pokemon-stock-checker/chrome-extension

Pokemon Stock Monitor - Chrome Extension

A Chrome extension that monitors PokemonCenter for stock changes and sends Discord notifications.

Why a Chrome Extension?

PokemonCenter uses Imperva bot protection that blocks automated browsers (Playwright, Selenium). This extension runs inside your real Chrome browser, making it undetectable - to the website, it looks exactly like you browsing manually.

Installation

1. Add Icons (optional but recommended):

   • Create or download three PNG icons: icon16.png, icon48.png, icon128.png
   • Place them in this folder
   • You can use any Pokemon-themed icons or simple colored squares

2. Load the Extension:

   • Open Chrome and go to chrome://extensions
   • Enable "Developer mode" (toggle in top right)
   • Click "Load unpacked"
   • Select this chrome-extension folder
   • The extension icon should appear in your toolbar

3. Configure:

   • Click the extension icon
   • Paste your Discord webhook URL
   • Add URLs to monitor (default is PokemonCenter TCG)
   • Set check interval (1-60 minutes)
   • Click "Save Settings"

How It Works

1. Background Service Worker: Runs continuously in Chrome
2. Periodic Checks: Uses Chrome's alarm API to check at your interval
3. Product Parsing: Fetches pages and parses product data from HTML
4. Change Detection: Compares against known products to detect:
   • New product listings
   • Restocks (was out of stock, now in stock)
5. Discord Notifications: Sends rich embeds with product info and direct links

Features

• Keyword Filtering: Only track products matching specific keywords
• New Product Alerts: Get notified when new items appear
• Restock Alerts: Get notified when out-of-stock items return
• Browser Notifications: Local notifications in addition to Discord
• Persistent Storage: Remembers products across browser restarts

Tips

• Keep Chrome Running: The extension only works while Chrome is open
• First Run: After installing, click "Check Now" to do an initial scan
• Clear History: Use this if you want to re-detect all products as "new"
• Multiple URLs: Add one URL per line in the URLs field

Troubleshooting

No notifications sending:

• Check that your Discord webhook URL is correct
• Make sure "Monitor Enabled" is toggled on
• Check Chrome's console for errors (right-click extension → Inspect popup)

Extension not loading:

• Make sure manifest.json is valid JSON
• Check for any icon files referenced but missing

Products not detected:

• PokemonCenter may have changed their HTML structure
• Check the browser console for parsing errors