nodemon
A wrapper for node that restarts your app automatically when files change.
- Stars
- 26.7k
- Forks
- 1.7k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- JavaScript
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Type
- Dev tool
What it is
nodemon is a command-line tool that watches the files in your project and restarts your Node.js application when they change. It is a replacement for the node command: you run your script with nodemon instead of node, and it needs no changes to your code. It is used during development so you do not have to stop and start the server by hand after every edit.
- Run a server with nodemon server.js and have it restart each time you save a .js file
- Type rs in the terminal to manually restart the process without stopping nodemon
- Watch only certain folders with --watch or certain file types with -e js,pug
- Ignore test files or fixtures with --ignore so saves to them do not trigger restarts
- Run a Python script with nodemon --exec "python -v" ./app.py and restart it on .py changes
Great for
- Node.js developers running a web server locally who want fast edit-and-reload cycles
- Developers working on scripts in other languages such as Python or Ruby, using the execMap setting
- Teams that want a simple, configurable file watcher without changing their code
- Beginners learning Node.js who want changes to show up immediately
Not ideal for
- Production servers, since the README presents nodemon as a development tool (the description says it is 'perfect for development')
- Projects that need restarts triggered by something other than file changes, since the README describes file-change watching as its core behavior
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: Node.js · npm or yarn
Install globally with npm
npm install -g nodemonInstall as a dev dependency
npm install --save-dev nodemon - 2
Run it
- Install nodemon globally with npm install -g nodemon, or add it to your project as a dev dependency
- Run your app with nodemon followed by your script, for example nodemon ./server.js
- Edit and save a watched file and confirm that nodemon restarts the process
- Type rs and press Enter to restart manually at any time
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Create a nodemon.json file to set defaults such as ignore patterns, watched extensions, or verbose output
- Use execMap in nodemon.json to add support for other languages you run regularly
- Use --watch to limit which directories are monitored and speed up detection in large projects
- Use nodemon --help config to see configuration options, as referenced in the README
Downloads
Strengths
- No changes to your code or workflow are required; you just replace node with nodemon
- Configurable through command-line flags, nodemon.json, or the nodemonConfig section of package.json
- Works with non-JavaScript scripts through --exec and execMap
Trade-offs
- The README is truncated and some configuration docs are said to 'need better documentation', so advanced setups may take research
- Ignore patterns must be written as full-path globs (for example ** patterns), which the README notes is easy to get wrong
- Designed for development use, not as a production process manager
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nodemon (this) | 26.7k | Dev tool | beginner | 4 days ago | Node.js developers running a web server locally who want fast edit-and-reload cycles |
| tsx | 12.2k | CLI | beginner | 1 months ago | Developers who already use Node.js and want to run TypeScript scripts quickly |
| node-gyp | 10.7k | Dev tool | intermediate | 9 days ago | Developers publishing or installing Node.js packages that include native C/C++ code |
| nvm | 95.7k | Dev tool | beginner | 9 days ago | Developers who work on several Node.js projects that need different versions |
| pnpm | 37k | Dev tool | beginner | 4 days ago | Developers working in Node.js projects who want faster installs and less disk use |
| asdf | 25.6k | Dev tool | beginner | 5 days ago | Developers who work on several projects that need different language versions |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.