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

# Create monitor

> Schedule a recurring fetch with change detection.

```http theme={null}
POST https://v2-api.scrapegraphai.com/api/monitor
```

Watches a page on a cron schedule, captures it in the formats you specify, and records change diffs between runs. Optionally ships each tick to a webhook.

## Request body

<ParamField body="url" type="string" required>
  The URL to monitor.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="name" type="string" required>
  Human-readable monitor name.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="interval" type="string" required>
  5-field cron expression (e.g. `"*/10 * * * *"`, `"0 9 * * 1"`).
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="formats" type="array">
  Formats to capture on each tick. Same shape as the [Scrape `formats` array](/api-reference/endpoint/scrape#request-body).
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="webhookUrl" type="string">
  URL that will receive the payload on every tick (POST).
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="fetchConfig" type="object">
  Fetch-time options. See the [Scrape endpoint](/api-reference/endpoint/scrape#request-body).
</ParamField>

## Example request

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://v2-api.scrapegraphai.com/api/monitor \
  -H "SGAI-APIKEY: $SGAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "name": "Homepage watch",
    "interval": "*/30 * * * *",
    "formats": [{ "type": "markdown" }]
  }'
```

## Example response

```json theme={null}
{
  "cronId": "f0b171db-b288-4380-9cad-1bcac916348e",
  "scheduleId": "scd_4u8PPLytsJ2niWBVEAPkLHkfjVge",
  "interval": "*/30 * * * *",
  "status": "active",
  "config": {
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "name": "Doc test monitor",
    "formats": [{ "mode": "normal", "type": "markdown" }],
    "interval": "*/30 * * * *"
  },
  "createdAt": "2026-04-23T11:11:37.487Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-23T11:11:37.487Z"
}
```

`config.fetchConfig` appears only when you pass `fetchConfig` in the request — otherwise the server uses its defaults and omits the field from the response.

| Field        | Description                                                             |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `cronId`     | Monitor identifier — use it on all management endpoints.                |
| `scheduleId` | Internal schedule reference.                                            |
| `status`     | `"active"` \| `"paused"`.                                               |
| `config`     | Normalized copy of the request body, including defaulted fetch options. |

## Common cron expressions

| Expression     | Schedule                  |
| -------------- | ------------------------- |
| `*/10 * * * *` | Every 10 minutes          |
| `*/30 * * * *` | Every 30 minutes          |
| `0 */6 * * *`  | Every 6 hours             |
| `0 9 * * *`    | Daily at 09:00 UTC        |
| `0 9 * * 1`    | Every Monday at 09:00 UTC |
| `0 0 1 * *`    | First day of every month  |

## Related

* List, update, pause, resume, delete, fetch activity: [Manage monitors](/api-reference/endpoint/monitor/manage)
* Service overview: [Monitor](/services/monitor)