man1/git-fsmonitor--daemon.1

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.\"     Title: git-fsmonitor--daemon
.\"    Author: [FIXME: author] [see http://www.docbook.org/tdg5/en/html/author]
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.79.2 <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 2025-07-24
.\"    Manual: Git Manual
.\"    Source: Git 2.50.1.461.ge4ef0485fd
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "GIT\-FSMONITOR\-\-DAEMON" "1" "2025-07-24" "Git 2\&.50\&.1\&.461\&.ge4ef04" "Git Manual"
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.SH "NAME"
git-fsmonitor--daemon \- A Built\-in Filesystem Monitor
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.sp
.nf
\fIgit fsmonitor\-\-daemon\fR start
\fIgit fsmonitor\-\-daemon\fR run
\fIgit fsmonitor\-\-daemon\fR stop
\fIgit fsmonitor\-\-daemon\fR status
.fi
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.sp
A daemon to watch the working directory for file and directory changes using platform\-specific filesystem notification facilities\&.
.sp
This daemon communicates directly with commands like \fBgit\fR \fBstatus\fR using the \m[blue]\fBsimple IPC\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2 interface instead of the slower \fBgithooks\fR(5) interface\&.
.sp
This daemon is built into Git so that no third\-party tools are required\&.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
start
.RS 4
Starts a daemon in the background\&.
.RE
.PP
run
.RS 4
Runs a daemon in the foreground\&.
.RE
.PP
stop
.RS 4
Stops the daemon running in the current working directory, if present\&.
.RE
.PP
status
.RS 4
Exits with zero status if a daemon is watching the current working directory\&.
.RE
.SH "REMARKS"
.sp
This daemon is a long running process used to watch a single working directory and maintain a list of the recently changed files and directories\&. Performance of commands such as \fBgit\fR \fBstatus\fR can be increased if they just ask for a summary of changes to the working directory and can avoid scanning the disk\&.
.sp
When \fBcore\&.fsmonitor\fR is set to \fBtrue\fR (see \fBgit-config\fR(1)) commands, such as \fBgit\fR \fBstatus\fR, will ask the daemon for changes and automatically start it (if necessary)\&.
.sp
For more information see the "File System Monitor" section in \fBgit-update-index\fR(1)\&.
.SH "CAVEATS"
.sp
The fsmonitor daemon does not currently know about submodules and does not know to filter out filesystem events that happen within a submodule\&. If fsmonitor daemon is watching a super repo and a file is modified within the working directory of a submodule, it will report the change (as happening against the super repo)\&. However, the client will properly ignore these extra events, so performance may be affected but it will not cause an incorrect result\&.
.sp
By default, the fsmonitor daemon refuses to work with network\-mounted repositories; this may be overridden by setting \fBfsmonitor\&.allowRemote\fR to \fBtrue\fR\&. Note, however, that the fsmonitor daemon is not guaranteed to work correctly with all network\-mounted repositories, so such use is considered experimental\&.
.sp
On Mac OS, the inter\-process communication (IPC) between various Git commands and the fsmonitor daemon is done via a Unix domain socket (UDS) \(em a special type of file \(em which is supported by native Mac OS filesystems, but not on network\-mounted filesystems, NTFS, or FAT32\&. Other filesystems may or may not have the needed support; the fsmonitor daemon is not guaranteed to work with these filesystems and such use is considered experimental\&.
.sp
By default, the socket is created in the \&.\fBgit\fR directory\&. However, if the \&.\fBgit\fR directory is on a network\-mounted filesystem, it will instead be created at \fB$HOME/\&.git\-fsmonitor\-*\fR unless \fB$HOME\fR itself is on a network\-mounted filesystem, in which case you must set the configuration variable \fBfsmonitor\&.socketDir\fR to the path of a directory on a Mac OS native filesystem in which to create the socket file\&.
.sp
If none of the above directories (\&.\fBgit\fR, \fB$HOME\fR, or \fBfsmonitor\&.socketDir\fR) is on a native Mac OS file filesystem the fsmonitor daemon will report an error that will cause the daemon and the currently running command to exit\&.
.SH "CONFIGURATION"
.sp
Everything below this line in this section is selectively included from the \fBgit-config\fR(1) documentation\&. The content is the same as what\(cqs found there:
.PP
fsmonitor\&.allowRemote
.RS 4
By default, the fsmonitor daemon refuses to work with network\-mounted repositories\&. Setting
\fBfsmonitor\&.allowRemote\fR
to
\fBtrue\fR
overrides this behavior\&. Only respected when
\fBcore\&.fsmonitor\fR
is set to
\fBtrue\fR\&.
.RE
.PP
fsmonitor\&.socketDir
.RS 4
This Mac OS\-specific option, if set, specifies the directory in which to create the Unix domain socket used for communication between the fsmonitor daemon and various Git commands\&. The directory must reside on a native Mac OS filesystem\&. Only respected when
\fBcore\&.fsmonitor\fR
is set to
\fBtrue\fR\&.
.RE
.SH "GIT"
.sp
Part of the \fBgit\fR(1) suite
.SH "NOTES"
.IP " 1." 4
simple IPC
.RS 4
\%git-htmldocs/technical/api-simple-ipc.html
.RE