Parallel Monitor

Web Monitor

Action: $ARGUMENTS

> Requires parallel-cli ≥ 0.3.0 (the monitor command was added in 0.3.0). If parallel-cli monitor errors with no such command or similar, tell the user to run parallel-cli update (or pipx upgrade parallel-web-tools if installed via pipx), 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 deleted and can optionally fire a webhook on each event.

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 / query / webhook for X" | update | | "Test the webhook" / "Fire a test event" | simulate (requires a webhook on the monitor) | | "Show me the full payload for event group X" | event-group | | "Stop / delete monitor X" | delete (always confirm before deleting) |

Create a monitor

parallel-cli monitor create "" --cadence daily --json

Cadence options: hourly, daily (default), weekly, every_two_weeks. Match cadence to how often the source actually changes — hourly for prices/news, weekly for filings/staffing.

Optional flags:

• --webhook https://example.com/hook — POST events to a URL as they happen
• --metadata '{"team":"competitive-intel"}' — attach JSON metadata for your own bookkeeping
• --output-schema '' — 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 cadence (so they know when to expect first event)
• That events accumulate server-side — they can run parallel-cli monitor events $MONITOR_ID later to see what changed

If they configured a webhook, suggest testing it:

parallel-cli monitor simulate "$MONITOR_ID"

simulate requires a webhook to be configured on the monitor. Without one it errors with Webhook not configured for this monitor — do not run it on monitors created without --webhook.

List monitors

parallel-cli monitor list -n 10 --json

Default to -n 10 — accounts with many historical monitors can return megabytes of JSON otherwise. Raise the limit only if the user explicitly asks for "all" or a larger set. Present as a table: ID, query (truncated), cadence, created.

> Note: monitor list is not guaranteed to be sorted newest-first, so a monitor you just created may not appear in the first page of results. 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" --lookback 10d --json

Lookback format: Nd (days) or Nw (weeks). Default 10d.

For deeper detail on a specific event group:

parallel-cli monitor event-group "$MONITOR_ID" "$EVENT_GROUP_ID" --json

Summarize for the user: count of events in the period, then a bulleted list of what changed with timestamps. Cite source URLs from the event payload.

Get / update / delete

parallel-cli monitor get "$MONITOR_ID" --json
parallel-cli monitor update "$MONITOR_ID" --cadence weekly --json
parallel-cli monitor delete "$MONITOR_ID" --json

Always confirm before deleting — deletion 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 and stop.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: parallel-web
• Source: parallel-web/parallel-agent-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.