pass it with --cursor to retrieve another page.
For deeper detail on a specific event group:
parallel-cli monitor events "$MONITOR_ID" --event-group-id "$EVENT_GROUP_ID" --json
Summarize for the user: count of events, then a bulleted list of what changed with dates or timestamps. Cite source URLs from the event payload.
Get / update / trigger / cancel
parallel-cli monitor get "$MONITOR_ID" --json
parallel-cli monitor update "$MONITOR_ID" --frequency 1w --json
parallel-cli monitor trigger "$MONITOR_ID" --json
parallel-cli monitor cancel "$MONITOR_ID" --json
The current CLI does not expose query updates; create a new monitor to change the query.
trigger enqueues a real off-schedule run without changing the regular schedule. It is not a synthetic webhook test, and it emits an event only if the run detects a material change.
Always confirm before cancelling — cancellation is permanent.
Setup
Requires parallel-cli (installed and authenticated). If parallel-cli --version fails, or if a later command fails with an authentication error, tell the user to see https://docs.parallel.ai/integrations/cli and stop.
