Watch Folders

Watch folders let Forge monitor directories and automatically create jobs when new media appears. This is useful for ingest workflows where media arrives continuously.

How It Works

When you configure a watch folder, Forge monitors the directory recursively. When a new file is detected that matches the folder's filter criteria, Forge creates a job using the folder's assigned spec.

The watch is recursive by default — subdirectories are included.

Job Creation Rules

Each watch folder has a single job specification attached to it. Every file that matches the filter is processed with that spec. There is no per-file logic or conditional routing.

Files that do not match the filter (e.g., sidecar files, metadata, unsupported formats) are ignored. Forge does not modify, move, or delete source files.

Safety

Watch folders follow the same fail-closed behavior as manual jobs. If a file cannot be processed, the job fails and is logged. Forge does not skip files silently.

Permissions matter. Forge must have read access to the watch directory and write access to the output location. If permissions are insufficient, the job will fail at creation time rather than mid-process.

Do not configure watch folders on system directories or directories with high churn from other processes. Forge is designed for media ingest paths, not general-purpose file monitoring.