{"data":{"slug":"watchexec","name":"watchexec","tagline":"Apache-2.0 mature file→command watcher (entr-class)","category":"rust","categoryName":"Rust","url":"https://watchexec.github.io","github":"https://github.com/watchexec/watchexec","pricing":"open-source","hook":"watchexec is the general file→command watcher when you want “run this on change” without a Kubernetes-shaped Tiltfile.","whatsGood":"Apache-2.0. watchexec/watchexec. Cross-platform CLI that watches paths, coalesces editor swap/backup noise, honors .gitignore/.ignore, and restarts or runs any command. Environment/STDIN expose changed paths. Homepage watchexec.github.io; source github.com/watchexec/watchexec.","theCatch":"Vs Tilt (K8s microservice *dev control plane*): watchexec is the entr-class local file watcher, not a cluster live-update UI. Not a build system and not a process supervisor for multi-service graphs. You still write the command and filter extensions yourself.","verdict":"Apache-2.0 file watcher. Free forever; fill the entr-shaped hole when Tilt is overkill.","addedAt":"2026-09-11","featured":false,"domain":"Rust","subSpecialty":"Terminal","subcategory":"Terminal","tags":["cli","self-host","permissive","kubernetes","active"],"capabilities":["watch","cli","dev"],"surfaces":["CLI","Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Rust","Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"Apache-2.0","githubStars":7238,"starsPerWeek":14,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2016-09-18","pushedAt":"2026-10-19","license":"Apache-2.0","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"rust-lang","name":"Rust","tagline":"Systems programming without the footguns"},{"slug":"tokio","name":"Tokio","tagline":"Async runtime for Rust"},{"slug":"axum","name":"Axum","tagline":"Web framework from the Tokio team"},{"slug":"actix-web","name":"Actix Web","tagline":"Fast Rust web framework"},{"slug":"serde","name":"Serde","tagline":"Serialization framework for Rust"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/watchexec","html":"/gems/watchexec","markdown":"/gems/watchexec.md","category":"/api/gems?category=rust","categoryPage":"/stacks/rust"}}