Notifications Setup

Configure Discord, Slack, Email, Teams, and 100+ notification services with Jinja2 templating

Changedetection.io supports over 100 notification services through the powerful Apprise library. Configure notifications globally or per-watch with custom templates using Jinja2.

Supported Services

Changedetection.io supports:

• Chat: Discord, Slack, Mattermost, Rocket.Chat, Telegram, Matrix
• Email: SMTP, Gmail, Office365, Mailgun, SendGrid
• Collaboration: Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Flock, Gitter
• Incident Management: PagerDuty, Opsgenie, VictorOps
• Custom: Webhooks (JSON/XML), Syslog, MQTT
• And 100+ more services

Apprise URL Syntax

Apprise uses URL-based configuration. Each service has a specific URL format.

Discord

discord://webhook_id/webhook_token · string

Discord webhook notification

Steps to get webhook URL:

1. In Discord, go to Server Settings → Integrations → Webhooks
2. Click “New Webhook” or edit existing
3. Copy the webhook URL: https://discord.com/api/webhooks/{id}/{token}
4. Extract the ID and token, format as: discord://{id}/{token}

Example:

discord://1234567890/AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz

Slack

slack://tokenA/tokenB/tokenC/ · string

Slack webhook notification

Steps to get webhook URL:

1. Go to https://api.slack.com/apps
2. Create a new app or select existing
3. Enable “Incoming Webhooks”
4. Add webhook to workspace
5. Copy webhook URL: https://hooks.slack.com/services/T.../B.../X...
6. Extract tokens after /services/: slack://T.../B.../X...

Example:

slack://T1234567/B1234567/XXXXXXXXXXXX

Email (SMTP)

mailto://user:[e-mail]?to=[e-mail] · string

Email notification via SMTP

Format:

mailto://[user]:[password]@[hostname]:[port]?to=[recipient]

Example with Gmail:

mailto://myuser:[e-mail]:587?to=[e-mail]

Example with Office365:

mailto://user:[e-mail]:587?to=[e-mail]

Office365

o365://TenantID:AccountEmail/ClientID/ClientSecret/TargetEmail · string

Office365 email using Microsoft Graph API

Format:

o365://[TenantID]:[AccountEmail]/[ClientID]/[ClientSecret]/[TargetEmail]

Example:

o365://abc123:[e-mail]/client-id-here/secret-here/[e-mail]

Microsoft Teams

msteams://TokenA/TokenB/TokenC/ · string

Microsoft Teams webhook notification

Steps to get webhook URL:

1. In Teams, go to the channel where you want notifications
2. Click ”⋯” → “Connectors” → “Incoming Webhook”
3. Configure webhook and copy URL
4. Extract tokens from URL

Example:

msteams://TokenA/TokenB/TokenC/

Google Chat

gchat://workspace/key/token · string

Google Chat webhook notification

Example:

gchat://myworkspace/AIza...../token-here

Telegram

tgram://bottoken/ChatID · string

Telegram bot notification

Example:

tgram://123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz/-123456789

Rocket.Chat

rocket://user:password@hostname/#Channel · string

Rocket.Chat webhook notification

Example:

rocket://myuser:[e-mail]/#alerts

Custom JSON Webhook

json://someserver.com/custom-api · string

Custom JSON POST webhook

Example:

json://api.example.com/webhook
jsons://api.example.com/secure-webhook

The notification data will be POSTed as JSON to your endpoint.

Syslog

syslog:// · string

Send notifications to local syslog

Example:

syslog://
syslog://remote-server:514

Global vs Per-Watch Notifications

Global Notifications

Set default notification URLs that apply to all watches:

1. Go to Settings (gear icon)
2. Navigate to Notifications tab
3. Enter notification URLs (one per line)
4. Save settings

Example global configuration:

discord://1234567890/AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz
slack://T1234567/B1234567/XXXXXXXXXXXX
mailto://alerts:[e-mail]?to=[e-mail]

Per-Watch Notifications

Override global settings for specific watches:

1. Edit a watch
2. Go to Notifications tab
3. Enter notification URLs (one per line)
4. Enable/disable specific notifications
5. Save watch

Per-watch notifications override global notifications. If a watch has notification URLs configured, global notifications will not be sent.

