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#
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---
layout: post
title: Kickstarter Project Reward Watcher
excerpt: "Watching Kickstarter Reward Tile's Availability, and Push Notifications to iPhone"
categories: Ruby, Pushover, crontab
comments: true
---

As a regular Kickstarter project backer, it is very frustrating for me to see most of the early bird
reward tiles are all gone by the time I check the project. As a result, I came up with a simple Ruby
script to watch the project I'm interested in for me, and send me a push message to my iPhone once
the reward tile I want is available.

This was the first time for me to write a script in Ruby, I found the language is surprisingly easy to
pick up, and spent little time to complete the tasks I had in mind. Here is how I did it.

#### Use External Kickstarter API

The best undocumented Kickstarter library I found is [Kickscraper](https://github.com/markolson/kickscraper).
It is written in Ruby, and can get info on virtually anything from Kickstarter.

Here is the kickstarter_watcher.rb I wrote, so that I can keep an eye on the €25 early bird tile
of [Common Loon project](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/573665728/common-loon-a-ruler-set-that-holds-a-world-of-crea)
.

{% highlight ruby %}
require 'kickscraper'
require 'http'

# Part I
Kickscraper.configure do |config|
# replace with your kickstarter account email
config.email = '<kickstarter email>'
# replace with your kickstarter account password
config.password = '<kickstarter password>'
end

c = Kickscraper.client
# search project name containing "Common Loon",
# and return first hit
vm = c.search_projects('Common Loon').first
# I cheated a bit here, counted my reward tile on the project page
# it is the 8th reward tile
reward = vm.rewards[8];

# USEFUL PROJECT RELATED INFO I USED FOR DEBUGGING PURPOSES
# print "==========================================================================================\n"
# print "Project Name: #{vm.name}\n"
# print "==========================================================================================\n"
# print "Reward Description:\n #{reward.description}\n"
# print "==========================================================================================\n"
# print "Backers Count: #{reward.backers_count}\n"
# print "Reward Limit: #{reward.limit}\n"

# output time stamp to log file, so that I could make sure the script actually runs
time1 = Time.new
puts "Current Time : " + time1.inspect + "\n\n"

# Part II
# Check if number of backers if below reward limit, if it is true,
# a pushover notification will be sent to my iPhone.
if reward.backers_count < reward.limit
HTTP.post('https://api.pushover.net/1/messages.json', :body =>
"token=<pushover app token>&"\
"user=<user id>&"\
"message=#{vm.name}\nurls: #{vm.urls.web.project}&"\
"title=Cheaper Reward Tile Available!!!"
)
end

{% endhighlight %}

Part I. of the code uses the Kickscraper to get reward tile info for Common Loon project for me. In order to use the API,
I had to enter my Kickstarter credentials to construct the client.

#### Use Pushover to Send Notifications to iPhone
Long time ago, I came across [Pushover](https://pushover.net) as a notification service triggered by simple POST API.
Although I remember I purchased the one-time charge service, I never had real use for it until now.

I think I have the most basic plan, which gives me the ability to send 7500 messages per month for
free via their API calls. In order to send a verified message to my device, I specified following fields
in my POST request's body:

- token: I have to register an application in Pushover, and uses the created applicant's token
- user: this is my user key on my dash board on Pushover
- message: the content of the message I want to send
- title: title of the message (optional)
- priority: 1 for immediate notification. Alternatively, I can set up quiet hours and set the priority to a lower number. (optional)
- device: specify which device I want to send the msg to (optional).

In order to receive the message on my phone, I downloaded the Pushover app on my iPhone, logged in with my
Pushover account and assigned a device name to my phone. When I log onto your Pushover dashboard in my browser afterwards,
I would see my device name got listed there.

To make the POST request in Ruby, I have downloaded Ruby's http library, by doing ``` sudo gem install http ```

#### Write a Crontab Script on Mac to Run the Ruby Script Every 10 min
Now everything is set up, I just need to run the Kickstarter watcher script regularly in the background. A simple crontab script
on mac is sufficient for the job.

```bash
crontab -e # to edit the crontab file in vim

# enter following to the opened up editor, press i first to get into insert mode
*/10 * * * * /bin/bash -l -c 'ruby /Users/ning/Desktop/Ning/kickstarter/kickstarter_watcher.rb >> /Users/ning/Desktop/Ning/kickstarter/run.log'

# then press :wq to save and quit, you should see a message "crontab: installing new crontab"
```

I set a frequency of running the script every 10 min. Interestingly, I have to keep the asterisk (\*) for 10 min on Mac.
The standard linux crontab timing format can be found [here](http://www.unixgeeks.org/security/newbie/unix/cron-1.html).
8 changes: 8 additions & 0 deletions _site/archive/index.html
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Expand Up @@ -109,6 +109,14 @@ <h4 class="archive-year">2016</h4>

<ul>

<li>
<span>Jun 1</span>&nbsp;~&nbsp;<i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i>&nbsp;<a href="/articles/2016-06/Kickstarter-Project-Rewards-Watcher">Kickstarter Project Reward Watcher</a></li>






<li>
<span>May 28</span>&nbsp;~&nbsp;<i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i>&nbsp;<a href="/articles/2016-05/Mac-Terminal-Knowlege">Most Useful Mac Terminal Knowledge</a></li>

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<h1 title="Kickstarter Project Reward Watcher">Kickstarter Project Reward Watcher</h1>
<span class="post-meta">
<span class="post-date">
1 JUN 2016
</span>
•
<span class="read-time" title="Estimated read time">


