# gorakhargosh/watchdog

Python library and shell utilities to monitor filesystem events.

Repository: https://github.com/gorakhargosh/watchdog
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/watchdog
Homepage: http://packages.python.org/watchdog/
Language: Python
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-26T11:15:34+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 79/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 40, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5793, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 670, "gap_med": 28.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7399, forks 773 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:59.687475+00:00)

## What it is
Watchdog is a Python library and set of shell utilities for monitoring file system events across platforms. It provides a cross-platform Observer API for watching directories and a watchmedo CLI tool that can run commands in response to file changes.

## Use cases
- watch a directory for file changes in python
- trigger a command when a file is modified
- auto-reload on file save
- monitor log files for changes
- run tests automatically when source files change
- detect when files are created or deleted in a folder

## When to choose
- you need cross-platform filesystem event monitoring in Python
- you want a ready-made CLI to react to file changes with shell commands
- you need recursive directory watching with pattern filtering

## When to avoid
- you need distributed or network filesystem watching
- you need event watching outside Python or shell scripting
- you need real-time sync rather than event notification

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: file-system, developer-tools, cli, workflow-automation
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: windows, bsd, python, cli, cross-platform
- tags: filesystem-monitoring, inotify, file-watcher, watchmedo, event-handling, command-line, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- gorakhargosh/watchdog (main) score 79

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:59.687475+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 2026-08-29T17:38:03.566808+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/gorakhargosh/watchdog (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:59.687475+00:00, sha d61cc344ebe9)
  - homepage: http://packages.python.org/watchdog/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:33:38.127847+00:00, sha c880c0af85d8)
  - site_page: https://pythonhosted.org/watchdog/installation.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:33:38.137064+00:00, sha 2159c8041903)
  - site_page: https://pythonhosted.org/watchdog/quickstart.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:33:38.139353+00:00, sha b4b9f74ae58a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.