Tag-Based Notifications

Configure notifications at the tag level:

1. Go to Tags page
2. Edit a tag
3. Configure notification URLs
4. All watches with this tag inherit these notifications

Priority order:

Individual Watch Settings > Tag Settings > Global Settings

Notification Templates (Jinja2)

Customize notification content using Jinja2 templates with access to watch data, diffs, and timestamps.

Available Template Variables

watch_url · string

The URL being monitored

Example:

{{ watch_url }}

watch_title · string

The title/name of the watch

Example:

{{ watch_title }}

watch_uuid · string

Unique identifier for the watch

Example:

{{ watch_uuid }}

watch_tag · string

Tags assigned to the watch

base_url · string

Your changedetection.io instance URL (set via BASE_URL env variable)

Example:

Edit: {{ base_url }}/edit/{{ watch_uuid }}

diff · string

Diff showing changes (with +/- prefixes)

Example:

{{ diff }}

With parameters:

{{ diff(lines=5) }}
{{ diff(added_only=true) }}
{{ diff(removed_only=true) }}
{{ diff(context=3) }}

diff_clean · string

Diff without +/- prefixes

diff_added · string

Only added lines

Example:

{{ diff_added(lines=10) }}

diff_removed · string

Only removed lines

diff_full · string

Full diff including unchanged lines

diff_patch · string

Diff in unified patch format

current_snapshot · string

Current version of the content

prev_snapshot · string

Previous version of the content

change_datetime · string

Timestamp when change was detected

Example:

{{ change_datetime }}
{{ change_datetime(format='%Y-%m-%d') }}
{{ change_datetime(format='%A') }}

triggered_text · string

Text that matched trigger filters

preview_url · string

URL to preview the changes in changedetection.io

diff_url · string

Direct URL to the diff view

screenshot · string

Base64-encoded screenshot (if enabled)

Custom Notification Title

Edit the notification title in Settings → Notifications:

Default title:

ChangeDetection.io Notification - {{ watch_url }}

Custom title examples:

🔔 {{ watch_title }} has changed!

Price Alert: {{ watch_title }}

{{ watch_tag }}: Change detected on {{ watch_url }}

Custom Notification Body

Edit the notification body in Settings → Notifications:

Default body:

Changed: {{ watch_url }}

{{ diff }}

Custom body examples:

Example 1: Compact format

URL: {{ watch_url }}
Changed: {{ change_datetime(format='%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') }}

Changes:
{{ diff(lines=10) }}

View: {{ preview_url }}

Example 2: Added lines only

🆕 New content detected on {{ watch_title }}

{{ diff_added_clean(lines=15) }}

Full details: {{ base_url }}/preview/{{ watch_uuid }}

Example 3: Rich formatting

**Website:** {{ watch_url }}
**Title:** {{ watch_title }}
**When:** {{ change_datetime }}
**Tags:** {{ watch_tag }}

## What changed:
{{ diff(lines=20, context=2) }}

[View full changes]({{ diff_url }})
[Edit watch]({{ base_url }}/edit/{{ watch_uuid }})

Example 4: Price monitoring

💰 Price update for {{ watch_title }}

Previous price: {{ prev_snapshot }}
Current price: {{ current_snapshot }}

{{ diff_clean }}

Check now: {{ watch_url }}

Conditional Notifications

Use Jinja2 conditionals for advanced logic:

{% if diff_added %}
🆕 New content added:
{{ diff_added(lines=5) }}
{% endif %}

{% if diff_removed %}
❌ Content removed:
{{ diff_removed(lines=5) }}
{% endif %}

{% if watch_tag == 'urgent' %}
🚨 URGENT: Immediate attention required
{% endif %}

Notification Formats

Changedetection.io supports multiple notification formats:

notification_format · string

Format for notification content

Values:

