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[CLI & Console](/categories/cli) 4. / 5. littlesqx/php-watcher ActiveLibrary[CLI & Console](/categories/cli) littlesqx/php-watcher ===================== Automatically restart PHP application once the source code changes v0.3.2(6y ago)04MITPHPPHP ^7.1 Since Oct 4Pushed 6y agoCompare [ Source](https://github.com/Littlesqx/php-watcher)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/littlesqx/php-watcher)[ RSS](/packages/littlesqx-php-watcher/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 2mo ago READMEChangelog (3)Dependencies (6)Versions (5)Used By (0) PHP-watcher =========== [](#php-watcher) [![Build Status](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/94e3843116d8ae8b9493c816b9b193772d9b33fa5bb1f975f2f0c3ba2eb62c3f/68747470733a2f2f7472617669732d63692e6f72672f6c6974746c657371782f7068702d776174636865722e7376673f6272616e63683d6d6173746572)](https://travis-ci.org/littlesqx/php-watcher) PHP-watcher helps develop long-running PHP applications by automatically restarting them when file changes in the directory are detected. Here's how it looks like: [![watcher screenshot](watcher.jpg)](watcher.jpg) PHP-watcher does not require any additional changes to your code or method of development. `php-watcher` is a replacement wrapper for `php`, to use PHP -watcher replace the word `php` in the command line when executing your script. Installation ------------ [](#installation) You can install this package globally like this: ``` composer global require littlesqx/php-watcher ``` After that phpunit-watcher watch can be run in any directory on your system. Alternatively, you can install the package locally as a dev dependency in your project: ``` composer require littlesqx/php-watcher --dev ``` Locally installed you can run it with `vendor/bin/php-watcher`. Usage ----- [](#usage) All the examples assume you've installed the package globally. If you opted for the local installation prepend `vendor/bin/` everywhere where `php-watcher` is mentioned. PHP-watcher wraps your application, so you can pass all the arguments you would normally pass to your app: ``` php-watcher [your php app] ``` Using PHP-Watcher is simple. If your application accepts a host and port as the arguments, I can start it using option `--arguments`: ``` php-watcher server.php --arguments localhost --arguments 8080 ``` Any output from this script is prefixed with `[php-watcher]`, otherwise all output from your application, errors included, will be echoed out as expected. Config files ------------ [](#config-files) PHP-Watcher supports customization of its behavior with config files. The file for options may be named `.php-watcher.yml`, `php-watcher.yml` or `php -watcher.yml.dist`. The tool will look for a file in the current working directory in that order. An alternative local configuration file can be specified with the `--config ` option. The specificity is as follows, so that a command line argument will always override the config file settings: - command line arguments - local config A config file can take any of the command line arguments, for example: ``` watch: - src - config extensions: - php - yml ignore: - tests ``` Monitoring multiple directories ------------------------------- [](#monitoring-multiple-directories) By default, PHP-Watcher monitors the current working directory. If you want to take control of that option, use the `--watch` option to add specific paths: ``` php-watcher --watch src --watch config server.php ``` Now PHP-Watcher will only restart if there are changes in the `./src` or `./config ` directories. By default traverses sub-directories, so there's no need to explicitly include them. Specifying extension watch list ------------------------------- [](#specifying-extension-watch-list) By default, PHP-Watcher looks for files with the `.php` extension. If you use the `--ext` option and monitor `app,yml` PHP-Watcher will monitor files with the extension of `.php` and `.yml`: ``` php-watcher server.php --ext=php,js ``` Now PHP-Watcher will restart on any changes to files in the directory (or subdirectories) with the extensions `.php`, `.yml`. Ignoring files -------------- [](#ignoring-files) By default, PHP-Watcher will only restart when a `.php` file changes. In some cases you may want to ignore some specific files, directories or file patterns, to prevent PHP-Watcher from prematurely restarting your application. This can be done via the command line: ``` php-watcher server.php --ignore public/ --ignore tests/ ``` Or specific files can be ignored: ``` php-watcher server.php --ignore src/config.php ``` Patterns can also be ignored (but be sure to quote the arguments): ``` php-watcher server.php --ignore 'src/config/*.php' ``` Note that by default, PHP-Watcher ignores all *dot* and VCS files. Delaying restarting ------------------- [](#delaying-restarting) In some situations, you may want to wait until a number of files have changed . The timeout before checking for new file changes is 1 second. If you're uploading a number of files and it's taking some number of seconds, this could cause your app to restart multiple times unnecessarily. To add an extra throttle, or delay restarting, use the `--delay` option: ``` php-watcher server.php --delay 10 ``` For more precision, use a float: ``` php-watcher server.php --delay 2.5 ``` Default executable ------------------ [](#default-executable) By default, PHP-Watcher uses `php` bin executable to run your scripts. If you want to provide your own executable use `--exec` option or `executable ` param in config file. This is particularly useful if you're working with several PHP versions. ``` executable: php ``` or using CLI: ``` php-watcher server.php --exec php7 ``` License ======= [](#license) MIT How can I thank you? -------------------- [](#how-can-i-thank-you) Why not star this GitHub repo? I'd love the attention! Or, you can donate to my project on PayPal: [![Support me with some coffee](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/211dae6c917cff3e611371d9fb804fc9927acec076ae57aef46edd0b6f32d1aa/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f646f6e6174652d70617970616c2d6f72616e67652e737667)](https://www.paypal.me/seregazhuk) (Original Author: @seregazhuk) Thanks! ### Health Score 21 — LowBetter than 19% of packages Maintenance20 Infrequent updates — may be unmaintained Popularity3 Limited adoption so far Community8 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity46 Maturing project, gaining track record Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 75.9% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~4 days Total 4 Last Release 2397d ago ### Community Maintainers ![](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/16516151?v=4)[Littlesqx](/maintainers/Littlesqx)[@Littlesqx](https://github.com/Littlesqx) --- Top Contributors [![seregazhuk](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/9959761?v=4)](https://github.com/seregazhuk "seregazhuk (22 commits)")[![Littlesqx](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/16516151?v=4)](https://github.com/Littlesqx "Littlesqx (7 commits)") --- Tags hot-reloadphp-watcherswoole ### Code Quality TestsPHPUnit ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/littlesqx-php-watcher/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/littlesqx-php-watcher/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/littlesqx-php-watcher) ``` ### Alternatives [crunzphp/crunz Schedule your tasks right from the code. 2292.0M6](/packages/crunzphp-crunz)[crazywhalecc/static-php-cli Build single static PHP binary, with PHP project together, with popular extensions included. 1.8k13.9k](/packages/crazywhalecc-static-php-cli)[illuminate/console The Illuminate Console package. 12944.1M5.1k](/packages/illuminate-console)[madewithlove/license-checker CLI tool to verify allowed licenses for composer dependencies 54449.8k21](/packages/madewithlove-license-checker)[phpcr/phpcr-shell Shell for PHPCR 721.3M8](/packages/phpcr-phpcr-shell)[statamic/cli Statamic CLI Tool 7587.7k](/packages/statamic-cli) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)