1# turbo watch
2 
3Full docs: https://turborepo.dev/docs/reference/watch
4 
5Re-run tasks automatically when code changes. Dependency-aware.
6 
7```bash
8turbo watch [tasks]
9```
10 
11## Basic Usage
12 
13```bash
14# Watch and re-run build task when code changes
15turbo watch build
16 
17# Watch multiple tasks
18turbo watch build test lint
19```
20 
21Tasks re-run in order configured in `turbo.json` when source files change.
22 
23## With Persistent Tasks
24 
25Persistent tasks (`"persistent": true`) won't exit, so they can't be depended on. They work the same in `turbo watch` as `turbo run`.
26 
27### Dependency-Aware Persistent Tasks
28 
29If your tool has built-in watching (like `next dev`), use its watcher:
30 
31```json
32{
33  "tasks": {
34    "dev": {
35      "persistent": true,
36      "cache": false
37    }
38  }
39}
40```
41 
42### Non-Dependency-Aware Tools
43 
44For tools that don't detect dependency changes, use `interruptible`:
45 
46```json
47{
48  "tasks": {
49    "dev": {
50      "persistent": true,
51      "interruptible": true,
52      "cache": false
53    }
54  }
55}
56```
57 
58`turbo watch` will restart interruptible tasks when dependencies change.
59 
60## Limitations
61 
62### Caching
63 
64Caching is experimental with watch mode:
65 
66```bash
67turbo watch your-tasks --experimental-write-cache
68```
69 
70### Task Outputs in Source Control
71 
72If tasks write files tracked by git, watch mode may loop infinitely. Watch mode uses file hashes to prevent this but it's not foolproof.
73 
74**Recommendation**: Remove task outputs from git.
75 
76## vs turbo run
77 
78| Feature           | `turbo run` | `turbo watch` |
79| ----------------- | ----------- | ------------- |
80| Runs once         | Yes         | No            |
81| Re-runs on change | No          | Yes           |
82| Caching           | Full        | Experimental  |
83| Use case          | CI, one-off | Development   |
84 
85## Common Patterns
86 
87### Development Workflow
88 
89```bash
90# Run dev servers and watch for build changes
91turbo watch dev build
92```
93 
94### Type Checking During Development
95 
96```bash
97# Watch and re-run type checks
98turbo watch check-types
99```
100