# watchexec/cargo-watch

Watches over your Cargo project's source.

Repository: https://github.com/watchexec/cargo-watch
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cargo-watch
Language: Rust
License: CC0-1.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: rust, cargo, cargo-command, watch-files, developer-tools, command-line-tool
Archived: true
Last push: 2025-01-14T14:57:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 1, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4412, "days_push": 596, "days_rel": 700, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2863, forks 85 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:26.345700+00:00)

## What it is
Cargo Watch is a command-line tool that watches a Rust Cargo project's source files for changes and automatically runs Cargo commands (like build, check, or test) when changes occur. It is now in maintenance mode ('life support') and its author recommends using Bacon or Watchexec instead.

## Use cases
- automatically rebuild my rust project when files change
- run cargo check on every file save
- auto-run tests when rust source changes
- watch and recompile a rust binary during development
- hot-reload style workflow for cargo projects

## When to avoid
- starting a new project - the maintainer recommends Bacon or Watchexec instead
- you need a TUI, rich filtering, or pager support
- you expect bug fixes or new features - it will receive no further updates

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: developer-tools, cli, build-tool
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: cli, cross-platform, rust
- tags: cargo, file-watching, rust, auto-rebuild, deprecated-in-favor-of-bacon, command-line, automation

## Member repositories
- watchexec/cargo-watch (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:26.345700+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:48:29.621558+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/watchexec/cargo-watch (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:26.345700+00:00, sha f2482aecc3a7)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/cargo-watch (fetched 2026-08-29T09:51:56.332611+00:00, sha 674ee3734ece)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.