TL;DR: This guide shows how to build a no code or low code monitor that watches the SEC's EDGAR pages for new Form 4 insider trading filings, extracts the useful bits with AI, then posts a clean summary to Slack. You will use a Visualping job for reliable change detection and an n8n workflow that fetches the filing, parses it, analyzes it with AI, and formats the Slack message.

Who is this for and how does it work?

If you track insider activity for specific tickers and want structured alerts that are faster and more actionable than email lists, this stack delivers:

• High confidence detection on the exact EDGAR page that matters. Visualping fires only when the table of recent filings changes.
• Deterministic URL extraction from the SEC index page followed by AI extraction for a clear summary.
• Operational output in Slack for PMs, analysts, and traders.

For finance-focused teams and workflows, explore Visualping for Finance for solution overviews, examples, and buyer guidance.

The reference workflow below is called SEC Sentry. It includes a Visualping webhook trigger, robust URL extraction from HTML, safe HTTP requests with a proper User Agent, an AI analysis step, and a formatted Slack post. You can also explore our integrations catalog for related workflows.

Prerequisites

• Visualping account with webhook access to trigger n8n when a change is detected.
• n8n Cloud or self-hosted.
• Slack bot or use the Visualping + Slack integration for posting messages.
• Gemini or another LLM API key for AI extraction.
• Basic awareness of the SEC's fair access guidelines for automated use of EDGAR (see SEC fair access guidance).

Architecture at a glance

1. Visualping monitors the SEC Ownership page for a specific company CIK and fires a webhook to n8n when a new Form 4 row appears.
2. n8n receives the webhook, extracts the filing index page, locates the complete text or XML document, downloads it, and passes it to AI for structured JSON.
3. Slack receives a concise summary that includes insider name, shares, price, date, a short significance note, and a link to the full filing.

How to set up SEC Insider Filing Alerts

Step 1: Create the Visualping job

Open the company's Ownership page on sec.gov, for example:

https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/own-disp?action=getissuer&CIK=0001326380

In Visualping, create a monitor for that URL. Use Area Selection to focus on the table that lists recent Form 4 entries.

Add an AI prompt such as:

Alert me when a new Form 4 link or accession appears in the table. Include any visible filing link or accession in the alert payload.

Learn how prompts power Important Alerts: Important Alerts (AI)

Set the webhook to the n8n endpoint you will create in Step 2.

Optional quality of life settings

• Run from a static IP for consistent access patterns.
• Label jobs by ticker or CIK for bulk management.
• If you run GA4, a static IP also simplifies excluding internal traffic in GA4.
• When a new row lands, Visualping sends the webhook with fields such as

  added_text

  and

  html_current

  that the workflow uses to locate the index and document URLs.

Step 2 - Import the n8n workflow and set credentials

Import the SEC Sentry workflow JSON into n8n.

Confirm or add credentials for:

• Slack (see also Visualping + Slack)
• Gemini or your preferred LLM

The included nodes handle the typical patterns you see on EDGAR index pages. No code changes are required to start. You may also review the Visualping + n8n integration.

Step 3 - Node by node walkthrough

3.1 Visualping Trigger and link extraction

The Webhook node receives the Visualping payload.

A Code node called "Extract Filing URL" inspects

added_text

html_current

3.2 Fetch snapshot and parse HTML

If the webhook includes a snapshot URL, the workflow fetches it to scan for a link to the index page of the filing, often named like:

.../0001234567-25-000123-index.htm

The parser pulls out CIK, accession, and when present the reporting owner and transaction date directly from the row.

3.3 Get the filing index and the full document

HTTP Request nodes download the index page followed by the complete submission file, such as

.txt

The requests include a descriptive User Agent header with a contact email. This is good practice and helps with fair access compliance (see SEC fair access guidance and robots rules).

Example headers:

User-Agent: n8n-sec-monitor/1.0 (Contact: alerts@example.com)
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8

3.4 AI extraction to strict JSON

A "Message a model" node prompts the model to return strict JSON with fields you can trust downstream.

