Watchdog

AI-powered topic monitoring system with desktop notifications. Uses Claude to intelligently search the web and notify you when topics you care about have updates.

Components

watchdog-agent

Background daemon that monitors topics and sends KDE desktop notifications.

Features:

• Monitors configurable topics using Claude AI + web search
• KDE desktop notifications when updates are found
• Power-aware: only runs on AC power (configurable)
• Activity-aware: silent when you're idle
• Systemd user service for autostart

watchdog-manager

Kirigami GUI for managing topics with AI chat assistance.

Features:

• Chat interface to add topics using natural language
• Claude AI expands your requests into smart search queries
• Manual topic editor for full control
• Force check topics (bypasses power/idle restrictions)
• Real-time sync with watchdog-agent config

Installation

Prerequisites

# Fedora/KDE
sudo dnf install python3-pyside6 python3-pip

Install both components

# Install the agent
cd agent
pip install -e .

# Install the manager
cd ../manager
pip install -e .

Configuration

1. Set your Anthropic API key:

   # Add to /etc/environment for system-wide access
   sudo bash -c 'echo "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key-here" >> /etc/environment'

2. Initialize config:

   watchdog-agent init

3. Start the background service:

   cp agent/watchdog-agent.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
   systemctl --user daemon-reload
   systemctl --user enable --now watchdog-agent

4. Install desktop entry for manager:

   cp manager/watchdog-manager.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/

Usage

CLI (watchdog-agent)

watchdog-agent status      # Show status
watchdog-agent list        # List topics
watchdog-agent check       # Run checks now
watchdog-agent daemon -v   # Run in foreground (verbose)

GUI (watchdog-manager)

Launch from KDE menu or run watchdog-manager.

Adding topics via chat:

• "Watch for Fedora 44 release"
• "Monitor AMD GPU driver updates"
• "Track when KDE Plasma 6.2 is released"

Manual topic management:

• Click "Add Topic" to create manually
• Click any topic to edit
• Swipe left for Check/Edit/Remove actions

Configuration File

Topics are stored in ~/.config/watchdog-agent/config.yaml:

require_ac_power: true
idle_threshold_minutes: 5

topics:
  - name: "Fedora 44 Release"
    description: "Monitor for Fedora 44 release announcements"
    search_queries:
      - "Fedora 44 release date 2025"
      - "Fedora 44 beta announcement"
    urls_to_check:
      - "https://fedoramagazine.org/"
    check_interval_hours: 48

License

MIT