1f3f4ada35
That has a number of advantages: - #193 the build.rs is only run for the CLI, so the Windows manifest is not embedded in the library anymore, opening it up for downstreams. - it sets the stage for decoupling the version numbers of the CLI and library, to have the library increase its major more often, while the CLI retains compatibility further… that is, to have both follow semver - it removes the CLI-only dependencies from the library - it makes compilation a bit faster as compiling the library and the CLI's other dependencies can happen in parallel One major disadvantage: - installing via cargo changes from watchexec to watchexec-cli. Most installs are from prebuilt and from packages, but that's still a potential stumble. And of course, the CLI APIs in the library are gone (they were already deprecated, though). We also take this opportunity to get rid of the clear_screen code and use our new clearscreen library. #99 #171 #185 |
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|---|---|---|
| .github/workflows | ||
| bin | ||
| cli | ||
| completions | ||
| doc | ||
| lib | ||
| test | ||
| .editorconfig | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| CONTRIBUTING.md | ||
| Cargo.lock | ||
| Cargo.toml | ||
| LICENSE | ||
| README.md | ||
README.md
watchexec
Software development often involves running the same commands over and over. Boring!
watchexec is a simple, standalone tool that watches a path and runs a command whenever it detects modifications.
Example use cases:
- Automatically run unit tests
- Run linters/syntax checkers
Features
- Simple invocation and use
- Runs on OS X, Linux, and Windows
- Monitors current directory and all subdirectories for changes
- Uses most efficient event polling mechanism for your platform (except for BSD)
- Coalesces multiple filesystem events into one, for editors that use swap/backup files during saving
- By default, uses
.gitignoreand.ignoreto determine which files to ignore notifications for - Support for watching files with a specific extension
- Support for filtering/ignoring events based on glob patterns
- Launches the command in a new process group
- Sets the following environment variables in the process:
- If a single file changed (depending on the event type):
$WATCHEXEC_CREATED_PATH, the path of the file that was created$WATCHEXEC_REMOVED_PATH, the path of the file that was removed$WATCHEXEC_RENAMED_PATH, the path of the file that was renamed$WATCHEXEC_WRITTEN_PATH, the path of the file that was modified$WATCHEXEC_META_CHANGED_PATH, the path of the file whose metadata changed
- If multiple files changed:
$WATCHEXEC_COMMON_PATH, the longest common path of all of the files that triggered a change
- This can be disabled or limited with
--no-environmentand--no-meta
- If a single file changed (depending on the event type):
- Optionally clears screen between executions
- Optionally restarts the command with every modification (good for servers)
- Does not require a language runtime
Anti-Features
- Not tied to any particular language or ecosystem
- Does not require a cryptic command line involving
xargs
Usage Examples
Watch all JavaScript, CSS and HTML files in the current directory and all subdirectories for changes, running make when a change is detected:
$ watchexec --exts js,css,html make
Call make test when any file changes in this directory/subdirectory, except for everything below target:
$ watchexec -i target make test
Call ls -la when any file changes in this directory/subdirectory:
$ watchexec -- ls -la
Call/restart python server.py when any Python file in the current directory (and all subdirectories) changes:
$ watchexec -e py -r python server.py
Call/restart my_server when any file in the current directory (and all subdirectories) changes, sending SIGKILL to stop the command:
$ watchexec -r -s SIGKILL my_server
Send a SIGHUP to the command upon changes (Note: using -n here we're executing my_server directly, instead of wrapping it in a shell:
$ watchexec -n -s SIGHUP my_server
Run make when any file changes, using the .gitignore file in the current directory to filter:
$ watchexec make
Run make when any file in lib or src changes:
$ watchexec -w lib -w src make
Run bundle install when the Gemfile changes:
$ watchexec -w Gemfile bundle install
Run two commands:
$ watchexec 'date; make'
If you come from entr, note that the watchexec command is run in a shell by default. You can use -n or --shell=none to not do that:
$ watchexec -n -- echo ';' lorem ipsum
On Windows, you may prefer to use Powershell:
$ watchexec --shell=powershell -- test-connection localhost
Installation
All platforms
Cargo
Requires Rust 1.43 or later.
$ cargo install watchexec-cli
Binstall
$ cargo binstall watchexec-cli
Pre-built
Use the GitHub Releases tab to obtain the tarball/zipfile appropriate for your platform and architecture, extract it, and place it in your PATH.
macOS
Homebrew
$ brew install watchexec
Webi
$ curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/watchexec | bash
Linux
PRs for packaging in unsupported distros are welcome.
Debian
A deb package is available for several architectures in the GitHub Releases.
Arch Linux
Available in the community repository:
$ pacman -S watchexec
Webi
$ curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/watchexec/ | bash
Windows
Scoop
#> scoop install watchexec
Chocolatey
#> choco install watchexec
Webi
#> curl.exe -A MS https://webinstall.dev/watchexec | powershell
Shell completions
Currently available shell completions:
- zsh:
completions/zshshould be installed to/usr/share/zsh/site-functions/_watchexec