A follow-up Code node validates the JSON and ensures the

filingUrl

Expected JSON fields:

{
  "companyName": "",
  "cik": "",
  "insiderName": "",
  "relationship": "",
  "transactionType": "",
  "transactionDate": "",
  "sharesTransacted": 0,
  "pricePerShare": 0,
  "postTransactionHoldings": 0,
  "footnotes": "",
  "significance": "",
  "summary": "",
  "filingUrl": ""
}

3.5 Send to Slack

The Slack node posts a compact message to your channel. You can start with this template:

New SEC Form 4 Filing Detected

Insider: {insiderName}
Company: {companyName}
Transaction: {sharesTransacted} shares @ ${pricePerShare}
Date: {transactionDate}
Significance: {significance}

Analysis:
{summary}

View full filing: {filingUrl}

For layout ideas, see Slack Block Kit.

Setup checklist

• Visualping monitors the Ownership page for your target CIK and sends a webhook to n8n.
• n8n imports the SEC Sentry workflow JSON and sets Slack and LLM credentials.
• HTTP requests identify your automation with a descriptive User Agent (see SEC fair access).
• Ready to ship it? Create your first monitor or talk to sales for bulk CIK coverage. For solution context, see Visualping for Finance.

Advanced tips

• Multiple tickers Use one Visualping job per CIK and route all webhooks into a single n8n workflow. Tag outputs by CIK. See Bulk import for fast setup.

• Deduping Store the last accession you alerted on in an n8n Data Store. Skip posts that match the same accession. For light storage, try Visualping + Google Sheets; for scale, Visualping + BigQuery.

• Other form types The same approach works for 8-K, 10-Q, S-1, or 13D. Point Visualping at the relevant EDGAR page and reuse the index to full document pattern. Start here: Company Filings monitoring guide.

• Data warehouse Send the parsed JSON to Postgres or BigQuery so you can analyze insider behavior over time (see architecture patterns for alerts).

• Higher throughput needs If you require guaranteed, low latency delivery of all filings for many issuers, evaluate the SEC's Public Dissemination Service (PDS). For practical finance workflows and examples, visit Visualping for Finance.

Compliance and good citizenship

• Identify your bot with a clear User Agent string and a contact email in your requests (see SEC fair access guidance).
• Throttle requests to stay within fair access expectations and to avoid burdening SEC infrastructure.
• Check robots rules before scraping any new path and prefer public document endpoints.
• For very high volume or strict latency needs, consider paid dissemination services rather than scraping.
• Learn how we handle reliability and privacy in Security & Trust.

Troubleshooting

• "Rate limited" or similar Reduce request frequency, batch retries with exponential backoff, and confirm that your User Agent includes a contact email.

• No Form 4 link found EDGAR HTML sometimes varies by issuer or day. Rely on the index page and accession number rather than only scanning for a single link pattern.

• Slack formatting looks off Confirm the JSON keys from the AI step match the Slack template. Validate numbers as strings if your Slack block expects them as text. See Slack Block Kit for formatting patterns.

Example AI extraction prompt

Use this inside your "Message a model" node. It forces a strict JSON response that is safe to parse.

You are an expert SEC filings parser. Read the provided EDGAR Form 4 text or XML. Return JSON only. No code fences. Required fields:

companyName, cik, insiderName, relationship, transactionType, transactionDate,
sharesTransacted, pricePerShare, postTransactionHoldings, footnotes, significance,
summary, filingUrl

Rules:
- Summarize in one short paragraph aimed at analysts.
- "significance" is a concise human judgment such as "routine sale for taxes" or "unusual cluster of buys."
- If a field is missing, return an empty string. Numbers must be numbers.
- Output must be valid JSON only.

FAQ

Is monitoring SEC filings allowed?

Yes. EDGAR is public. Follow the SEC's fair access guidance, identify your automation with a clear User Agent, and keep traffic reasonable.

Why use Visualping instead of polling an API?

EDGAR endpoints and page structures can vary. Visualping watches the exact page for a real change, which reduces guesswork and false positives. The n8n flow then extracts the filing index and document deterministically. For industry context, see Visualping for Finance.

How fast are the alerts?

Speed depends on your Visualping check frequency and n8n execution time. You can achieve near real time without hammering EDGAR.

Can I monitor other forms like 8-K or 13D?

Yes. Point Visualping to the appropriate EDGAR page and reuse the same index to document logic. Adjust your AI prompt for the fields you need.

If this still errors, tell me the CMS (e.g., WordPress block editor, Ghost, Strapi, Webflow, Markdown-it, etc.) and the exact error. I’ll tailor a validator-safe variant (e.g., escape underscores, add language hints to fences, or convert the TL;DR to HTML).