Automatic file git commit/push upon change

auto_git_file.md

Please see the most up-to-date version of this protocol on my blog at https://darencard.net/blog/.

Automatically push an updated file whenever it is changed

Linux

1. Make sure inotify-tools is installed (https://github.com/rvoicilas/inotify-tools)
2. Configure git as usual
3. Clone the git repository of interest from github and, if necessary, add file you want to monitor
4. Allow username/password to be cached so you aren't asked everytime

git config credential.helper store

5. Open a terminal and navigate, as necessary; issue the following command

# <<branch>> = branch you are pushing to
# <<file>> = file you want to monitor
inotifywait -q -m -e CLOSE_WRITE --format="git commit -m 'auto commit' %w && git push origin <<branch>>" <<file>> | bash

6. In a separate shell, do whatever you want and when monitored file is updated, it will automatically get committed and pushed (as long as the shell with the inotifywait command is still active)

Mac

1. Make sure fswatch is installed (https://github.com/emcrisostomo/fswatch)
2. Configure git as usual
3. Clone the git repository of interest from github and, if necessary, add file you want to monitor
4. Allow username/password to be cached so you aren't asked everytime

git config credential.helper store

5. Create a script that performs the commit and push (auto_commit_push.sh)

#!/bin/bash
# <<branch>> = branch you are pushing to
git commit -m "auto commit" $1
git push origin <<branch>>

6. Open a terminal and navigate, as necessary; issue the following command

# <<file>> = file you want to monitor
# <<path/to/auto_commit_push.sh>> = path to the script created above
fswatch -0 <<file>> | xargs -0 -n 1 bash <<path/to/auto_commit_push.sh>>

7. In a separate shell, do whatever you want and when monitored file is updated, it will automatically get committed and pushed (as long as the shell with the fswatch command is still active)

good work!

windows???

No windows !? Nooooo...

Would this work on a directory of files? I have an application running that changes different file at different time in a directory, so ideally would like to be able to check which files were changed weekly, and the commit and push those only

How do I keep this running without having to keep the terminal open?

@puckvg try the screen command:

Screen

Screen -x "whatever command you want"

While on screen when you want leave things running:

Ctrl+A+D

Leaves process running and returns you to main bash session, you can then logout and process will continue to run.

Hope that helps :)

I had a little trouble with the command -in particular using the %w variable. My file name had spaces, so when it came time to commit the quotation characters got lost in the mix? Anyway, replacing %w with the quoted file name worked.

For the mac auto_commit_push.sh, $1 should be in quotes (i.e. "$1"), to account for path names that contain spaces.

For people who are interested in getting this to run on Windows, try using WSL or Gitbash. You might have to make certain modifications to the script above, but it should not be too difficult. Happy coding 😎

It only runs once for me, doesnt run a second time