# Watch debounce configuration
**URL:** https://zola.discourse.group/t/watch-debounce-configuration/2666
**Category:** Feature requests
**Created:** [July 26, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/watch-debounce-configuration/2666 "2025-07-26T21:15:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ccjmne](https://zola.discourse.group/u/ccjmne)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/watch-debounce-configuration/2666/1 "2025-07-26T21:15:35Z")
It’d be nice to add the ability for the user to configure a difference debounce value for the files watcher.
1 second seems quite excessive to me sometimes, when I could just edit my blog post and see it some handful of milliseconds afterwards on my second monitor.
---
### Author:  [@yashi](https://zola.discourse.group/u/yashi)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/watch-debounce-configuration/2666/2 "2025-08-06T14:58:34Z")
Something like this:
```auto
diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index 4c6708f0..bddfe3b4 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ pub enum Command {
/// Extra path to watch for changes, relative to the project root.
#[clap(long)]
extra_watch_path: Vec,
+
+ /// Seconds to debounce file watcher events (allows fractional)
+ #[clap(long, default_value_t = 1.0)]
+ watch_delay: f64,
},
/// Try to build the project without rendering it. Checks links
diff --git a/src/cmd/serve.rs b/src/cmd/serve.rs
index 8dbb1e4c..2171a43e 100644
--- a/src/cmd/serve.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/serve.rs
@@ -429,6 +429,7 @@ pub fn serve(
no_port_append: bool,
utc_offset: UtcOffset,
extra_watch_paths: Vec,
+ watch_delay: f64,
) -> Result<()> {
let start = Instant::now();
let (mut site, bind_address, constructed_base_url) = create_new_site(
@@ -481,7 +482,7 @@ pub fn serve(
// Setup watchers
let (tx, rx) = channel();
- let mut debouncer = new_debouncer(Duration::from_secs(1), /*tick_rate=*/ None, tx).unwrap();
+ let mut debouncer = new_debouncer(Duration::from_secs_f64(watch_delay), /*tick_rate=*/ None, tx).unwrap();
// We watch for changes on the filesystem for every entry in watch_this
// Will fail if either:
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index cf5fe7bf..d9716dc6 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ fn main() {
fast,
no_port_append,
extra_watch_path,
+ watch_delay,
} => {
if port != 1111 && !port_is_available(interface, port) {
console::error("The requested port is not available");
@@ -119,6 +120,7 @@ fn main() {
no_port_append,
UtcOffset::current_local_offset().unwrap_or(UtcOffset::UTC),
extra_watch_path,
+ watch_delay,
) {
messages::unravel_errors("Failed to serve the site", &e);
std::process::exit(1);
```
`notify_debouncer_full``s behaviour is not what I expect though.
---
### Author:  [@ccjmne](https://zola.discourse.group/u/ccjmne)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/watch-debounce-configuration/2666/3 "2025-08-06T18:36:33Z")
Hey, thanks @yashi. Yes, I arrived to pretty much exactly what you suggested.
I actually already submitted a PR ‘cause I was too much in a hurry to take a look at the code:
>
>
> \- Introduce \`-d\` \`--debounce \\` flag for \`serve\`
> \- Document \`serve\`'s \`--…debounce\` flag in \`cli-usage.md\`
>
> Let the file watcher use a configurable debounce value.
>
> This commit preserves the (until now hard-coded) 1-second debounce value
> as the default, but adds a new flag for the \`serve\` command, which lets
> the user configure a debounce duration for consecutive rebuilds in watch
> mode.
>
> Closes #2937.
---
### Author:  [@ccjmne](https://zola.discourse.group/u/ccjmne)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/watch-debounce-configuration/2666/4 "2025-10-25T21:11:22Z")
Merged (to `next`) earlier this week!
I’ve no idea how to mark the discussion as “resolved”, though…