fswatch
brew install fswatch
v1.21.0
GPL-3.0-or-later AND Apache-2.0
Cross-platform file system event monitor that triggers shell commands on directory changes.
Why you might care
Use fswatch to rebuild projects, restart services, or run tests automatically when source files change—a lighter, more portable alternative to platform-specific watchers like inotify-tools (Linux) or FSEvents APIs. Single C++ binary with minimal dependencies; supports macOS, Linux, BSD, and Windows via Cygwin.
3.0k
30-day installs · #797
15.8k
90-day · #623
30.0k
365-day · #880
Links
- https://emcrisostomo.github.io/fswatch/
- Brew formula source: Formula/f/fswatch.rb
Blurb generated by claude-haiku-4-5 on today.
Raw metadata
{
"aliases": [],
"alternatives": [
"watchman",
"chokidar",
"entr",
"inotify-tools"
],
"build_dependencies": [],
"categories": [
"file-utility",
"sysadmin"
],
"caveats": null,
"conflicts_with": [],
"dependencies": [],
"deprecated": 0,
"deprecation_reason": null,
"desc": "Monitor a directory for changes and run a shell command",
"disable_reason": null,
"disabled": 0,
"enrichment_fetched_at": "2026-06-20T23:37:51+00:00",
"first_seen": "2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00",
"full_name": "fswatch",
"github_default_branch": null,
"github_last_commit_at": null,
"github_readme_excerpt": null,
"github_repo": null,
"github_stars": null,
"github_topics": [],
"homepage": "https://emcrisostomo.github.io/fswatch/",
"homepage_og_description": null,
"homepage_og_image": null,
"homepage_title": "fswatch - Cross-platform file change monitoring",
"installs_30d": 3026,
"installs_365d": 29951,
"installs_90d": 15816,
"keg_only": 0,
"keg_only_reason": null,
"last_seen": "2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00",
"license": "GPL-3.0-or-later AND Apache-2.0",
"llm_generated_at": "2026-06-20T23:47:09+00:00",
"llm_model": "claude-haiku-4-5",
"name": "fswatch",
"oldnames": [],
"one_liner": "Cross-platform file system event monitor that triggers shell commands on directory changes.",
"optional_dependencies": [],
"rank_30d": 797,
"rank_365d": 880,
"rank_90d": 623,
"raw_hash": "2a54d4a2c2bfba10",
"recommended_dependencies": [],
"revision": 0,
"ruby_source_path": "Formula/f/fswatch.rb",
"tap": "homebrew/core",
"test_dependencies": [],
"uses_from_macos": [],
"version_head": null,
"version_stable": "1.21.0",
"versioned_formulae": [],
"why_use_this": "Use fswatch to rebuild projects, restart services, or run tests automatically when source files change\u2014a lighter, more portable alternative to platform-specific watchers like inotify-tools (Linux) or FSEvents APIs. Single C++ binary with minimal dependencies; supports macOS, Linux, BSD, and Windows via Cygwin."
}