watchr is a terminal UI for running commands and interactively browsing their output. It provides vim-style navigation, filtering, and a preview pane—all without leaving your terminal.

• Interactive output viewer: Browse command output with vim-style keybindings
• Live filtering: Press / to filter output lines in real-time, with regex support (//)
• Preview pane: Toggle a resizable preview panel (bottom, top, left, or right) with JSON syntax highlighting
• Auto-refresh: Optionally re-run commands at specified intervals
• Line numbers: Optional line numbering with configurable width
• Config files: YAML, TOML, or JSON config files for persistent settings
• Full-screen TUI: Clean, distraction-free interface using your entire terminal

Grab the latest release for Linux, macOS, or Windows:

• Releases →

Install directly from the tap:

brew install chenasraf/tap/watchr

Or tap and then install the package:

brew tap chenasraf/tap
brew install watchr

git clone https://github.com/chenasraf/watchr
cd watchr
make build
make install  # installs to ~/.local/bin

# View output of any command
watchr ls -la

# View logs
watchr "tail -100 /var/log/system.log"

# Monitor processes
watchr "ps aux"

# Refresh every 2 seconds
watchr -r 2 "docker ps"

# Refresh every 500 milliseconds
watchr -r 500ms "date"

# Refresh every 1.5 seconds
watchr -r 1.5s "kubectl get pods"

# Refresh every 5 minutes
watchr -r 5m "df -h"

# Refresh every hour
watchr -r 1h "curl -s https://api.example.com/status"

# Watch file changes
watchr -r 5 "find . -name '*.go' -mmin -1"

Usage: watchr [options] <command to run>

Options:
  -c, --config string             Load config from specified path
  -h, --help                      Show help
  -i, --interactive               Run shell in interactive mode (sources ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.)
  -w, --line-width int            Line number width (default 6)
  -n, --no-line-numbers           Disable line numbers
  -o, --preview-position string   Preview position: bottom, top, left, right (default "bottom")
  -P, --preview-size string       Preview size: number for lines/cols, or number% for percentage (e.g., 10 or 40%) (default "40%")
  -p, --prompt string             Prompt string (default "watchr> ")
  -r, --refresh string            Auto-refresh interval (e.g., 1, 1.5, 500ms, 2s, 5m, 1h; default unit: seconds, 0 = disabled) (default "0")
      --refresh-from-start        Start refresh timer when command starts (default: when command ends)
  -s, --shell string              Shell to use for executing commands (default "sh")
  -C, --show-config               Show loaded configuration and exit
  -v, --version                   Show version

watchr supports configuration files in YAML, TOML, or JSON format. Settings in config files serve as defaults that can be overridden by command-line flags.

Config files are searched in the following order (later files override earlier ones):

1. XDG config directory (Linux/macOS): ~/.config/watchr/watchr.{yaml,toml,json}
2. Windows: %APPDATA%\watchr\watchr.{yaml,toml,json}
3. Current directory (project-local): ./watchr.{yaml,toml,json}

YAML (watchr.yaml):

shell: bash
preview-size: '50%'
preview-position: right
line-numbers: true
line-width: 4
prompt: '> '
refresh: 0 # disabled; or use: 2, 1.5, "500ms", "2s", "5m", "1h"
interactive: false

TOML (watchr.toml):

shell = "bash"
preview-size = "50%"
preview-position = "right"
line-numbers = true
line-width = 4
prompt = "> "
refresh = 0 # disabled; or use: 2, 1.5, "500ms", "2s", "5m", "1h"
interactive = false

JSON (watchr.json):

{
  "shell": "bash",
  "preview-size": "50%",
  "preview-position": "right",
  "line-numbers": true,
  "line-width": 4,
  "prompt": "> ",
  "refresh": 0,
  "interactive": false
}

The refresh option accepts:

• Numbers: 2 or 1.5 (interpreted as seconds)
• Explicit units: "500ms", "2s", "5m", "1h"

Configuration values are applied in this order (later sources override earlier ones):

1. Built-in defaults
2. XDG/system config file
3. Project-local config file (current directory)
4. Command-line flags

When in filter mode (/), the following keys are available:

I am developing this package on my free time, so any support, whether code, issues, or just stars is very helpful to sustaining its life. If you are feeling incredibly generous and would like to donate just a small amount to help sustain this project, I would be very very thankful!

I welcome any issues or pull requests on GitHub. If you find a bug, or would like a new feature, don't hesitate to open an appropriate issue and I will do my best to reply promptly.

watchr is licensed under the MIT License.