> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kadoa.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Monitors

> Watch a website continuously and get alerted when relevant data changes

A monitor watches a website around the clock and alerts you when the data you care about changes, such as a new filing, a price move, or a status update. Use a monitor when minutes matter. For data you need once or on a schedule, create a [workflow](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/workflows/create/dashboard.md) instead.

## Create a monitor

**1. Choose Real-time**

Select **Add workflow** in the sidebar. Open the product type menu below the prompt and select **Real-time**.

![The product type menu below the setup prompt, with Workflow and Real-time options](https://mintcdn.com/kadoa/v7EEuXHZHS8J6dQ7/images/monitors/product-type.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=v7EEuXHZHS8J6dQ7\&q=85\&s=8daa18d48267c800f340273ebc158802)

**2. Describe what to watch**

Name the page and the change you care about. For example: *"Monitor clinicaltrials.gov/search?cond=obesity for new or updated studies. Alert me when a study's status or enrollment changes."*

**Source detected** confirms the URL Kadoa will watch.

**3. Pick where alerts go**

Type `@` in the prompt, or select **Notifications**, and pick a channel. A monitor needs at least one, unless a [template](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/templates.md) provides notifications. Select **Create channel** to add an email address, Slack channel, webhook, or WebSocket.

![A real-time prompt with the notification channel list open, showing email, webhook, and other channels and a Create channel option](https://mintcdn.com/kadoa/v7EEuXHZHS8J6dQ7/images/monitors/channels.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=v7EEuXHZHS8J6dQ7\&q=85\&s=0bdd9da2d0ac8e1cb376891a3525c2ea)

**4. Send it**

Select the send button. Kadoa's agent builds the monitor and narrates each step. If it needs something from you, it asks in the chat. Once the monitor is live, its header shows **Running** and **Real-time**.

## See what changed

Every change appears in the monitor's **History** as a **Data changed** entry, with a count of added, removed, and updated records. Select an entry to open it.

* **Data** shows the records that changed.
* **Screenshot** shows the page before and after the change. Switch between **Compare**, **Side by side**, **Before**, and **After**.

![A running real-time monitor with a Data changed entry selected in History, comparing screenshots of the page before and after the change](https://mintcdn.com/kadoa/v7EEuXHZHS8J6dQ7/images/monitors/change-screenshot.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=v7EEuXHZHS8J6dQ7\&q=85\&s=df4633be7c827f336abcd02af3168d87)

## Tune your alerts

Open the monitor's **Notifications** tab to choose which changes alert you.

* **Track fields**: alert only when certain fields change, such as status or price.
* **Filters**: alert only when values match, such as a price above 100.
* **Type of change**: alert on updated, added, or removed records.
* **AI summary**: add a one or two sentence summary of each change.

See [Notifications](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/notifications.md) for every option. To report an edited record as one update, the monitor needs a [key field](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/workflows/key-fields.md).

## How monitors differ from workflows

* A monitor has no schedule. It runs continuously until you pause it.
* You cannot start a monitor run by hand.
* A monitor uses a slot while it runs, for at least 30 days. See [Usage & billing](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/usage.md).
* If a monitor goes down and comes back, Kadoa sends `workflow_recovered` to your health notifications.
* [Observability](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/observability.md) shows each monitor's uptime instead of a run success rate.

## Create monitors from code or your AI tool

* **SDK & API**: call `createRealtimeWorkflow` in the Node SDK, or `POST /v5/agent` with `productType: "realtime"`. See [Work with the agent](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/workflows/agent.md#create-a-real-time-monitor).
* **MCP**: ask your AI tool to monitor a page. It calls `create_realtime_monitor`, and `list_changes` returns what changed. See [MCP tools](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/sdk/mcp-tools.md).

## Related

* [Change detection](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/change-detection.md): how Kadoa decides what changed.
* [Notifications](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/notifications.md): channels, filters, and what alerts contain.
* [WebSockets](https://docs.kadoa.com/docs/destinations/websockets.md): stream changes into your own systems.


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