All the alerts. None of the noise.
Four alert types. Eight notification providers. One lightweight Docker container that monitors your Channels DVR so you don't have to.
Live TV alert
Channel Watching
Get a notification when ChannelWatch detects live TV activity on your Channels DVR, with the channel, program, and device details included.
- Channel name and number (including decimal subchannels like 13.1)
- Program title and description
- Device name and IP address
- Stream source and quality information
- Total active stream count across your system
Notification example
📺 ABC Channel: 7 Program: Good Morning America Device: Living Room IP: 192.168.1.101 Source: HDHR
Playback alert
VOD Watching
When someone plays a recording or library title, ChannelWatch sends a single rich notification with full metadata. One alert per viewing session - no repeated pings for the same content.
- Title, episode, and duration
- Playback progress tracking
- Cast, rating, and content genres
- Smart device detection
- One notification per viewing session - no alert fatigue
Notification example
🎬 Crank: High Voltage (2009) Duration: 58m 46s / 1h 42m 11s Device Name: Living Room Device IP: 192.168.1.100 Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) seeks revenge after someone steals his nearly indestructible heart. Rating: R · Genres: Action, Thriller Cast: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam
Recording lifecycle
Recording Events
Track every recording from start to finish. ChannelWatch fires a notification at each lifecycle step - so you always know whether the recording you scheduled actually completed.
- Scheduled - Alert fires when a recording is queued.
- Recording - Alert fires when the recording starts.
- Completed - Alert fires when the recording finishes.
- Cancelled - Alert fires if a recording is stopped or cancelled.
Notification example
📺 MOVIE CHANNEL Channel: 129 Status: ✅ Completed Program: Pet Sematary (1989) --- Duration: 1 hour 54 minutes Total Streams: 1 A doctor (Dale Midkiff) and his family move to a town near an ancient Indian burial ground.
Storage alert
Disk Space
Stop losing recordings to a full drive. ChannelWatch monitors your DVR disk usage and alerts you at configurable Warning and Critical thresholds - before the problem becomes a failed recording.
- Warning and Critical severity levels
- Configurable thresholds by percentage or absolute GB
- Startup grace period - no false alarms on boot
- Smart cooldown - no repeated alerts for the same condition
- Test sends clearly labeled [TEST] via the Diagnostics panel
Warning & Critical examples
⚠️ Low Disk Space Warning Free Space: 200.59 GB / 1.82 TB (10.8%) Used Space: 1.62 TB DVR Path: /shares/DVR
🚨 Low Disk Space Critical Free Space: 18.42 GB / 1.82 TB (1.0%) Used Space: 1.80 TB DVR Path: /shares/DVR
Delivery
Notification Providers
ChannelWatch delivers alerts through Pushover and other Apprise-powered providers, including any custom Apprise endpoint. Configure as many providers as you need - alerts go to all of them simultaneously.
Pushover
Mobile and desktop push notifications. Requires User Key and API Token.
Discord
Chat channel delivery via webhook URL. No bot setup required.
Telegram
Bot-based messaging to any Telegram chat or group. Requires Bot Token and Chat ID.
Standard SMTP email delivery. Works with Gmail, Outlook, or any SMTP provider.
Slack
Webhook-based delivery to any Slack channel. Uses token-format webhook URL.
Gotify
Self-hosted push notification server. Requires Server URL and token.
Matrix
Decentralized open messaging. Requires room ID and user credentials.
Custom
Any Apprise-supported service. Paste your Apprise URL to connect.
Product surface
Web UI & Diagnostics
Most settings are configured through a responsive web dashboard at port 8501. Automation paths use `CHANNELS_DVR_SERVERS` or saved settings, while the Diagnostics tab lets you test alerts and verify connectivity in one click.
Dashboard
- Real-time active stream count and device list
- Upcoming recordings with channel and time
- Disk usage at a glance with visual indicator
- 24-hour activity timeline
Diagnostics
- One-click test for each alert type
- Connection and API endpoint checks
- Live container log tail
- Report a Problem with sanitized diagnostics
- System info and version display
Overhead
Deployment profile
ChannelWatch is packaged for simple home-lab operation: one container, one persisted config volume, and health probes for orchestrators that need them.
1 container
UI and monitor in one image
/config
Settings, logs, backups, and local state
amd64 + arm64
Published Docker platforms
1 replica
Supported Helm runtime in v0.9.10
CPU and memory use depend on DVR count, event volume, enabled providers, and host
hardware. For Kubernetes, set resource requests and limits to match your own node
capacity and keep replicaCount at 1.
Next step
Start monitoring your Channels DVR today.
Deploy with Docker Compose, open the web UI, and finish the first-run wizard with your DVR and notification destination.