## Summary
Adds `BUN_WATCHER_TRACE` environment variable that logs all file watcher
events to a JSON file for debugging. When set, the watcher appends
detailed event information to the specified file path.
## Motivation
Debugging watch-related issues (especially with `bun --watch` and `bun
--hot`) can be difficult without visibility into what the watcher is
actually seeing. This feature provides detailed trace logs showing
exactly which files are being watched and what events are triggered.
## Implementation
- **Isolated module** (`src/watcher/WatcherTrace.zig`) - All trace logic
in separate file
- **No locking needed** - Watcher runs on its own thread, no mutex
required
- **Append-only mode** - Traces persist across multiple runs for easier
debugging
- **Silent errors** - Won't break functionality if trace file can't be
created
- **JSON format** - Easy to parse and analyze
## Usage
```bash
BUN_WATCHER_TRACE=/tmp/watch.log bun --watch script.js
BUN_WATCHER_TRACE=/tmp/hot.log bun --hot server.ts
```
## JSON Output Format
Each line is a JSON object with:
```json
{
"timestamp": 1760280923269,
"index": 0,
"path": "/path/to/watched/file.js",
"delete": false,
"write": true,
"rename": false,
"metadata": false,
"move_to": false,
"changed_files": ["script.js"]
}
```
## Testing
All tests use stdout streaming to wait for actual reloads (no
sleeps/timeouts):
- Tests with `--watch` flag
- Tests with `fs.watch` API
- Tests that trace file appends across multiple runs
- Tests validation of JSON format and event details
```
✅ 4 pass
❌ 0 fail
📊 52 expect() calls
```
## Files Changed
- `src/Watcher.zig` - Minimal integration with WatcherTrace module
- `src/watcher/WatcherTrace.zig` - New isolated trace implementation
- `src/watcher/KEventWatcher.zig` - Calls writeTraceEvents before
onFileUpdate
- `src/watcher/INotifyWatcher.zig` - Calls writeTraceEvents before
onFileUpdate
- `src/watcher/WindowsWatcher.zig` - Calls writeTraceEvents before
onFileUpdate
- `test/cli/watch/watcher-trace.test.ts` - Comprehensive tests
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Bot <claude-bot@bun.sh>
Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: autofix-ci[bot] <114827586+autofix-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
* draft impl of windows watcher
* synchronous watcher
* working standalone watcher
* in progress changes to watcher
* make watcher non-global
* prepare watcher for windows impl
* add windows watcher scaffold and clean up imports
* fix inotify
* make watch code more generic over platforms
* fix visibility
* watcher starts without error
* printing changes works
* basic windows watching works
* handle process exit from watcher
* cleanup in process cloning
* clean up logging and panic handling
* fix hot reload test on windows
* misc cleanup around watcher
* make watch test actually useful
* [autofix.ci] apply automated fixes
* remove old files
* clean up watchers
* update .gitignore
* rework windows watcher into single watcher instance watching top level project dir
* use non-strict utf16 conversion
* change to contains
* fix mac and linux compile
* add baseline in crash report (#8606)
* allow linking bins that do not exist. (#8605)
* fix linux compile
* fix linux compile (again)
* remove outdated todo
---------
Co-authored-by: autofix-ci[bot] <114827586+autofix-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: dave caruso <me@paperdave.net>
