truenas-catalog-notify

Lightweight TrueNAS Apps catalog watcher that sends Telegram alerts when the catalog changes.

What it tracks

The watcher pulls https://apps.truenas.com/catalog over plain HTTP (no browser/emulation), parses app cards, and compares these fields against a saved snapshot:

• app name
• app URL
• train
• added date
• summary text

On changes, it sends Telegram messages with:

• one detailed message per newly added app (name, URL, train, added date, catalog summary, plus extra details parsed from the app page when available)
• removed apps (-)
• updated apps (~) and field-level diffs

Environment variables

• TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN (required for notifications)
• TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID (required for notifications)
• CHECK_INTERVAL_SECONDS (default: 1800)
• STATE_PATH (default: /data/catalog_state.json)
• CATALOG_URL (default: https://apps.truenas.com/catalog)
• REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS (default: 30)
• LOG_LEVEL (default: INFO)

Build

docker build -t truenas-catalog-notify .

Run

docker run -d \
  --name truenas-catalog-notify \
  -e TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC... \
  -e TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=123456789 \
  -e CHECK_INTERVAL_SECONDS=1800 \
  -v truenas-catalog-notify-data:/data \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  truenas-catalog-notify

Notes

• First run only stores the initial snapshot (no notification).
• Notifications start when a later check differs from the saved snapshot.
• If Telegram variables are missing, the watcher logs changes but skips sending messages.
• If you hit permissions on /data/catalog_state.json, rebuild and recreate the container with the latest image.

Rebuild after changes

docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d --force-recreate