Vhs Watch

VHS Watch: Monitoring & Watchlists

Track VHS Berlin courses and searches for changes over time using deterministic bun scripts.

Configuration

Read DB path from .claude/vhs-berlin-agent.local.md (frontmatter db_path), else default ~/.local/share/vhs-berlin/vhs.db.

Resolve bun

BUN=$(command -v bun 2>/dev/null || echo "$HOME/.bun/bin/bun")

Ensure the DB is initialized before any watch command:

$BUN run ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/init-db.ts --db-path "<db_path>"

Action: Save a Watch

User request: "Watch this search" or "Monitor B1 German courses in Mitte"

Step 1: Build query-json

Parse the user's query into a JSON object with fields: district, category, level, time, keyword.

Example: {"district":"Mitte","category":"German","level":"B1","time":"evening"}

Step 2: Run watch save

$BUN run ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/watch.ts save \
  --db-path "<db_path>" \
  --label "B1 German evening Mitte" \
  --query-json '{"district":"Mitte","category":"German","level":"B1","time":"evening"}'

The script saves the watch, runs an initial search, and stores a baseline snapshot. It outputs JSON with {watch_id, label, course_count, url}.

Step 3: Confirm

Saved watch: "B1 German evening Mitte" (watch #3)
Found N matching courses on initial check.

Action: Check Watches

User request: "Check my watches" or "Any updates?"

$BUN run ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/watch.ts check \
  --db-path "<db_path>"

The script:

1. Loads all enabled watches
2. Re-runs each search (fetch + parse)
3. Compares current course IDs vs the latest snapshot (SHA-256 of sorted IDs)
4. Writes course_events for new / disappeared courses
5. Writes a new snapshot
6. Returns JSON: [{watch_id, label, new_courses, removed, current_count}]

Present changes:

## Updates for "B1 German evening Mitte"

**New courses (2):**
- Deutsch B1.2 Intensiv — Mitte, starts May 20
- Deutsch B1 Abendkurs — Mitte, starts Jun 1

**No longer listed (1):**
- course ID xyz removed

**No changes in 2 other watches.**

If new_courses and removed are both empty for all watches:

No changes detected in your N active watches.

Action: List Watches

User request: "Show my watches" or "What am I monitoring?"

$BUN run ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/watch.ts list \
  --db-path "<db_path>"

Parse the JSON and present:

## Your Watches

1. **B1 German evening Mitte** (active, watch #1)
   - Created: Apr 12, 2026
   - Last checked: Apr 18, 2026

2. **Pottery weekend classes** (active, watch #2)
   - Created: Apr 5, 2026
   - Last checked: never

Action: Remove a Watch

User request: "Stop watching B1 German" or "Remove watch #2"

$BUN run ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/watch.ts remove \
  --db-path "<db_path>" \
  --watch-id <N>

Confirm:

Removed watch: "B1 German evening Mitte" (watch #N)

Tips

• Check frequency: Daily or weekly — avoid hammering the VHS site hourly
• Change detection: SHA-256 hash of sorted course IDs for fast snapshot comparison
• Pause vs. remove: The DB stores enabled flag — offer to disable instead of delete
• Verification failures: If the search script returns verification.ok: false, report that explicitly rather than showing empty results

See Also

• vhs-search skill — run one-off searches
• vhs-digest skill — weekly summaries
• data/schema.sql — database structure