[0.10.8/Windows] Background watcher never picks up committed new files (120s+)

[huymai96]

Environment

• Version: 0.10.8 (Windows, installed 2026-08-19 per installer timestamp)
• OS: Windows 11, PowerShell 5.1, NTFS local disk
• Config: auto_index=true, auto_index_limit=50000, auto_watch=true (\watcher_enabled\ does not appear in \config list\ output on this build)

Reproduction (synthetic, public-safe)

1. Create a fresh git repo with one committed .ps1\ file defining a function.
2. \codebase-memory-mcp cli index_repository --repo_path \ -> status indexed, baseline symbol queryable.
3. Add a second .ps1\ file with a uniquely-named function, \git add -A && git commit.
4. Wait 120+ seconds (also reproduced at 100+ seconds in a prior run).
5. Query the new symbol via search_graph/name_pattern -> 0 results. Node count unchanged.

Expected

The background watcher detects the committed create and re-indexes incrementally within its poll bound.

Actual

No pickup after 120s. A manual \index_repository\ re-run indexes the new file immediately, so parsing is fine — only the watch trigger misses.

Notes

• No private paths or source in this report; repro uses disposable synthetic repos.
• Happy to test a candidate build with watcher diagnostics (poll interval, last-scan timestamp per project).

[DeusData]

Thank you so much @huymai96 for this report. The synthetic, public-safe repro and your offer to test a diagnostics build made it quick to pin down.

Your observation is correct, and the root cause turned out to be our documentation rather than the watcher. The background watcher only watches the project an open MCP session is working in (your client's working directory), and it stops when the last session for that project closes. A repository indexed with codebase-memory-mcp cli index_repository is not kept under watch, so it stays at the state of that index until you re-run it. That is why a manual re-index picked up your new file straight away. Our README said "Auto-sync keeps it fresh after that" for every indexed repo, which was wrong, and that's on us.

The fix (#2348) does two things. The docs, the tool description and the server instructions now state the real scope. And index_status now has the diagnostics you asked for: a watch object with watched, the poll_interval_ms and last_scan_at when a project is watched, or a reason (for example not_session_project or cli_session) plus a re-index hint when it isn't.

On config list: watcher_enabled was added in v0.11.0, which is why your 0.10.8 build didn't list it; upgrading will show it. Thanks again for the careful report!

[DeusData]

Thank you again, @huymai96! The documentation half is now on main in 7d4a12c (merged via #2350): the README and docs/CONFIGURATION.md now describe how one-shot cli commands use the shared daemon, and the corrected auto-sync wording. The watch-status part (#2348) is still in review, so this issue stays open until it lands.