jehrr · Sep 28, 2026 · Sep 23, 2026
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ __pycache__/
 .venv/
 venv/
 env/
-vrbo_products.*
+polymarket_markets.*
+polymarket_markets_*.*
 *_debug.html
 *_debug.png
 live_results/

diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ body:
     attributes:
       label: What you expected instead
       placeholder: >-
-        96 products, as the README says a category page yields.
+        Twenty events per listing page, as the README measured (70-92 markets).
     validations:
       required: true
 

diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ jobs:
   # python:3.12-slim, where the apt half is not a pip package and cannot ride
   # in requirements.txt. `chromium` rather than `chrome`, and unlike a
   # sibling repo that is not a compromise — this site was measured serving
-  # the bundled build the full feed.
+  # the bundled build the full page.
   docker:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -55,6 +55,41 @@ from a row count, it leads the section in a blockquote.
   client with `requests.post` stubbed; verified by control (red with the
   old client).
 
+- **Donor-repo leftovers that described another site as this one.** The
+  family core arrived from sibling repos about a blogging site, a Q&A site
+  and a rental site, and some of their prose and runtime strings survived:
+  - user-visible: Selenium logged "No property cards appeared … this search"
+    and pyppeteer "No answer cards appeared … this feed"; both now say "No
+    event tiles … this listing", as Playwright already did. pyppeteer's block
+    advice claimed its bundled Chromium was "the build this site was
+    measured refusing" — false here, where it was measured served; it now
+    names the build and says so. The Scraper API client's block message
+    cited a sibling's 2026-09-10 datacentre refusal, its `--help`
+    description a sibling's archive payload and author pages, and its
+    `--url` help ended in a broken sentence about a topic's answers;
+  - the sidecar's `stop_reason` for an unrecognised refusal was
+    `blocked_bot-or-not`, a sibling's challenge-page name; it is now
+    `blocked_not-served`;
+  - `output_writer.run_meta` / `finish_run` defaulted `mode` to a sibling's
+    `"topic"`, which `diff_runs.py` would have refused as not one row per
+    sku. The engines always pass `--mode`, so no run was affected; the
+    default is now `"markets"`;
+  - `diff_runs.py`: its `--price-tolerance-pct` help and three comments
+    explained a sibling's live counters, per-story languages and missing
+    lifecycle, and its host-mismatch refusal said the site "serves one story
+    from several addresses". All now describe markets;
+  - `captcha_solver.py` said this site refuses a headless browser with a
+    394-byte "Access Denied" page. The README measures headless and headful
+    identical and no challenge met; the paragraph now says that;
+  - `smoke_test.py`: the docstring described a sibling's column, sign-in
+    widget and a test this repo does not have, and claimed the fixtures
+    pseudonymise author handles (`make_fixtures.py` rewrites nothing). The
+    worker-pool test fed a sibling's archive URLs and counted "days"; it now
+    uses event-page URLs, asserting the same behaviour;
+  - `.dockerignore` excluded a sibling's output prefix instead of this
+    repo's `polymarket_markets.*`; the bug-report template's "expected"
+    placeholder quoted a sibling's 96 products; `SECURITY.md` said the
+    project has no releases.
 
 ## [0.1.1] — 2026-09-16
 

diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md
@@ -81,9 +81,9 @@ Not because these do not matter, but because they belong somewhere else:
 
 ## Supported versions
 
-`main` only. This project has no releases or version tags; fixes land on `main`
-and you update by pulling. If you are running an old clone, update before
-reporting.
+The latest release and `main`. Fixes land on `main` first and ship in the next
+tagged release; if you are running an old clone or an older release, update
+before reporting.
 