• text - Plain text (default)
• markdown - Markdown formatting
• html - HTML formatting

Set in Settings → Notifications → Format dropdown

Markdown Format

Use markdown for rich formatting:

## Change Detected: {{ watch_title }}

**URL:** {{ watch_url }}
**Time:** {{ change_datetime }}

### Changes:
{{ diff(lines=10) }}

[View Details]({{ preview_url }})

HTML Format

Use HTML for email notifications:

<h2>Change Detected</h2>
<p><strong>URL:</strong> <a href="{{ watch_url }}">{{ watch_title }}</a></p>
<p><strong>When:</strong> {{ change_datetime }}</p>
<h3>Changes:</h3>
<pre>{{ diff(lines=10) }}</pre>
<p><a href="{{ preview_url }}">View Full Details</a></p>

Muting Notifications

Mute Individual Watch

1. Edit watch
2. Go to Notifications tab
3. Check Mute notifications for this watch
4. Save

Mute All Notifications

1. Go to Settings
2. Enable Mute all notifications toggle
3. Save

The all_muted setting overrides all watch-level and tag-level notification settings.

Mute by Tag

1. Edit tag
2. Enable Mute notifications for tag
3. All watches with this tag will have notifications muted

Notification Screenshots

Include screenshots in notifications:

1. Edit watch
2. Go to Notifications tab
3. Enable Include screenshot in notification
4. Save

Screenshots require a browser-based fetcher (Playwright/Puppeteer) and increase notification size.

Testing Notifications

Test Global Notifications

1. Go to Settings → Notifications
2. Click Send test notification
3. Check your notification service for the test message

Test Watch Notifications

1. Edit watch
2. Go to Notifications tab
3. Click Send test notification
4. Verify notification received

Troubleshooting

Notifications Not Sending

1. Check notification URLs: Verify the Apprise URL format is correct
2. Test connectivity: Ensure changedetection.io can reach the notification service
3. Check logs: Look for errors in Docker logs: docker logs changedetection
4. Verify watch isn’t muted: Check watch and global mute settings

Template Errors

If Jinja2 templates fail:

1. Syntax errors: Check for missing }}, %}, or quotes
2. Undefined variables: Ensure template variables exist (e.g., watch_title may be empty)
3. Test with simple template: Start with {{ watch_url }} and add complexity

Discord/Slack Not Receiving

1. Webhook permissions: Verify webhook has permission to post
2. Rate limits: Check if you’re hitting API rate limits
3. URL format: Double-check Discord/Slack webhook URL format

Email Notifications Failing

1. SMTP settings: Verify hostname, port, username, password
2. Authentication: Use app-specific passwords for Gmail
3. TLS/SSL: Try different ports (587 for STARTTLS, 465 for SSL)
4. NO_PROXY: Add email server to NO_PROXY environment variable

Best Practices

1. Test notifications before deploying watches
2. Use templates to reduce notification fatigue
3. Set NO_PROXY to exclude notification services from proxy routing
4. Use per-watch notifications for critical watches
5. Limit diff size in templates with diff(lines=10)
6. Monitor notification count to avoid overwhelming channels
7. Use tags to organize notification routing

Example Configurations

Multi-Channel Setup

# Critical alerts to PagerDuty and Teams
pagerduty://integration-key-here
msteams://TokenA/TokenB/TokenC/

# All changes to Discord
discord://1234567890/AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz

# Daily digest via email
mailto://alerts:[e-mail]?to=[e-mail]

Custom Webhook with Template

Notification URL:

json://api.example.com/changedetection-webhook

Notification Body:

{
  "event": "page_changed",
  "url": "{{ watch_url }}",
  "title": "{{ watch_title }}",
  "timestamp": "{{ change_datetime(format='%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ') }}",
  "diff_summary": "{{ diff(lines=3) }}",
  "view_url": "{{ preview_url }}"
}

Related Documentation

• Environment Variables - Configure BASE_URL for notification links
• Proxy Setup - Set NO_PROXY for notification services
• Apprise Documentation - Full list of supported services