# Install fsw with Homebrew

File change monitor with multiple backends. Version 1.3.9 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:fsw
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install fsw
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:fsw
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.3.9
- **Source summary:** File change monitor with multiple backends
- **Homepage:** <https://emcrisostomo.github.io/fsw/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/emcrisostomo/fsw>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- fsw (alias)
- fswatch-run (alias)
- fswatch-run-bash (alias)
- fswatch-run-zsh (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.3.9
## Project history and usage

fsw was Enrico M. Crisostomo's 2013-2014 cross-platform file-change monitor, later merged into fswatch.

### Project history

The fsw README says it was written at the end of 2013 to provide both a drop-in replacement for Alan Dipert's original fswatch and a common front end for OS X FSEvents, BSD kqueue, and Linux inotify.

In April 2014, the fsw and fswatch authors agreed to merge the two programs, with Enrico Crisostomo taking over fswatch maintenance. The fsw README states that development would continue in the main fswatch repository and that fsw would likely be frozen.

### Adoption history

fsw's adoption history is mostly transitional. The supplied package data shows a Homebrew package, but the official README redirected long-term users toward fswatch after the merger.

### How it is used

fsw accepts a list of paths and emits change events when those files or directories are modified. Its project page documents four monitors: OS X FSEvents, BSD kqueue, Linux inotify, and a portable stat-based polling monitor.

The project page recommends release tarballs for normal users and reserves repository checkouts for developers with the GNU Build System.

### Why package nerds care

fsw is historically interesting because it explains how the modern fswatch package absorbed a parallel cross-platform watcher effort. For package maintainers, it is mainly a predecessor and compatibility waypoint rather than the active upstream.

### Timeline

- 2009: Alan Dipert wrote the first fswatch implementation for OS X FSEvents.
- 2013: Enrico M. Crisostomo wrote fsw as a broader cross-platform front end.
- 2014: fsw public repository created.
- 2014: fsw and fswatch merged, with future development continuing in fswatch.

### Related projects

- fswatch is the direct successor project and long-term upstream.
- fsw relates to the operating-system event APIs it wrapped: FSEvents, kqueue, inotify, and stat-based polling.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/emcrisostomo/fsw>
- <https://emcrisostomo.github.io/fsw>
- <https://github.com/emcrisostomo/fsw>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/emcrisostomo/fsw/master/README.md>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/fsw.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/fsw.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph