nodejs / nodejs/node

Does/should the REPL support `--watch`?

Open
#64,135 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

confirmed-bug repl
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
122k
Forks
37.3k
Avg merge
4d 2h
Merged PRs (30d)
283

Description

Version

v26.3.0

Subsystem

REPL

What steps will reproduce the bug?
node --watch
What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?
$ node --inspect
node: REPL does not support --watch

There is no script to watch.

What do you see instead?
$ node --watch
Welcome to Node.js v26.3.0.
Type ".help" for more information.
> 
(To exit, press Ctrl+C again or Ctrl+D or type .exit)
> 

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by running the reported node --watch command and reviewing the REPL entry point and existing handling for the --watch option. The issue does not name files or tests; done requires an agreed behavior for --watch in the REPL and verification that the command consistently follows it.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, node.js
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.