watch

Watch files and execute a command on change.

Synopsis

tofu watch -e <command> [directories...] [flags]

Description

Monitor files for changes and automatically execute a command when changes are detected. Supports recursive watching, file pattern filtering, and automatic process restart.

Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
--execute	-e	Command to execute when files change	(required)
--patterns	-p	File patterns to watch (watches all if not specified)
--pattern-type		Pattern type: regex, literal, glob	glob
--recursive	-r	Watch directories recursively	true
--include-hidden		Include hidden files and directories	false
--exclude		Patterns to exclude (glob style)
--previous-process		Action for previous process: kill, wait	kill
--handle-shutdown		Action when process exits: restart, ignore	ignore
--restart-policy		Restart policy: exponential-backoff	exponential-backoff
--min-backoff-millis		Minimum backoff in milliseconds	1000
--max-backoff-millis		Maximum backoff in milliseconds	10000
--max-restarts		Maximum automatic restarts	10

Examples

Watch current directory and run tests:

tofu watch -e "go test ./..."

Watch specific directory:

tofu watch -e "npm run build" ./src

Watch only Go files:

tofu watch -e "go build" -p "*.go"

Watch with multiple patterns:

tofu watch -e "make" -p "*.c" -p "*.h"

Exclude directories:

tofu watch -e "npm test" --exclude "node_modules" --exclude ".git"

Use regex patterns:

tofu watch -e "pytest" --pattern-type regex -p ".*_test\.py$"

Auto-restart on crash:

tofu watch -e "./myserver" --handle-shutdown restart

Wait for previous process before restart:

tofu watch -e "./build.sh" --previous-process wait

Include hidden files:

tofu watch -e "make" --include-hidden

Sample Output

Watching 15 directories...
Running: go test ./...

File change detected: main.go
Running: go test ./...
PASS
ok      mypackage    0.342s