 ## If you have leaked a key
 

diff --git a/captcha_solver.py b/captcha_solver.py
@@ -1138,23 +1138,18 @@ def turnstile_task_for(challenge: CaptchaChallenge) -> dict:
 # a JPEG of distorted text and a GET form). Roughly 190 lines of it, and none
 # of it is ported here, because this site has no such page.
 #
-# What this site does instead is refuse a HEADLESS browser. Measured
-# 2026-09-10 from five different addresses, four of them residential: one sibling's bot manager
-# answers with HTTP 403 and a 394-byte "Access Denied" page carrying a
-# reference id — no form, no image, no widget, nothing for a solver to
-# answer. And the trigger is the CLIENT rather than the address: the very
-# same addresses were served HTTP 200 and the full catalogue by a browser
-# with a real window. So the response to a block here is `--headful` or
-# `--cdp-endpoint`, not a solve and not a better proxy, and
-# product_parser.detect_page_state reports it as "blocked" rather than
-# "challenge" precisely so no solve is attempted and nothing is charged.
+# Nor does this site refuse a headless browser: headless and headful were
+# measured identical on polymarket.com, and no challenge was met in any
+# capture (README). What a block would look like here is Cloudflare's — the
+# site sits behind it — and a managed challenge renders a Turnstile, which
+# the machinery above does implement.
 #
 # The reCAPTCHA / hCaptcha / Turnstile machinery above IS kept, and that is a
 # deliberate asymmetry rather than an inconsistency. Detection stays broad
 # because which challenge a visitor meets depends on the exit country and on
 # what the address has been doing — a narrow list is how a challenge gets
 # reported as an empty page months later. A solver for a challenge this site
 # has never been observed to serve is dead code; a DETECTOR for one is cheap
-# insurance: a detection that fires on a page whose lots have
+# insurance: a detection that fires on a page whose events have
 # already rendered guards nothing, which is why the default is
-# `when-blocked` and why it counts lot links before it spends.
+# `when-blocked` and why it counts event links before it spends.
diff --git a/diff_runs.py b/diff_runs.py
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 -------------
 Compares two output files from this project (JSON, as written by
 output_writer.save) and reports what changed between them, keyed on `sku` —
-the identifier the README tells people to diff on for tracking an answer's
-reception over time.
+the identifier the README tells people to diff on for tracking a market's
+price, book and state over time.
 
     python3 diff_runs.py --old ml.2026-09-01.json \\
                           --new ml.2026-09-07.json
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 Four buckets, each keyed on sku — here the market's slug:
 
   added          — sku present in --new, absent from --old
-  removed        — sku present in --old, absent from --new (deleted or
-                   collapsed, or just off this particular feed run)
+  removed        — sku present in --old, absent from --new (closed or
+                   delisted, or just off this particular listing run)
   changed        — sku present in both, with a different price, order book,
                    volume, liquidity, state or question
   source_changed — sku present in both with a different value, but also a
@@ -48,11 +48,6 @@
 
 from output_writer import UNIQUE_BY_SKU_MODES
 
-# What is worth watching on an answer. No price, currency, discount or stock
-# anywhere in this list, because this site has none of them — see
-# output_writer's docstring for why those columns do not exist on the row
-# either.
-#
 # `title` IS tracked, unusually for this family: it is the QUESTION, and
 # Polymarket lets a market be re-worded and re-slugged.
 # WHAT COUNTS AS A CHANGE ON THIS SITE, and why each of these and not more.
@@ -192,10 +187,9 @@ def diff_products(old: List[dict], new: List[dict],
         # THE TWO RUNS READ DIFFERENT VIEWS, which is not a change in the
         # answer — and on this site this is the bucket that matters most.
         #
-        # Upvotes, views, shares, comments and the question answer count come
-        # from the payload the view carried, which an archive or author page
-        # carries and a topic page does not. So a row read off a topic feed
-        # has no spread and carries its EVENT's volume, and the same market
+        # `spread`, the volume windows and the on-chain ids come from the
+        # payload the view carried, which an event page carries and a listing
+        # does not. So a row read off a listing has no spread and carries its EVENT's volume, and the same market
         # read off its own event page has a spread and the MARKET's volume.
         # Diffing the two would report every one of them as having appeared
         # from nowhere or collapsed by two orders of magnitude.
@@ -232,18 +226,16 @@ def diff_products(old: List[dict], new: List[dict],
             if not field_changes:
                 continue
 
-        # There is no lifecycle bucket on this site, and its absence is a
-        # measurement rather than an omission. A sibling repo needs one
-        # because an auction closing moves a bid kind and the amount beside
-        # it in one event; an answer has no such state machine. What it does
-        # have -- being deleted or collapsed -- makes it vanish from the
-        # feed, which is the `removed` bucket. The `lifecycle` key is still
-        # emitted, always empty, so a consumer written against the family
-        # diff shape does not have to branch.
+        # There is no separate lifecycle bucket here: a market's state
+        # transitions (`active`, `closed`, `accepting_orders`) are TRACKED
+        # fields, so a market closing lands in `changed` beside everything
+        # else about it. The `lifecycle` key is still emitted, always empty,
+        # so a consumer written against the family diff shape does not have
+        # to branch.
 
