gulp-watch 5.0.1

In the dynamic world of web development, 'gulp-watch' serves as an unending stream file watcher that makes use of the supremely speedy chokidar while emitting vinyl objects. It keeps a keen eye on files provided by a specific pattern or 'glob' and emits an event every time the file is added, changed, or removed.

To get things working with 'gulp-watch', you'll need to follow a few straightforward steps. First, install the package through npm by running npm install --save-dev gulp-watch in your terminal. You'll then require both 'gulp' and 'gulp-watch' in your script file. Define gulp tasks that return the 'gulp-watch' function, providing it with the path of the files you want to watch as the first argument, and specifying a function of what to do whenever a change is detected.

Here's a simple code example:

var gulp = require('gulp'),
    watch = require('gulp-watch');

gulp.task('stream', function () {
    // Endless stream mode
    return watch('css/**/*.css', { ignoreInitial: false })
        .pipe(gulp.dest('build'));
});

gulp.task('callback', function () {
    // Callback mode
    return watch('css/**/*.css', function () {
        gulp.src('css/**/*.css')
            .pipe(gulp.dest('build'));
    });
});

Notice there are two modes of utilization: 'stream' mode which creates an endless stream, and 'callback' mode that is particularly practical if any plugin in the pipeline depends on the end/flush event.

Looking to dig deeper? The detailed documentation of 'gulp-watch' is conveniently available in the readme.md file located in the package's 'docs' directory on GitHub. Explore an array of tips, instructions, and examples to get the most out of this powerful tool.