Method startWatching

src/mcp/engine.ts:278–331

* Start file watching on the active CodeGraph instance. Idempotent — the * watcher is per-engine, not per-session, which is why the daemon path * collapses N inotify sets to one. The wording of the disabled-reason log * exactly matches the prior in-tree implementation so log-driven dashboar

()

   * keep working.
   */
  private startWatching(): void {
    if (!this.cg || this.watcherStarted || !this.opts.watch) return;

    const disabledReason = watchDisabledReason(this.projectPath ?? process.cwd());
    if (disabledReason) {
      process.stderr.write(
        `[CodeGraph MCP] File watcher disabled — ${disabledReason}. ` +
        `The graph will not auto-update; run \`codegraph sync\` (or install the git sync hooks via \`codegraph init\`) to refresh.\n`
      );
      this.watcherStarted = true;
      return;
    }

    // Optional override for the debounce window via env var (issue #403).
    // Useful for workspaces with bursty writes (formatter-on-save chains,
    // large generated outputs) where the 2s default fires too often. Clamped
    // to [100ms, 60s]; out-of-range / non-numeric values fall back to the
    // FileWatcher default. We log the active value so it's discoverable.
    const debounceMs = parseDebounceEnv(process.env.CODEGRAPH_WATCH_DEBOUNCE_MS);
    if (debounceMs !== undefined) {
      process.stderr.write(`[CodeGraph MCP] File watcher debounce: ${debounceMs}ms (CODEGRAPH_WATCH_DEBOUNCE_MS)\n`);
    }

    const started = this.cg.watch({
      debounceMs,
      onSyncComplete: (result) => {
        if (result.filesChanged > 0) {
          process.stderr.write(
            `[CodeGraph MCP] Auto-synced ${result.filesChanged} file(s) in ${result.durationMs}ms\n`
          );
        }
      },
      onSyncError: (err) => {
        process.stderr.write(`[CodeGraph MCP] Auto-sync error: ${err.message}\n`);
      },
      onDegraded: (reason) => {
        // Live watching gave up permanently (watch-resource exhaustion or a
        // write lock held past the retry budget). Say so loudly and ONCE — the
        // graph will no longer auto-update, so a long-running MCP session must
        // not keep assuming it's fresh. The reason already names the remedy
        // (`codegraph sync` / git sync hooks).
        process.stderr.write(`[CodeGraph MCP] File watcher degraded — ${reason}\n`);
      },
    });

    this.watcherStarted = true;
    if (started) {
      process.stderr.write('[CodeGraph MCP] File watcher active — graph will auto-sync on changes\n');
    } else {
      process.stderr.write(
        '[CodeGraph MCP] File watcher unavailable on this platform — run `codegraph sync` to refresh the graph after changes.\n'
      );
    }
  }

  /**
   * Reconcile the index with the current filesystem once, right after open —