         # A counter ticking rather than a real move -- see
         # `_within_tolerance`. Only when the ONLY differences are count
-        # fields: a title or a body length changing alongside is a real
+        # fields: a title or an end date changing alongside is a real
         # change whatever the size of the move.
         if (all(f in COUNT_FIELDS for f in field_changes)
                 and _within_tolerance(before, after, field_changes,
@@ -374,14 +366,10 @@ def _check_comparable(args) -> bool:
     # consistently on a DIFFERENT single host, because then `added` and
     # `removed` would be describing the address rather than the catalogue.
     #
-    # There is deliberately no language check, and the reason is worth
-    # writing down because the sibling repo this file came from has one.
-    # There, `language` meant which of twenty-four language SITES a row came
-    # from, and those are different catalogues. Here it is the site's own
-    # `detectedLanguage` for the STORY — one measured English tag's day
-    # archive carried 123 `en` rows and 5 `id` ones — so refusing a pair
-    # whose languages differ would refuse two perfectly comparable runs of
-    # the same tag.
+    # There is deliberately no language check: a locale path translates the
+    # words and leaves the ids and the prices alone (the suite pins this on
+    # the /es/ fixtures), so two runs of one listing under different locales
+    # are still the same markets, joined on the same sku.
     sources = {}
     for label, path in (("--old", args.old), ("--new", args.new)):
         try:
@@ -394,7 +382,7 @@ def _check_comparable(args) -> bool:
     if len(set(sources.values())) > 1:
         problems.append(
             f"the two runs landed on different hosts ({sources}). This site "
-            f"serves one story from several addresses, so this is usually a "
+            f"serves every locale from one host, so this is usually a "
             f"different URL rather than a different catalogue — but added "
             f"and removed would describe the address change rather than "
             f"anything about the markets.")
@@ -428,11 +416,11 @@ def parse_args():
                         "counter ticking rather than an event: reported "
                         "separately and ignored by --fail-on-change. Default 0 "
                         "— report every tick. Unlike in most of this family "
-                        "the flag has a real use here: this site's own "
-                        "clap counts are live, so a monitor watching for an "
-                        "answer taking off wants a threshold, while one "
-                        "watching for an edit wants text_chars, which this "
-                        "never absorbs.")
+                        "the flag has a real use here: a market's price "
+                        "moves continuously, so a monitor watching for a "
+                        "real repricing wants a threshold, while one "
+                        "watching for a market closing wants `closed`, "
+                        "which this never absorbs.")
     p.add_argument("--fail-on-change", action="store_true",
                    help="Exit 1 if anything was added, removed or changed — "
                         "for a cron job that should only notify on a real diff.")
@@ -464,7 +452,7 @@ def main() -> int:
         print(f"[+] Full diff written to {args.out}")
 
     # Neither `source_changed` nor `within_tolerance` is a reason to fail.
-    # The first means our two runs read different views of the same answer;
+    # The first means our two runs read different views of the same market;
     # the second means a live counter ticked. Neither says anything about the
     # site, and alerting on either would train whoever reads the alert to
     # ignore it.

diff --git a/output_writer.py b/output_writer.py
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ def write_run_meta(out_prefix: str, meta: dict) -> str:
 def run_meta(status: str, stop_reason: str, pages_requested: int,
              pages_completed: int, start_url: str, final_url: str,
              products: int, pages_failed: Optional[List[int]] = None,
-             mode: str = "topic", source: str = SOURCE_DEFAULT,
+             mode: str = "markets", source: str = SOURCE_DEFAULT,
              extra: Optional[dict] = None) -> dict:
     """Build the metadata dict for a finished run.
 
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ def finish_run(rows: Sequence[Any], out_prefix: str, fmt: str,
                pages_requested: int, pages_completed: int,
                start_url: str, final_url: str,
                pages_failed: Optional[List[int]] = None,
-               mode: str = "topic", source: str = SOURCE_DEFAULT,
+               mode: str = "markets", source: str = SOURCE_DEFAULT,
                extra: Optional[dict] = None) -> int:
     """Write output + the run-metadata sidecar; return the exit code.
 

