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Brandon Dixon edited this page Nov 29, 2018 · 4 revisions

The google-alerts Python module provides an abstract interface for the Google Alerts service. Google does not provide an official API for this service, so interactions are done through web scripting.

WARNING: Your account password will be obfuscated and saved on the file system. Additionally, post-authentication, a session cookie will also be saved. These can be stolen and re-used to compromise your account. As a best practice, register a new email to manage alerts.

Quick Start

Install the library:

pip install google-alerts or python setup.py install

Save your configuration:

google-alerts setup --email <[email protected]> --password 'password'

Create a monitor:

google-alerts create --term "hello world" --delivery 'rss' --frequency 'realtime'

List monitors:

google-alerts list

Delete a monitor:

google-alerts delete --id '89e517961a3148c7:c395b7d271b4eccc:com:en:US'

Sample Code

This sample code shows some of the range of functionality within the module::

from google_alerts import GoogleAlerts

# Create an instance
ga = GoogleAlerts('[email protected]', '**password**')

# Authenticate your user
ga.authenticate()

# List configured monitors
ga.list()

# Add a new monitor
ga.create("Hello World", {'delivery': 'RSS'})

# Modify an existing monitor
ga.modify("89e517961a3148c7:c395b7d271b4eccc:com:en:US", {'delivery': 'RSS', 'monitor_match': 'ALL'})

# Delete a monitor
ga.delete("89e517961a3148c7:c395b7d271b4eccc:com:en:US")

Example Output

Below is an example monitor::

[{
    "term": "hello world",
    "user_id": "09738342945634096720",
    "language": "en",
    "monitor_id": "89e517961a3148c7:c395b7d271b4eccc:com:en:US",
    "region": "US",
    "rss_link": "https://google.com/alerts/feeds/09738342945634096720/9663349274289663466",
    "delivery": "RSS",
    "match_type": "BEST"
}]
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