Poltergeist is a universal hot-reload and file-watching tool that automatically rebuilds projects when files change.
It’s designed to work across different languages and build systems, can auto-detect project types, generate configuration, manage build queues, and help developers run freshly built binaries without accidentally using stale output. It supports macOS, Linux, and Windows, and is available as a standalone binary or npm package.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Provides a
polterwrapper that waits for a build to finish before launching the target. - Shows real-time build output so you can monitor progress as it happens.
- Displays inline error diagnostics with contextual information and suggestions.
- Supports manual builds with explicit target selection.
- Includes automatic recovery after recent build failures.
- Uses intelligent build prioritization for projects that share code.
- Sends native system notifications for build status changes.
- Prevents overlapping builds with locking and process tracking.
- Reloads configuration changes without requiring a manual restart.
- Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: github.com/steipete/poltergeist
Support:
Developer: Peter Steinberger
License: MIT License
Poltergeist is written in TypeScript. Learn TypeScript with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| watch alternatives | |
|---|---|
| viddy | Modern watch command. It features in our Top 100 TUI apps |
| hwatch | Results are scrollable and displayed. Also features in our Top 100 TUI apps |
| watchexec | Run a command when files in the current directory change |
| neowatch | Alternative to watch also written in Rust |
| ov | Feature rich terminal pager |
| chokidar | Watch file system changes |
| watcher | Watch files in a directory for changes |
| wfh | Rsync as you edit |
| reflex | Run a command when files change |
| rwatch | Rust implementation of watch |
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