visionmedia-watch
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Description:
Periodically executes the given command
Type: Formula  |  Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Developer tools
Tags: watch automation developer-tools file-monitoring cli
Install: brew install visionmedia-watch
About:
Watch is a utility that monitors files for changes and automatically re-executes a specified command. It provides a simple, efficient way to automate development workflows like restarting servers or running tests. This tool eliminates the need for manual intervention upon file modifications.
Key Features:
  • File system monitoring with recursive directory watching
  • Debouncing to prevent rapid, repeated executions
  • Clean process management, killing previous instances
  • Ignore patterns to exclude specific files or directories
  • Cross-platform file system event handling
Use Cases:
  • Automatically restarting a web server during development
  • Re-running unit tests on every file save
  • Compiling source code or assets when changes are detected
  • Triggering build scripts or linters
Alternatives:
  • fswatch – A cross-platform file change monitor; watch is often simpler for direct command execution.
  • nodemon – Specialized for Node.js applications, whereas watch is language-agnostic.
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Sep 11, 2025 10:12pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 148db642