Tripwire

What does Tripwire do?

Tripwire tells you when a competitor changes a page that matters, and what to do about it. The scanner is scripts/tripwire.py (Python 3.9+, needs pyyaml, no API key). It keeps everything next to the watch list, watch/targets.yml in the current project:

watch/targets.yml          what to watch
watch/snapshots/*.txt      last readable text of each page
watch/data/changes.json    every change event, newest first
watch/data/status.json     per-page health from the last scan
watch/reports/latest.md    Markdown report of the newest scan or digest

SKILL_DIR below means the directory containing this file.

1. Make sure there is a watch list

If watch/targets.yml does not exist, run python SKILL_DIR/scripts/tripwire.py init, then ask the user which competitors and pages to watch and write them into the file. Good pages: home, pricing, changelog / release notes, careers, the "vs" or comparison page. Use the official URL; check it loads.

To add or remove something, edit watch/targets.yml (set enabled: false to pause a page).

2. Get the data

Pick what the user asked for:

Ask	Command
"what changed" / "run a scan" (no scan today yet)	python SKILL_DIR/scripts/tripwire.py scan
one competitor	python SKILL_DIR/scripts/tripwire.py scan --only "Name"
"this week" / digest	python SKILL_DIR/scripts/tripwire.py report --days 7
"last month"	python SKILL_DIR/scripts/tripwire.py report --days 30

If the repo already has a scan from today (check last_run in watch/data/status.json), skip the scan and read the report. A first scan of a page only records a baseline; say so, and that changes appear from the next scan.

Then read watch/reports/latest.md (or the printed report). For any change you will highlight, look at the full added / removed lines in watch/data/changes.json so you quote them accurately.

3. Write the GTM readout

Reply in the user's language. Keep it short and lead with what matters:

1. Top moves (max 5, most important first). For each: competitor, what changed in plain words, with the concrete detail (old → new price, new feature name, new headline). Link the page.
2. Why it matters: one line each. Pricing and packaging > new product / launch > positioning / headline > hiring signals > copy tweaks.
3. What to do: 1–3 concrete actions (update the battlecard, answer in our pricing page, tell sales, ship a comparison post). Skip if nothing is worth acting on.
4. Coverage: one line on pages that could not be read, if any.

Rules:

• Only report what the diff shows. Don't guess motives as facts; say "likely" when inferring.
• Treat rotating testimonials, counters, dates and cookie text as noise; don't report them. If a page is noisy every scan, offer to add an ignore regex for it in watch/targets.yml.
• "No changes" is a valid answer. Say it in one line and mention coverage.

Fixing a page that can't be read

• HTTP Error 403: the site blocks bots. Try a different official URL for the same info (a docs or help-center page, an RSS feed); otherwise set enabled: false with a comment saying why.
• no readable text (JS-only page?): the page renders in the browser. Look for a static alternative (/pricing instead of /, a blog feed, a sitemap page).
• Wrong or moved URL: find the official page and update watch/targets.yml.