fswatch

fswatch is a command-line utility that monitors changes in the file system. It’s particularly handy when you’re working on code or other files and you want to trigger some action whenever a change occurs. For example, you might use fswatch to automatically compile code, sync files, or reload a web page whenever you save a file.

How It Works §

You generally specify a directory (or directories) for fswatch to watch. Then, you can define a command that will run every time a change is detected in those directories. fswatch supports multiple file events like create, update, and delete.

Example Usage §

Here’s a basic example to give you an idea of how you might use it:

fswatch -o /path/to/watch | xargs -n1 -I{} ./your-command.sh

• fswatch -o /path/to/watch: Tells fswatch to monitor changes in /path/to/watch.
• xargs -n1 -I{} ./your-command.sh: Runs ./your-command.sh each time a change is detected.

Installation §

Installing fswatch might differ depending on your operating system. If you’re on a Mac, it’s as simple as running:

brew install fswatch

For Linux, you might use a package manager like apt:

sudo apt-get install fswatch