diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3dbc7a21..3ca5cf0e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ version = "0.71.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5f58bf3d7db68cfbac37cfc485a8d711e87e064c3d0fe0435b92f7a407f9d6b3"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "cexpr",
  "clang-sys",
  "itertools 0.13.0",
@@ -122,6 +122,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bitflags"
+version = "1.3.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bef38d45163c2f1dde094a7dfd33ccf595c92905c8f8f4fdc18d06fb1037718a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bitflags"
 version = "2.6.0"
@@ -570,6 +576,15 @@ version = "2.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "37909eebbb50d72f9059c3b6d82c0463f2ff062c9e95845c43a6c9c0355411be"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "file-id"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6bc904b9bbefcadbd8e3a9fb0d464a9b979de6324c03b3c663e8994f46a5be36"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-sys 0.52.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "filetime"
 version = "0.2.25"
@@ -617,6 +632,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.52.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "fsevent-sys"
+version = "4.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "76ee7a02da4d231650c7cea31349b889be2f45ddb3ef3032d2ec8185f6313fd2"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fuzzy-matcher"
 version = "0.3.7"
@@ -654,7 +678,7 @@ version = "0.19.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b903b73e45dc0c6c596f2d37eccece7c1c8bb6e4407b001096387c63d0d93724"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "libc",
  "libgit2-sys",
  "log",
@@ -881,6 +905,35 @@ version = "2.0.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b248f5224d1d606005e02c97f5aa4e88eeb230488bcc03bc9ca4d7991399f2b5"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "inotify"
+version = "0.10.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fdd168d97690d0b8c412d6b6c10360277f4d7ee495c5d0d5d5fe0854923255cc"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "inotify-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "inotify-sys"
+version = "0.1.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e05c02b5e89bff3b946cedeca278abc628fe811e604f027c45a8aa3cf793d0eb"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "instant"
+version = "0.1.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e0242819d153cba4b4b05a5a8f2a7e9bbf97b6055b2a002b395c96b5ff3c0222"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "is_terminal_polyfill"
 version = "1.70.1"
@@ -952,6 +1005,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasm-bindgen",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "kqueue"
+version = "1.0.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7447f1ca1b7b563588a205fe93dea8df60fd981423a768bc1c0ded35ed147d0c"
+dependencies = [
+ "kqueue-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "kqueue-sys"
+version = "1.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ed9625ffda8729b85e45cf04090035ac368927b8cebc34898e7c120f52e4838b"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lazy_static"
 version = "1.5.0"
@@ -1006,7 +1079,7 @@ version = "0.1.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c0ff37bd590ca25063e35af745c343cb7a0271906fb7b37e4813e8f79f00268d"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "libc",
  "redox_syscall",
 ]
@@ -1094,6 +1167,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "adler2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "mio"
+version = "1.0.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2886843bf800fba2e3377cff24abf6379b4c4d5c6681eaf9ea5b0d15090450bd"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "log",
+ "wasi",
+ "windows-sys 0.52.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ndk-context"
 version = "0.1.1"
@@ -1106,7 +1191,7 @@ version = "0.29.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "71e2746dc3a24dd78b3cfcb7be93368c6de9963d30f43a6a73998a9cf4b17b46"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "cfg-if",
  "cfg_aliases",
  "libc",
@@ -1122,6 +1207,47 @@ dependencies = [
  "minimal-lexical",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "notify"
+version = "7.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c533b4c39709f9ba5005d8002048266593c1cfaf3c5f0739d5b8ab0c6c504009"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
+ "filetime",
+ "fsevent-sys",
+ "inotify",
+ "kqueue",
+ "libc",
+ "log",
+ "mio",
+ "notify-types",
+ "walkdir",
+ "windows-sys 0.52.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "notify-debouncer-full"
+version = "0.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9dcf855483228259b2353f89e99df35fc639b2b2510d1166e4858e3f67ec1afb"
+dependencies = [
+ "file-id",
+ "log",
+ "notify",
+ "notify-types",
+ "walkdir",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "notify-types"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "585d3cb5e12e01aed9e8a1f70d5c6b5e86fe2a6e48fc8cd0b3e0b8df6f6eb174"
+dependencies = [
+ "instant",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "objc-sys"
 version = "0.3.5"
@@ -1150,7 +1276,7 @@ version = "0.2.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0ee638a5da3799329310ad4cfa62fbf045d5f56e3ef5ba4149e7452dcf89d5a8"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "block2",
  "libc",
  "objc2",
@@ -1337,7 +1463,7 @@ version = "0.5.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "03a862b389f93e68874fbf580b9de08dd02facb9a788ebadaf4a3fd33cf58834"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1409,7 +1535,7 @@ version = "0.38.42"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "f93dc38ecbab2eb790ff964bb77fa94faf256fd3e73285fd7ba0903b76bedb85"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "errno",
  "libc",
  "linux-raw-sys",
@@ -2116,7 +2242,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5c771866898879073c53b565a6c7b49953795159836714ac56a5befb581227c5"
 dependencies = [
  "ahash",
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "hashbrown 0.14.5",
  "indexmap",
  "semver",
@@ -2129,7 +2255,7 @@ version = "0.221.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9845c470a2e10b61dd42c385839cdd6496363ed63b5c9e420b5488b77bd22083"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "hashbrown 0.15.2",
  "indexmap",
  "semver",
@@ -2154,7 +2280,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5b79302e3e084713249cc5622e8608e7410afdeeea8c8026d04f491d1fab0b4b"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
- "bitflags",
+ "bitflags 2.6.0",
  "bumpalo",
  "cc",
  "cfg-if",
@@ -2646,6 +2772,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "clap",
  "git2",
  "indoc",
+ "notify",
+ "notify-debouncer-full",
  "regex",
  "semver",
  "serde",
diff --git a/xtask/Cargo.toml b/xtask/Cargo.toml
index 774fd8e8..67cef0c8 100644
--- a/xtask/Cargo.toml
+++ b/xtask/Cargo.toml
@@ -28,3 +28,5 @@ semver.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
 serde_json.workspace = true
 ureq = "2.12.1"
+notify = "7.0.0"
+notify-debouncer-full = "0.4.0"
diff --git a/xtask/src/build_wasm.rs b/xtask/src/build_wasm.rs
index 6bf2eddd..77a198b9 100644
--- a/xtask/src/build_wasm.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/build_wasm.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,21 @@
 use std::{
+    collections::HashSet,
     ffi::{OsStr, OsString},
     fmt::Write,
     fs,
+    path::PathBuf,
     process::Command,
+    time::Duration,
 };
 
