Registry / devops / rollup-plugin-watch

rollup-plugin-watch

library1.0.5jsnpmunverified

A Rollup plugin to specify additional directories and files for Rollup to watch during dev mode, complementing Rollup's built-in watch mechanism. Version 1.0.5 (stable) requires Node >=16 and peer dependency rollup ^2.x.x || ^3.x.x || ^4.x.x. It ships TypeScript definitions. Key differentiator: allows watching external assets not imported in code, preventing unnecessary dev server restarts. Low maintenance, minimal API surface (dir, include, exclude).

devops

npm install rollup-plugin-watch

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · ROLLUP-PLUGIN-WATC

rollup-plugin-watch

devopsjavascriptv1.0.5

Install

—

Import

—

Disk

—

Pass rate

0/ 6

Env Coverage0 / 6

glibc

18–22

musl

18–22

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v? · npm install

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

node 18–223 runs

build_error

glibc

node 18–223 runs

build_error

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

default (watch function)

✓ import watch from 'rollup-plugin-watch'

✗ import { watch } from 'rollup-plugin-watch'

Package uses default export; named export does not exist

CommonJS require

✓ const watch = require('rollup-plugin-watch')

✗ const { watch } = require('rollup-plugin-watch')

CJS works with default export

TypeScript type import

✓ import type { RollupWatchOptions } from 'rollup-plugin-watch'

✗ import { RollupWatchOptions } from 'rollup-plugin-watch'

Types are exported but not as runtime values; use type-only import

Shows basic usage: watch a directory with include/exclude patterns for non-imported assets.

import watch from 'rollup-plugin-watch'; export default { input: 'index.js', output: { file: 'dist/index.js', format: 'esm' }, plugins: [ watch({ dir: 'public', include: ['**/*.html', '**/*.css'], exclude: ['node_modules/**'] }) ] };

Debug

Known issues

gotchaThe `dir` option does not recursively watch subdirectories by default; you must use `include` with glob patterns for deeper watches.

fix

Set include: ['**/*'] to watch all files recursively within the directory.

affects: >=1.0.0

deprecatedOptions `include` and `exclude` were originally strings; array support added later. Using a string still works but is deprecated in favor of arrays.

fix

Use arrays: include: ['file1', 'file2'] instead of include: 'file1'.

affects: >=1.0.0

gotchaThis plugin only notifies Rollup to watch files; it does not trigger builds on file changes outside Rollup's watch mode.

fix

Ensure Rollup is running in watch mode (e.g., rollup -w) for the plugin to have any effect.

affects: >=1.0.0

gotchaThe plugin has no effect on builds (non-watch mode); it is solely for development with Rollup's watcher.

fix

Only use in development configurations; do not expect it to work in build-only scripts.

affects: >=1.0.0

Errors

Common errors & fixes

Error: Cannot find module 'rollup-plugin-watch'

Package not installed or wrong import path.

fix

Run npm install rollup-plugin-watch --save-dev and ensure the import uses default import.

TypeError: watch is not a function

Using named import { watch } instead of default import.

fix

Change import to: import watch from 'rollup-plugin-watch'.

The watch option 'dir' must be a string

Passing a non-string value (e.g., array or object) to dir.

fix

Set dir to a single directory path as a string: dir: 'public'.

Upgrade

Version history

1.0.5latest on npm

Audit

Dependencies

rolluprequiredpeer dependency required for plugin to work

Agent activity

4 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/jleeson/rollup-plugin-watch ↗

packagehttps://www.npmjs.com/package/rollup-plugin-watch ↗