Background script

avantguard‑watcher

New drop at the store?
You’ll hear about it first.

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Version 1.0 · Python 3 · macOS with Mail · 3 KB zip

avantguard-watcher — zsh
~/avantguard-watcher % python3 check_products.py
[2026-09-12 02:14:48 UTC] First run: seeding state without sending a notification.
~/avantguard-watcher % python3 check_products.py
[2026-09-19 09:00:02 UTC] Checked catalog: 11 products found, 1 new.
[2026-09-19 09:00:04 UTC] Sent notification for 1 new product.
~/avantguard-watcher % crontab -l
0 9 * * * /usr/bin/python3 ~/avantguard-watcher/check_products.py
~/avantguard-watcher %  
New at Avant Guard: 1 product
To: you@example.com
1 new product was just listed on avantguarddesign.com:
The Y2K Case
$48.00
avantguarddesign.com/products/the-y2k-case
A run in Terminal, and the notification email it sends through Mail.

Set it, forget it.

A single dependency-free Python script. It reads the store’s public product feed, remembers what it has seen, and emails you only when something new shows up.

Watches the catalog

Reads the store’s products.json feed, up to 250 products per check.

Remembers what it’s seen

Known products are kept in state.json, so you’re only told about genuinely new listings.

Emails through Mail

New products arrive as an email with name, price and link, sent by Mail.app via AppleScript.

Runs on a schedule

Designed for cron or launchd: daily, weekly, whatever suits you.

Quiet first run

The first run seeds the list without sending anything, so you aren’t flooded.

Retries on failure

If a send fails it’s logged to run.log and retried on the next run.

Configuration

There’s no settings window. Edit the constants at the top of check_products.py.

Settings in check_products.py

NOTIFY_EMAILWhere notifications go. Change this before the first run.
you@example.com
STORE_URL
https://avantguarddesign.com

Files next to the script

state.json
Products already seen
run.log
Timestamped log of every run

Schedule (crontab -e)

Daily at 9:00
0 9 * * * /usr/bin/python3 …/check_products.py

The first time it sends mail, macOS asks whether the process may control Mail. Choose Allow.

Tech specs

Requirements
  • Python 3 (standard library only)
  • Mail.app with an account set up
Included
check_products.py and a README with setup steps
Version
1.0
Download
avantguard-watcher.zip · 3 KB

Get avantguard‑watcher.

A single Python script and a short README. Set your email address, run it once, then schedule it.

Download script · 3 KB