Scout is a simple Mac app that keeps an eye on websites for you. Whether you're waiting for a price drop, a restock, or a new job listing—Scout uses AI to spot the changes you care about and lets you know when they happen. Just set it and forget it.
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- AI-powered website monitoring – Track visual changes on any webpage
- Custom conditions – Get notified when your specific condition is met
- Scheduled checks – Monitor pages hourly, daily, or weekly
- Native Mac interface – Clean, minimal, and feels right at home on macOS
Download and install Scout from the releases page. Choose the version that matches your Mac's architecture:
- Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) Macs: Download the
-arm64version - Intel Macs: Download the
-x64version
Both versions are available as:
.dmginstaller (recommended).ziparchive (for manual installation)
- API key – You'll need either:
- Your OpenAI API key (enter it under Settings), or
- Ollama installed with the Llama 3.2 Vision model (note: Llama can be resource-intensive and may not work well on all computers)
- Create a task – Click the "+" icon to start monitoring a new page
- Test the task – Use the "Test" button to verify your condition
- Save to run automatically – Tasks run in the background on your chosen schedule
- Price tracking – Get notified when a product drops below your target price
- Stock alerts – Monitor for "Add to Cart" buttons or availability text
- Limited releases – Catch product launches, ticket drops, or flash sales
- Job listings – Track career pages for specific job titles
- Content updates – Watch for new articles, headlines, or visible changes
- Reservation availability – Monitor booking sites for open time slots
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Run development server
npm run dev
# Build for production
npm run build- Local-only processing – All tasks and data are stored locally on your device
- Secure API key storage – Your API keys are encrypted and stored securely
- No unnecessary data sharing – Scout only communicates with OpenAI's API or your local Ollama instance
- Anonymous analytics – Scout uses TelemetryDeck to collect anonymized usage data (e.g. app launches, errors, feature use). No personal information is collected. Learn more at telemetrydeck.com/privacy
Scout captures a screenshot of the specified URL and analyzes it visually — it does not interact with the page or run scripts. As a result, there are a few limitations:
- Login-required pages – Pages that require authentication can't be accessed
- CAPTCHAs – Pages that require CAPTCHA verification can't be captured
- Cookie/GDPR banners – Consent popups may block content, as Scout can't accept them
To notarize the app for macOS distribution:
-
Setup Environment Variables – Create a
.envfile in the project root with the following variables:[email protected] APPLE_PASSWORD=app-specific-password APPLE_TEAM_ID=your-team-idNote: The
APPLE_PASSWORDshould be an app-specific password generated from your Apple ID account. -
Run Build Script – Execute the build script which handles both building and notarization:
./build-with-notarize.sh
The script will automatically:
- Build the app
- Notarize it with Apple
- Staple the notarization ticket
- Create a distributable package
- Claude Code – For helping me build the app without coding skills
- OpenAI GPT-4.1 Mini – For powering the Vision API
- Ollama – For providing local AI capabilities with Llama 3.2 Vision
- shadcn/ui – For accessible, elegant UI components
- Phosphor Icons – For the icon set used in the app
- TelemetryDeck – For privacy-first analytics
- Electron – For cross-platform desktop app support
- React & TypeScript – For frontend development and type safety
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0). See the LICENSE file for details. This license ensures that all modifications remain open source.