Docker Compose Watch

docker compose watch is a modern feature (introduced in Docker Compose v2.22.0) that automatically updates your running services when you edit files on your host machine. It's like a supercharged "bind mount" that can also trigger rebuilds.

How it works

You define a watch section in your docker-compose.yml. When you change files, Docker Compose can perform one of three actions:

1. Sync: Copy the changed file into the container (great for static assets or interpreted languages like Node/Python with nodemon).
2. Rebuild: Rebuild the image and replace the container (needed for compiled languages or dependency changes).
3. Sync + Restart: (Coming in newer versions) Sync the file and restart the container.

Example Configuration

Here is a docker-compose.yml for a Node.js app:

services:
  web:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    develop:
      watch:
        - action: sync
          path: ./web
          target: /app/web
          ignore:
            - node_modules/
        - action: rebuild
          path: package.json

Running Watch Mode

To start your stack with watch mode enabled:

docker compose watch

Now, if you edit a file in ./web, it is instantly synced to /app/web inside the container. If you modify package.json, the container is automatically rebuilt and recreated.

Watch vs Bind Mounts

Feature	Bind Mounts (-v ./src:/app/src)	Docker Compose Watch
Mechanism	OS-level file sharing	File monitoring & sync
Performance	Can be slow on Mac/Windows	Generally faster
Rebuilds	No (requires manual restart)	Yes (can trigger rebuilds)
Remote Dev	Hard to set up	Works well with remote contexts

Use Cases

• Frontend Dev: Sync HTML/CSS/JS changes instantly.
• Backend Dev: Sync source code and let a watcher (like nodemon or air) restart the process inside the container.
• Dependency Updates: Automatically rebuild when package.json or go.mod changes.

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