hooks_start_watching

Start file system watching to automatically trigger events based on file changes, enabling context-aware coding assistance.

Instructions

Start file system watching for automatic event triggering

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`patterns`	No	File patterns to watch (optional, uses defaults if not provided)

Implementation Reference

src/tools/hooks/index.ts:85-88 (handler)

MCP tool handler for 'hooks_start_watching' that starts file system watching by calling HooksService.startFileWatching with optional patterns.

tools.set('hooks_start_watching', async (args: any) => {
  await hooksService.startFileWatching(args.patterns);
  return { success: true, message: 'File watching started', patterns: args.patterns };
});

src/tools/hooks/index.ts:43-57 (schema)

Input schema definition for the hooks_start_watching tool, defining optional patterns array.

{
  name: 'hooks_start_watching',
  description: 'Start file system watching for automatic event triggering',
  inputSchema: {
    type: 'object',
    properties: {
      patterns: {
        type: 'array',
        items: { type: 'string' },
        description: 'File patterns to watch (optional, uses defaults if not provided)'
      }
    },
    required: []
  }
},

src/index.ts:415-417 (registration)

Top-level registration of hooks tools (including hooks_start_watching) in the main server by invoking registerHooksTools.

if (this.config.services.hooks && this.hooksService) {
  const hookTools = registerHooksTools(this.tools, this.hooksService);
  this.toolDefinitions.push(...hookTools);

src/services/HooksService.ts:303-321 (helper)

Core implementation of file watching using chokidar, setting up event handlers for file changes invoked by the tool handler.

async startFileWatching(patterns?: string[]): Promise<void> {
  const watchPatterns = patterns || this.config.fileWatch.patterns;
  
  const watcher = this.watcherFactory.watch(watchPatterns, {
    ignored: this.config.fileWatch.ignored,
    persistent: this.config.fileWatch.persistent,
    ignoreInitial: this.config.fileWatch.ignoreInitial,
    cwd: this.projectRoot
  });

  watcher
    .on('add', (path) => this.handleFileSystemEvent('add', path))
    .on('change', (path) => this.handleFileSystemEvent('change', path))
    .on('unlink', (path) => this.handleFileSystemEvent('unlink', path))
    .on('error', (error) => console.error('File watcher error:', error));

  this.watchers.set('main', watcher);
  await this.notify('system', 'File watching started');
}

CastPlan MCP