antr

antr is a simple to use and high performance file watcher.

antr watches the current directory and subdiretories for changes. On the event of a change, it clears the screen and runs the passed command.

If the current directory is a git repository, antr will ignore changes to git ignored files.

Features

• Fast and responsive
• Simple usage, no configuration needed
• Respects git ignore
• Resource efficient
• Force a run by pressing Enter

Usage

To run make every time there is a file change:

$ antr make

To run a single javascript file:

$ antr node file.js

A run can be forced by pressing Enter.

Performance

A common issue with recursively watching a directory for changes is the need to register watchers for every file, including those ignored by git. antr addresses this by checking gitignore rules before setting up watchers, resulting in improved speed and resource efficiency when working in git repositories with many ignored files (e.g., node_modules, .direnv, target, etc).