This is a release PR for **cli** to version **1.20.5**. Upon merging, this will automatically build the CLI and create a GitHub release. You still need to manually publish the cargo crate. ``` $ cd crates/cli $ cargo publish ``` To merge this release, review the changes then say: | bors r+ p=10 | |:-:| --- _Edit release notes into the section below:_ <!-- do not change or remove this heading --> ### Release notes - Fix: mimalloc was set as the global allocator in the watchexec library, instead of leaving it to downstreams. (#369) - Releng: s390x and ppc64le targets were added to be prebuilt. (#373) |
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.. | ||
src | ||
build.rs | ||
Cargo.toml | ||
README.md | ||
release.toml | ||
watchexec-manifest.rc | ||
watchexec.exe.manifest |
Watchexec CLI
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 Linux, Mac, Windows, and more
-
Monitors current directory and all subdirectories for changes
- Uses efficient event polling mechanism (on Linux, Mac, Windows, BSD)
-
Coalesces multiple filesystem events into one, for editors that use swap/backup files during saving
-
By default, uses
.gitignore
,.ignore
, and other such files to 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 (can be disabled with
--no-process-group
) -
Optionally clears screen between executions
-
Optionally restarts the command with every modification (good for servers)
-
Optionally sends a desktop notification on command start and end
-
Does not require a language runtime
-
Sets the following environment variables in the process:
$WATCHEXEC_COMMON_PATH
is set to the longest common path of all of the below variables, and so should be prepended to each path to obtain the full/real path.Variable name Event kind $WATCHEXEC_CREATED_PATH
files/folders were created $WATCHEXEC_REMOVED_PATH
files/folders were removed $WATCHEXEC_RENAMED_PATH
files/folders were renamed $WATCHEXEC_WRITTEN_PATH
files/folders were modified $WATCHEXEC_META_CHANGED_PATH
files/folders' metadata were modified $WATCHEXEC_OTHERWISE_CHANGED_PATH
every other kind of event These variables may contain multiple paths: these are separated by the platform's path separator, as with the
PATH
system environment variable. On Unix that is:
, and on Windows;
. Within each variable, paths are deduplicated and sorted in binary order (i.e. neither Unicode nor locale aware).This can be disabled or limited with
--no-environment
(doesn't set any of these variables) and--no-meta
(ignores metadata changes).
Anti-Features
- Not tied to any particular language or ecosystem
- Not tied to Git or the presence of a repository/project
- 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
First-party
Pre-built
Use the download section on Github or the website to obtain the
package appropriate for your platform and architecture, extract it, and place it in your PATH
.
There are also Debian/Ubuntu (DEB) and Fedora/RedHat (RPM) packages.
Checksums and signatures are available.
Cargo (from source)
Requires Rust 1.58.0 or later.
$ cargo install watchexec-cli
Binstall
$ cargo binstall watchexec-cli
Third-party
These are provided by third parties, caveat emptor!
macOS
- Homebrew:
$ brew install watchexec
- Nix/NixOS:
$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.watchexec
- Webi:
$ curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/watchexec | bash
Linux
- ArchLinux:
$ pacman -S watchexec
- Nix/NixOS:
$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.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/zsh
should be installed to/usr/share/zsh/site-functions/_watchexec