--- layout: "docs" page_title: "Commands: Watch" sidebar_current: "docs-commands-watch" description: |- The `watch` command provides a mechanism to watch for changes in a particular data view (list of nodes, service members, key value, etc) and to invoke a process with the latest values of the view. If no process is specified, the current values are dumped to stdout which can be a useful way to inspect data in Consul. --- # Consul Watch Command: `consul watch` The `watch` command provides a mechanism to watch for changes in a particular data view (list of nodes, service members, key value, etc) and to invoke a process with the latest values of the view. If no process is specified, the current values are dumped to stdout which can be a useful way to inspect data in Consul. There is more [documentation on watches here](/docs/agent/watches.html). ## Usage Usage: `consul watch [options] [child...]` The only required option is `-type` which specifies the particular data view. Depending on the type, various options may be required or optionally provided. There is more documentation on watch [specifications here](/docs/agent/watches.html). The list of available flags are: * `-http-addr` - Address to the HTTP server of the agent you want to contact to send this command. If this isn't specified, the command will contact "127.0.0.1:8500" which is the default HTTP address of a Consul agent. * `-datacenter` - Datacenter to query. Defaults to that of agent. * `-token` - ACL token to use. Defaults to that of agent. * `-key` - Key to watch. Only for `key` type. * `-name`- Event name to watch. Only for `event` type. * `-passingonly=[true|false]` - Should only passing entries be returned. Default false. only for `service` type. * `-prefix` - Key prefix to watch. Only for `keyprefix` type. * `-service` - Service to watch. Required for `service` type, optional for `checks` type. * `-state` - Check state to filter on. Optional for `checks` type. * `-tag` - Service tag to filter on. Optional for `service` type. * `-type` - Watch type. Required, one of "key", "keyprefix", "services", "nodes", "services", "checks", or "event".