# watch-module > A Javascript module watcher to work locally with package Latest version **4.0.0** (published 2025-10-03) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install watch-module pnpm add watch-module yarn add watch-module bun add watch-module ``` Provides the command `watch-module`. ## Health **Score 30/100 (F)** — status: maintenance-mode. Positive: esm support; no vulnerabilities. Warnings: low downloads; no types. Negative: stale; low maintenance score. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 4.0.0 | | Published | 2025-10-03 | | First published | 2019-07-16 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | none | | Module format | ESM | | Node | >=16.0.0 | | Dependencies | 11 | | Unpacked size | 634.1 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 4 | | Maintainers | jdeniau, badaz, s.gregeois, lpot, cmeiller, bjulien, nickinthebox | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/watch-module - Repository: https://github.com/mapado/watch-module - Homepage: https://github.com/mapado/watch-module#readme - Issues: https://github.com/mapado/watch-module/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/watch-module ## Dependencies (11) - [ink](https://npm.io/package/ink.md) ^3.2.0 - [react](https://npm.io/package/react.md) ^17.0.2 || ^18.2.0 - [ink-tab](https://npm.io/package/ink-tab.md) ^4.3.1 - [chokidar](https://npm.io/package/chokidar.md) ^3.5.3 - [debounce](https://npm.io/package/debounce.md) ^1.2.1 - [fs-extra](https://npm.io/package/fs-extra.md) ^11.1.0 - [has-yarn](https://npm.io/package/has-yarn.md) ^3.0.0 - [minimist](https://npm.io/package/minimist.md) ^1.2.6 - [minimatch](https://npm.io/package/minimatch.md) ^6.0.4 - [ink-spinner](https://npm.io/package/ink-spinner.md) ^4.0.3 - [ink-text-input](https://npm.io/package/ink-text-input.md) ^4.0.3 ## Recent versions - 4.0.0 (latest) — 2025-10-03 - 3.1.0 — 2023-01-30 - 3.0.2 — 2023-01-19 - 3.0.1 — 2023-01-17 - 3.0.0 — 2023-01-17 - 2.2.2 — 2023-01-16 - 2.2.1 — 2023-01-16 - 2.2.0 — 2023-01-16 - 2.1.1 — 2022-04-21 - 2.1.0 — 2022-04-19 - 2.0.0 — 2021-10-08 - 1.3.0 — 2020-10-13 - 1.2.1 — 2020-01-22 - 1.2.0 — 2020-01-15 - 1.1.1 — 2019-12-04 - … 4 more at https://npm.io/package/watch-module/versions ## README # watch-module A Javascript module watcher to work locally with packages. Replace the "not-really-functionnal" npm | yarn link. ## Demo ![Demo](demo.svg) ## Usage Place yourself at the root of your main package and call: ```sh npx watch-module /path/to/my/module ``` watch-module will detect code changes in your module, run the `build` script (if available) and copy the code into your `node_modules` folder. watch-module will not copy the node_modules folder contained inside your module > watch-module requires a node version >= 16 to work ### Multiple packages watch-modules does support multiple modules: ```sh npx watch-module /path/to/my/module ../my-other-module ``` ### Configuration On first launch, watch-module creates an empty configuration file to `{HOME_FOLDER}/.config/watch-module/watch-module.json` In order to force a different configuration for a specific module, you can add "per module" entries to this file : ```jsonc { // watch the files in the "lib" directory // and call "npm run build:prepare" script when there is a change "my-awesome-module": { "includes": ["lib"], "command": "npm run build:prepare" }, // watch all the files in the root directory // do not watch the files in the "dist" directory // do not call any command before copying the files "my-other-module": { "command": null, "includes": [""], // use "" or "." to watch all files "excludes": ["dist"] } } ``` You can override this global configuration by configuring the targeted module's `package.json` file direclty: ```jsonc { "name": "my package", "scripts": { "build:prod": "touch build.js" }, "watch-module": { "command": "yarn run build:prod", "includes": ["src"] } } ``` If no configuration is found for a module, watch-module falls back to the default configuration: ```jsonc { "command": "yarn|npm run build", // default configs tries to detect yarn or npm "includes": ["src"], "excludes": [] } ``` #### API #### command (default `yarn|npm run build`) The command that will be triggered when a change is detected. It can either be: - a `string` of a command to run - an object of `{ [pattern: string]: string }` to trigger specific command according to the file changes (ex: `{ "*.js": "npm run build:js", "*.css": "npm run build:css" }`) [experimental] - `null` if you just want to copy the files and do nothing else Using an object of `pattern: command` is still experimental and needs some real-world usage. #### includes An array of string of files or directory to watch. Default is `['src/']` #### excludes An array of string of files or directory to exclude from included paths. Default is `[]` #### outDir If you want to copy only your out directory, you can specify it there. Watch out: it is a pretty unused use-case. Default is `undefined` #### Partial configuration If you overrides only some parts of the configuration, then the keys that are not overiden will use the default configuration. ## Alternatives [npm link | yarn link] : it does work fine until you have dependencies, etc. in your package. [yalc](https://github.com/whitecolor/yalc) : nice alternative, but too complex for our purpose (it does use a local repository, that you need to push on change, etc.) ## Troubleshooting ### Command not found If you have the error `Command not found`, you can force npx to use the latest version of the package: ```sh npx watch-module@latest ``` It should resolve the issue. ## Contributing You can start a builder in watch mode with `yarn dev`. It will automatically build on each change of file in the `src/` directory. In another terminal, you can go in the `demo/app` folder and use the build this way: ```sh cd demo/app node ../../bin/watch-module.js ../package ../package2 -v ``` --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/watch-module · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._