4 mins read

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</header>

<article class="post-content">
<p>As a regular Kickstarter project backer, it is very frustrating for me to see most of the early bird
reward tiles are all gone by the time I check the project. As a result, I came up with a simple Ruby
script to watch the project I’m interested in for me, and send me a push message to my iPhone once
the reward tile I want is available.</p>

<p>This was the first time for me to write a script in Ruby, I found the language is surprisingly easy to
pick up, and spent little time to complete the tasks I had in mind. Here is how I did it.</p>

<h4 id="use-external-kickstarter-api">Use External Kickstarter API</h4>

<p>The best undocumented Kickstarter library I found is <a href="https://github.com/markolson/kickscraper">Kickscraper</a>.
It is written in Ruby, and can get info on virtually anything from Kickstarter.</p>

<p>Here is the kickstarter_watcher.rb I wrote, so that I can keep an eye on the €25 early bird tile
of <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/573665728/common-loon-a-ruler-set-that-holds-a-world-of-crea">Common Loon project</a>
.</p>

<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-ruby" data-lang="ruby">require &#39;kickscraper&#39;
require &#39;http&#39;

# Part I
Kickscraper.configure do |config|
# replace with your kickstarter account email
config.email = &#39;&lt;kickstarter email&gt;&#39;
# replace with your kickstarter account password
config.password = &#39;&lt;kickstarter password&gt;&#39;
end

c = Kickscraper.client
# search project name containing &quot;Common Loon&quot;,
# and return first hit
vm = c.search_projects(&#39;Common Loon&#39;).first
# I cheated a bit here, counted my reward tile on the project page
# it is the 8th reward tile
reward = vm.rewards[8];

# USEFUL PROJECT RELATED INFO I USED FOR DEBUGGING PURPOSES
# print &quot;==========================================================================================\n&quot;
# print &quot;Project Name: #{vm.name}\n&quot;
# print &quot;==========================================================================================\n&quot;
# print &quot;Reward Description:\n #{reward.description}\n&quot;
# print &quot;==========================================================================================\n&quot;
# print &quot;Backers Count: #{reward.backers_count}\n&quot;
# print &quot;Reward Limit: #{reward.limit}\n&quot;

# output time stamp to log file, so that I could make sure the script actually runs
time1 = Time.new
puts &quot;Current Time : &quot; + time1.inspect + &quot;\n\n&quot;

# Part II
# Check if number of backers if below reward limit, if it is true,
# a pushover notification will be sent to my iPhone.
if reward.backers_count &lt; reward.limit
HTTP.post(&#39;https://api.pushover.net/1/messages.json&#39;, :body =&gt;
&quot;token=&lt;pushover app token&gt;&amp;&quot;\
&quot;user=&lt;user id&gt;&amp;&quot;\
&quot;message=#{vm.name}\nurls: #{vm.urls.web.project}&amp;&quot;\
&quot;title=Cheaper Reward Tile Available!!!&quot;
)
end</code></pre></figure>

<p>Part I. of the code uses the Kickscraper to get reward tile info for Common Loon project for me. In order to use the API,
I had to enter my Kickstarter credentials to construct the client.</p>

<h4 id="use-pushover-to-send-notifications-to-iphone">Use Pushover to Send Notifications to iPhone</h4>
<p>Long time ago, I came across <a href="https://pushover.net">Pushover</a> as a notification service triggered by simple POST API.
Although I remember I purchased the one-time charge service, I never had real use for it until now.</p>

<p>I think I have the most basic plan, which gives me the ability to send 7500 messages per month for
free via their API calls. In order to send a verified message to my device, I specified following fields
in my POST request’s body:</p>

<ul>
<li>token: I have to register an application in Pushover, and uses the created applicant’s token</li>
<li>user: this is my user key on my dash board on Pushover</li>
<li>message: the content of the message I want to send</li>
<li>title: title of the message (optional)</li>
<li>priority: 1 for immediate notification. Alternatively, I can set up quiet hours and set the priority to a lower number. (optional)</li>
<li>device: specify which device I want to send the msg to (optional).</li>
</ul>

<p>In order to receive the message on my phone, I downloaded the Pushover app on my iPhone, logged in with my
Pushover account and assigned a device name to my phone. When I log onto your Pushover dashboard in my browser afterwards,
I would see my device name got listed there.</p>

<p>To make the POST request in Ruby, I have downloaded Ruby’s http library, by doing <code>sudo gem install http</code></p>

<h4 id="write-a-crontab-script-on-mac-to-run-the-ruby-script-every-10-min">Write a Crontab Script on Mac to Run the Ruby Script Every 10 min</h4>
<p>Now everything is set up, I just need to run the Kickstarter watcher script regularly in the background. A simple crontab script
on mac is sufficient for the job.</p>

<pre><code class="language-bash">crontab -e # to edit the crontab file in vim

# enter following to the opened up editor, press i first to get into insert mode
*/10 * * * * /bin/bash -l -c 'ruby /Users/ning/Desktop/Ning/kickstarter/kickstarter_watcher.rb &gt;&gt; /Users/ning/Desktop/Ning/kickstarter/run.log'

# then press :wq to save and quit, you should see a message "crontab: installing new crontab"
</code></pre>

<p>I set a frequency of running the script every 10 min. Interestingly, I have to keep the asterisk (*) for 10 min on Mac.
The standard linux crontab timing format can be found <a href="http://www.unixgeeks.org/security/newbie/unix/cron-1.html">here</a>.</p>

</article>
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