textual-hmr

Provides Hot Module Reloading for Textual apps.

It acts as a small runner for Textual development: save Python files, and the current app instance exits so the updated app can be started again in the same Python process. When you export an App subclass, textual-hmr also enables Textual's built-in CSS watching by default.

CLI Usage

If your app class is named DemoApp in ./main.py, run:

textual-hmr ./main.py:DemoApp

Or use a module import path:

textual-hmr my_package.main:DemoApp

The target may be:

• an App subclass
• an App instance
• a zero-argument callable returning an App

Options

textual-hmr --help

The command supports:

• --watch PATH: additional file or directory paths to watch
• --ignore PATH: file or directory paths to ignore
• --headless: run without terminal output
• --inline: use Textual inline mode
• --inline-no-clear: preserve inline output after exit
• --no-mouse: disable mouse support
• --clear: clear the terminal before restarting after changes
• --no-watch-css: do not enable Textual's CSS watcher when the target is an App subclass

Notes

• This package is currently optimized for the common dev loop of restarting a Textual app quickly in-process when code changes.
• It does not attempt to preserve widget state across app restarts.
• For CSS-only changes, Textual's own watcher is usually the smoother path; textual-hmr enables that automatically for exported app classes unless you disable it.