nightwatch/README.md

2.6 KiB

     _   _ _       _     _     _       _     _       _         
    | \ | (_)     | |   | |   | \     / |   | |     | |        
    |  \| |_  __ _| |__ | |_  \  \ _ /  /_ _| |_  __| |___     
    | . ` | |/ _` | '_ \| __|  \  ` '  / _` | __|/ _| '_  \    
    | |\  | | (_| | | | | |_    \     / (_| | |_| (_| | | |    
    |_| \_|_|\__, |_| |_|\__|    \_|_/ \__,_|\__|\__|_| |_|    
              __/ |                                            
             |___/                                             
                   T H E   N I G H T   W A T C H               

nightwatch

The city sleeps. The files do not.

"FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC"

The Night Watch is a file change tracker for directory trees, written in Zig.

It provides:

  • A standalone CLI for tracking filesystem changes
  • A module for embedding change-tracking into other Zig programs
  • Minimal dependencies and consistent, predictable, cross-platform behavior

It does not interfere. It does not speculate. It simply keeps watch.


Features

  • Recursive directory tree tracking
  • Deterministic multi-platform support (Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS, Windows)
  • Lightweight and fast
  • Embeddable Zig module API
  • Standalone CLI executable

Installation

The Watch is written in Zig and built using the Zig build system.

Requirements

  • Zig (currently zig-0.15.2)

Build CLI

zig build

The executable will be located in:

zig-out/bin/nightwatch

Install System-Wide

zig build install

Using as a Zig Module

The Night Watch exposes a reusable module that can be imported into other Zig programs.

In your build.zig:

const nightwatch = b.dependency("nightwatch", .{
    .target = target,
    .optimize = optimize,
});

exe.root_module.addImport("nightwatch", nightwatch.module("nightwatch"));

In your Zig source:

const nightwatch = @import("nightwatch");

You now have programmatic access to the tracking engine.


CLI Usage

nightwatch [{path}..]

Run:

nightwatch --help

for full command documentation.


Philosophy

Other tools watch files.

The Night Watch keeps watch over the peace.

It remembers what changed. It records what vanished. It notices what arrived at 2:14 AM.

And it writes it down.