diff --git a/playwright_scraper.py b/playwright_scraper.py
@@ -1072,7 +1072,7 @@ def _fetch_one_page(session, args, pool, page_num: int, url: Optional[str]) -> P
         logger.error("%s", page_flow.block_advice(
             html, headless=bool(getattr(args, "headless", False)),
             has_pool=has_pool))
-        outcome.blocked_by = vendor or ("no-response" if not html else "bot-or-not")
+        outcome.blocked_by = vendor or ("no-response" if not html else "not-served")
         outcome.final_url = session.page.url
         return outcome
 

diff --git a/puppeteer_scraper.py b/puppeteer_scraper.py
@@ -685,14 +685,15 @@ def _fetch_one_page(session, args, pool, page_num: int,
             debug_html)
         if not args.chromium_path and not args.cdp_endpoint:
             logger.error(
-                "This engine launched pyppeteer's OWN Chromium, which is the "
-                "build this site was measured refusing. Pass --chromium-path "
-                "pointing at an installed Chrome before concluding anything "
-                "about the address.")
+                "This engine launched pyppeteer's OWN Chromium (build "
+                "117.0.5938.0), the one thing that differs from its twins. "
+                "polymarket.com was measured serving it, but pass "
+                "--chromium-path pointing at an installed Chrome before "
+                "concluding anything about the address.")
         logger.error("%s", page_flow.block_advice(
             html, headless=bool(getattr(args, "headless", False)),
             has_pool=has_pool))
-        outcome.blocked_by = vendor or ("no-response" if not html else "bot-or-not")
+        outcome.blocked_by = vendor or ("no-response" if not html else "not-served")
         outcome.final_url = _current_url(session)
         return outcome
 
@@ -713,9 +714,10 @@ def _fetch_one_page(session, args, pool, page_num: int,
             content_timeout)
         _sleep(500)
         if found < threshold:
-            logger.info("No answer cards appeared within %.0fs. If this feed "
-                        "genuinely holds nothing, that is the expected "
-                        "answer and the run will report 0 rows (exit 4).",
+            logger.info("No event tiles appeared within %.0fs. If this "
+                        "listing genuinely holds nothing, that is the "
+                        "expected answer and the run will report 0 rows "
+                        "(exit 4).",
                         content_timeout / 1000)
         outcome.scroll = _scroll_the_feed(session, args, html, page_num)
         html = _content(session) or html

diff --git a/scraper_api_client.py b/scraper_api_client.py
@@ -259,11 +259,11 @@ def _run_once(args, attempt: int = 1, attempts: int = 1) -> int:
             f.write(html)
         logger.error(
             "The site did not serve the Scraper API's request (upstream "
-            "HTTP %s, %d bytes) — saved to %s. Measured 2026-09-10: the "
-            "Scraper API's own exit is a datacentre address, and this site "
-            "answers those with NOTHING, while the same task routed through "
-            "a Scraping Browser session returned 200 and 417 KB. Pass "
-            "--cdp-url. This is exit 3, distinct from an empty result "
+            "HTTP %s, %d bytes) — saved to %s. All four modes were measured "
+            "returning HTTP 200 through this API on 2026-09-16, so check the "
+            "dump for Cloudflare's block page before concluding anything; "
+            "--cdp-url routes the task through a Scraping Browser session "
+            "instead. This is exit 3, distinct from an empty result "
             "(exit 4).", upstream_status, len(html), dump)
         return 3
 
@@ -306,10 +306,9 @@ def parse_args():
         description="Polymarket market scraper — 2captcha Scraper API edition "
                     "(no local browser). Measured 2026-09-16 at $0.0005 a "
                     "request: all four modes returned HTTP 200 and rows "
-                    "identical to a local browser's, including the whole "
-                    "2.3 MB archive-day payload in one request. It cannot "
-                    "scroll, which costs nothing except on an author page — "
-                    "see the module docstring.")
+                    "identical to a local browser's. It cannot walk "
+                    "--mode events, which needs a browser engine's page "
+                    "loop — see the module docstring.")
     # NOT required: prefer the TWOCAPTCHA_KEY env var. A key passed on the
     # command line is visible to anyone who can run `ps`, and it lands in
     # shell history and in any log that echoes the command line.
@@ -318,9 +317,7 @@ def parse_args():
                         "Defaults to $TWOCAPTCHA_KEY, which is the safer way to pass it.")
     p.add_argument("--url", default=None,
                    help="A Polymarket listing or event URL. "
-                        "returns nothing here — measured, and --wait-element "
-                        "does not help — because a topic's answers arrive "
-                        "over a later XHR. Required, unless POLYMARKET_URL is set "
+                        "Required, unless POLYMARKET_URL is set "
                         "in the environment or in .env.")
     p.add_argument("--category", default=None, help="Label to tag output rows with. Defaults to the category segment of the URL, so the column is never empty just because the flag was omitted.")
     p.add_argument("--format", choices=["json", "csv", "both"], default="both")