jinks watch [dir]

Watch a local directory for file changes and automatically synchronize them to the corresponding eXist-db collection. This gives you a live local → server loop while you edit an application's sources.

jinks watch
jinks watch ./my-app

The target collection and credentials are read from repo.xml in the watched directory: the collection is /db/apps/<target> (from the <target> element) and the user/password come from the <permissions> element. The -u and -p options override those credentials when needed. Press Ctrl+C to stop watching.

Arguments

• [dir] — Directory to watch. Defaults to the current working directory.

Synchronized events

Event	Action
File added or changed	Upload to database
File deleted	Remove from database
Directory added	Create collection in database
Directory deleted	Remove collection from database

Ignored paths

When a .existdb.json file with a sync.ignore glob list is present in the watched directory, those globs decide what is skipped (.git/** is always added). Otherwise a set of built-in defaults applies, skipping paths such as .git, build, node_modules, *.xar, and .DS_Store.

Options

• -s, --server <address> — Server address. Defaults to http://localhost:8080/exist/apps/jinks (or $JINKS_SERVER).
• -u, --user <username> — Override the username from repo.xml.
• -p, --password <password> — Override the password from repo.xml.
• --check-interval <seconds> — Interval for the periodic server connection check, in seconds. Set to 0 to disable. Defaults to 60. On a failed check the CLI keeps watching and reconnects automatically when the server returns.

Examples

Watch the current directory:

jinks watch

Watch a specific application directory:

jinks watch ./my-tei-app

Watch with credentials that override repo.xml and a 30-second connection check:

jinks watch ./my-tei-app --user admin --password secret --check-interval 30