watchfs is a self-contained nodemon-like (and partially nodemon-compatible) filesystem event watcher that is independent of the Node.js ecosystem. A notable addition is a convenient shortcut for docker run commands instead of raw exec calls.

Probably the best overview is given by

• a small example config file
• the config file schema

• Contents
• Get it
  • Using go get
  • Pre-built binary
• Usage
  • CLI
  • YAML config
    • Schema: Configuration
    • Schema: Action
    • Schema: Filter
    • Schema: Signal
    • Schema: Op
  • nodemon.json config
  • More examples

go get -u github.com/sgreben/watchfs

Download a binary from the releases page or from the shell:

# Linux
curl -L https://github.com/sgreben/watchfs/releases/download/1.0.3/watchfs_1.0.3_linux_x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz

# OS X
curl -L https://github.com/sgreben/watchfs/releases/download/1.0.3/watchfs_1.0.3_osx_x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz

# Windows
curl -LO https://github.com/sgreben/watchfs/releases/download/1.0.3/watchfs_1.0.3_windows_x86_64.zip
unzip watchfs_1.0.3_windows_x86_64.zip

watchfs [OPTIONS] [COMMAND [ARGS...]]

Usage of watchfs:
  -a value
    	(alias for -action) (default exec)
  -action value
    	set the action type for the default action (choices [httpGet exec shell dockerRun]) (default exec)
  -c string
    	(alias for -config)
  -config string
    	use the config file (JSON or YAML) at this path (defaults: [watchfs.yaml watchfs.json nodemon.json])
  -e string
    	(alias for -exts)
  -ext value
    	add an extension to watch
  -exts string
    	add multiple watched extensions (CSV)
  -i value
    	(alias for -ignore)
  -ignore value
    	add a path/glob to ignore
  -ignore-ext value
    	add an extension to ignore
  -ignore-exts string
    	add multiple ignored extensions (CSV)
  -ignore-op value
    	add a filesystem operation to ignore (choices: [chmod create remove rename write])
  -ignore-ops value
    	add multiple ignored filesystem operations (CSV) (choices: [chmod create remove rename write])
  -op value
    	add a filesystem operation to watch for (choices: [chmod create remove rename write])
  -ops value
    	add filesystem operations to watch for (CSV) (choices: [chmod create remove rename write])
  -print-config
    	print config to stdout and exit
  -print-config-format value
    	print config in this format (choices: [json yaml]) (default yaml)
  -q	(alias for -quiet)
  -quiet
    	do not print events to stdout
  -s value
    	(alias for -signal)
  -signal value
    	signal to send on changes (choices: [SIGABRT SIGALRM SIGBUS SIGCHLD SIGCONT SIGFPE SIGHUP SIGILL SIGINT SIGIO SIGIOT SIGKILL SIGPIPE SIGPROF SIGQUIT SIGSEGV SIGSTOP SIGSYS SIGTERM SIGTRAP SIGTSTP SIGTTIN SIGTTOU SIGURG SIGUSR1 SIGUSR2 SIGVTALRM SIGWINCH SIGXCPU SIGXFSZ])
  -w string
    	(alias for -watches)
  -watch value
    	add a path to watch
  -watches string
    	add multiple watched paths (CSV)

A (contrived) sample config that runs go test . using an exec action as well as using a dockerRun action whenever .go files change in . (the current directory).

paths: [.]
exts: [go]
actions:
- shell:
    command: go test .
  exts: [go]
- dockerRun:
    image: golang:1.11.4-alpine3.8
    command: [go, test, .]
    env:
        CGO_ENABLED: 0
    volumes:
    - source: .
      target: /go/src/app
    workdir: /go/src/app
  delay: 1s
  exts: [go]

The watchfs.yaml file is expected to consist of one top-level configuration object.

An object with the keys:

• actions: action list
• paths: (path or glob) list
• exts: filename extension list
• ops: op list
• signal: signal string
• ignores: filter list
• env: key/value map
• delay: duration string
• self: boolean

Description of something that can be executed; an object with filter fields, common fields and one of the action-specific sets of fields:

• (common fields)
• (filter fields)
• exec: object
  • (exec fields)
• shell: object
  • (shell fields)
• dockerRun: object
  • (dockerRun fields)
• httpGet: object
  • (httpGet fields)

• delay: duration string
• ignore: filter list
• locks: lock name string list

• command: string list
• env: key/value map
• signal: signal
• ignoreSignals: boolean

• command: string
• shell: string list
• env: key/value map
• signal: signal
• ignoreSignals: boolean

• image: string
• entrypoint: string
• command: string list
• env: key/value map
• workdir: string
• volumes: volume list
• extraArgs: string list
• signal: signal
• ignoreSignals: boolean

• source: volume name or path
• target: path
• type: docker volume type string

• url: URL string

Locking allows you to prevent concurrent execution of actions.

Lock names are arbitrary strings. Each lock name is mapped to a mutex. All locks listed for an action are acquired before the action is run, and released after the action completes.

A predicate over filesystem events; an object with the keys:

• exts: filename extension list
• ops: op list

A POSIX signal; one of the strings:

• SIGABRT
• SIGALRM
• SIGBUS
• SIGCHLD
• SIGCONT
• SIGFPE
• SIGHUP
• SIGILL
• SIGINT
• SIGIO
• SIGIOT
• SIGKILL
• SIGPIPE
• SIGPROF
• SIGQUIT
• SIGSEGV
• SIGSTOP
• SIGSYS
• SIGTERM
• SIGTRAP
• SIGTSTP
• SIGTTIN
• SIGTTOU
• SIGURG
• SIGUSR1
• SIGUSR2
• SIGVTALRM
• SIGWINCH
• SIGXCPU
• SIGXFSZ

A filesystem operation; one of the strings:

• chmod
• create
• remove
• rename
• write

Most options from nodemon's config file nodemon.json are supported. Exceptions will be documented here.

To convert a nodemon.json to a canonical watchfs YAML config, you can use watchfs -c path/to/nodemon.json -print-config.

• Go auto-reload

  paths: [.]
  ignore: [.git]
  - ext: go
    shell:
      command: |
          go get ./cmd/my-app;
          exec my-app;

• Git auto-commit

  paths: [.]
  ignore: [.git]
  actions:
  - locks: [git]
    shell:
      ignoreSignals: true
      shell: [sh, -c]
      command: |
        git add -A;
        git commit -am "auto-commit";
        git push;
        true