A powerful command-line tool to automate the creation of highly specific Google Alerts queries, designed for power users, researchers, and job seekers who need to monitor the web with precision.
Google Alerts is an invaluable tool for monitoring the web, but managing dozens or even hundreds of highly specific alerts through the web interface is a tedious, manual process. This project solves that problem by allowing you to:
- Centrally manage a list of target websites in a simple configuration file.
- Define powerful query templates for different search criteria (e.g., management roles, senior engineers, specific technologies).
- Instantly generate hundreds of ready-to-use query strings with a single command.
This tool was born from the need to create a sophisticated, automated job search system but is flexible enough for any large-scale monitoring task.
- Bulk Query Generation: Create hundreds of precise Google Alerts queries in seconds.
- Template-Driven: Easily define and reuse query structures for different needs.
- Centralized Configuration: Manage your entire list of target websites from a single, clean configuration file.
- Multi-Language Support: Choose between a flexible Python script or a high-performance, standalone C++ executable.
- Included Job Search Catalog: Comes pre-loaded with query templates tailored for Systems Engineering, SRE, DevOps, and Platform Engineering roles in the tech and gaming industries.
Choose the version that best fits your workflow. Both versions use the same logic and produce the same output. Prerequisites
For the Python version: Python 3.7+
For the C++ version: A C++20 compatible compiler (e.g., GCC 10+, Clang 12+, MSVC v19.29+) and CMake (v3.20+).
Clone the repository:
git clone git@github.com:innomation/google_alert_generator.git
cd google-alert-generator
Configure your target sites:
- If using the C++ version, open sites.txt and add your target URLs in the format CompanyName,URL.
- If using the Python version, open config_sites.py and edit the career_sites list.
Simply run the script from your terminal:
python generate_alerts.py
Create a build directory:
mkdir build
cd build
Configure and build the project:
cmake ..
cmake --build .
Run the executable:
./generate_alerts
After running either version, a file named generated_google_alerts.txt will be created in the root directory. This file contains all your queries, neatly organized and ready to be copied and pasted into google.com/alerts.
The power of this tool comes from its configuration files.
config_sites.py / sites.txt: This is where you define your master list of companies and career page URLs. This is the main file you will edit.
generate_alerts.py / generate_alerts.cpp: You can edit the query template strings within the main script files to change the keywords, add new query types, or tailor the search logic to your specific needs.
Contributions are welcome! If you have ideas for new features, query enhancements, or bug fixes, please feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.md file for details.