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Use watch mode when another editor, script, or Git command changes workspace files while DocWriter is open.

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Start watch mode

When a supported workspace file changes, watch mode reloads your browser so you do not continue working from an old view. It reports changes to writing sources such as Markdown, text, JSON, YAML, TeX, BibTeX, style, and class files. It also reports changes to preview outputs such as PDF, HTML, SVG, and common image formats. Watch mode ignores implementation and runtime folders such as .git and .docwriter.

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An external change does not appear

Confirm that you started DocWriter with --watch. Also confirm that the changed file is inside the workspace and has a supported text extension. The command line watcher batches rapid multi-file changes, sends one reload event to the browser, refreshes the file tree, and remounts the active tab from the server. Changed preview outputs reload in place. Reload the browser if watch mode was already running. Reloading refreshes the file tree and shows the latest saved text. Your project file stays on disk.

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The same passage changed in two editors

Stop typing in one editor before changing the same passage in the other. You need to choose which version to keep because DocWriter does not merge conflicting edits to the same passage. When you open a tab, a newer project file with different text can replace what you were seeing. If the newer file replaces what you had open, you lose pending reviews, comments, and AI authorship markers for that version. Reloading also clears your browser undo history. Accept, reject, or copy any work you need before you let the external file replace the saved version. An external change can also make an open proposal stale, which means the proposal no longer matches the text it was based on. Review the affected tab after each reload. Reject a stale proposal or ask the agent for a new proposal based on the current text.

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A Git operation changed files

You run Git pull yourself because DocWriter does not pull a repository automatically. Pull before the writing session, resolve conflicts in Git, and then let DocWriter reload the resulting files. Watch mode handles a multi-file pull, including changes to .tex, .bib, and generated PDFs, as one batch. Resolve Git conflicts before you return to DocWriter so an older open tab does not replace the version you chose in Git. A Git reset, checkout, or conflict resolution can discard file text, so copy or commit work that you need before running the Git command.