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assay watch

Watch config/policy/trace files and rerun Assay when they change.

Synopsis

assay watch [OPTIONS]

Options

Option Description
--config <PATH> Config file to watch and run (default: eval.yaml).
--trace-file <PATH> Trace file used by run loop and watched for changes.
--baseline <PATH> Optional baseline file and watch target.
--db <PATH> DB path used for runs (default: .eval/eval.db).
--strict Run in strict mode.
--replay-strict Enable strict replay mode in each run.
--clear Clear terminal before each rerun.
--debounce-ms <N> Debounce window before rerun (default: 350).

assay watch also resolves and watches policy files referenced by tests in the config. Debounce values are clamped to a safe range (50..=60000 ms).

Examples

# Watch config + trace and rerun on change
assay watch --config eval.yaml --trace-file traces/dev.jsonl

# Strict loop with terminal clear
assay watch --config eval.yaml --trace-file traces/dev.jsonl --strict --clear

Behavior

  • Runs once immediately.
  • Polls watch targets for changes.
  • Debounces bursty edits.
  • Re-runs assay run with selected flags.
  • If a run fails, watch stays active and waits for the next change.
  • Stops on Ctrl+C.

Exit Codes

assay watch is a long-running loop.

  • 0: interrupted normally (Ctrl+C).
  • Non-zero: unrecoverable startup errors (for example invalid arguments or failure before the loop starts).
  • Per-run failures are reported in the loop output (Result: exit <code>) and do not terminate watch mode.

See Also