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bellwether watch

Automatically re-interview when files change.

Synopsis​

bellwether watch [options] <command> [args...]

Description​

Watch mode monitors your source files and automatically re-runs interviews when changes are detected. This is useful during development to continuously validate your MCP server's behavior.

Arguments​

ArgumentDescription
<command>The command to start the MCP server
[args...]Arguments to pass to the server command

Options​

OptionDescriptionDefault
--watch-path <path>Directory to watch for changes./src
--debounce <ms>Debounce time before re-running1000
--show-diffShow diff from previous interviewtrue

All options from interview are also supported.

Examples​

Basic Watch Mode​

bellwether watch npx your-server --watch-path ./src

Watch Multiple Directories​

bellwether watch npx your-server \
  --watch-path ./src \
  --watch-path ./lib

Quick Mode Watch​

# Fast re-interviews during development
bellwether watch --quick npx your-server --watch-path ./src

Behavior​

  1. Initial interview - Runs a full interview on startup
  2. File monitoring - Watches specified directories for changes
  3. Debouncing - Waits for changes to settle before re-running
  4. Re-interview - Runs interview and shows diff from previous
  5. Repeat - Continues monitoring

Output:

[watch] Initial interview starting...
[watch] Interview complete. Watching ./src for changes...

[watch] File changed: src/tools/read.ts
[watch] Re-running interview...

Changes detected:
  + read_file now handles symlinks
  ~ error message format changed for ENOENT

[watch] Interview complete. Watching for changes...

Use Cases​

Development Workflow​

Keep watch running in a terminal while developing:

# Terminal 1: Watch for changes
bellwether watch npx your-server --watch-path ./src

# Terminal 2: Edit your server code
vim src/tools/read.ts
# Watch automatically re-interviews

TDD for MCP Servers​

Use watch mode for test-driven development:

  1. Write expected behavior in AGENTS.md
  2. Start watch mode
  3. Implement tools until behavior matches

Exit​

Press Ctrl+C to stop watch mode.

See Also​