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
+use notify::{
+    event::{AccessKind, AccessMode},
+    EventKind, RecursiveMode,
+};
+use notify_debouncer_full::new_debouncer;
 
-use crate::{bail_on_err, BuildWasm, EMSCRIPTEN_TAG};
+use crate::{bail_on_err, watch_wasm, BuildWasm, EMSCRIPTEN_TAG};
 
 #[derive(PartialEq, Eq)]
 enum EmccSource {
@@ -95,9 +103,10 @@ pub fn run_wasm(args: &BuildWasm) -> Result<()> {
 
     fs::create_dir_all("target/scratch").unwrap();
 
-    let exported_functions = concat!(
-        include_str!("../../lib/src/wasm/stdlib-symbols.txt"),
-        include_str!("../../lib/binding_web/exports.txt")
+    let exported_functions = format!(
+        "{}{}",
+        fs::read_to_string("lib/src/wasm/stdlib-symbols.txt")?,
+        fs::read_to_string("lib/binding_web/exports.txt")?
     )
     .replace('"', "")
     .lines()
@@ -159,9 +168,20 @@ pub fn run_wasm(args: &BuildWasm) -> Result<()> {
         "-o",
         "target/scratch/tree-sitter.js",
     ]);
+    let command = command.args(&emscripten_flags);
 
+    if args.watch {
+        watch_wasm!(|| build_wasm(command));
+    } else {
+        build_wasm(command)?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn build_wasm(cmd: &mut Command) -> Result<()> {
     bail_on_err(
-        &command.args(emscripten_flags).spawn()?.wait_with_output()?,
+        &cmd.spawn()?.wait_with_output()?,
         "Failed to compile the Tree-sitter WASM library",
     )?;
 
diff --git a/xtask/src/check_wasm_exports.rs b/xtask/src/check_wasm_exports.rs
index 3d0cab40..4bc9e9fb 100644
--- a/xtask/src/check_wasm_exports.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/check_wasm_exports.rs
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
 use std::{
     collections::HashSet,
     io::BufRead,
+    path::PathBuf,
     process::{Command, Stdio},
+    time::Duration,
 };
 
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
+use notify::{
+    event::{AccessKind, AccessMode},
+    EventKind, RecursiveMode,
+};
+use notify_debouncer_full::new_debouncer;
 
-use crate::{bail_on_err, build_wasm::run_wasm, BuildWasm};
+use crate::{bail_on_err, build_wasm::run_wasm, watch_wasm, BuildWasm, CheckWasmExports};
 
 const EXCLUDES: [&str; 28] = [
     // Unneeded because the JS side has its own way of implementing it
@@ -44,15 +51,26 @@ const EXCLUDES: [&str; 28] = [
     "ts_query_cursor_timeout_micros",
 ];
 
-pub fn run() -> Result<()> {
+pub fn run(args: &CheckWasmExports) -> Result<()> {
+    if args.watch {
+        watch_wasm!(check_wasm_exports);
+    } else {
+        check_wasm_exports()?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn check_wasm_exports() -> Result<()> {
     // Build the wasm module with debug symbols for wasm-objdump
     run_wasm(&BuildWasm {
         debug: true,
         verbose: false,
         docker: false,
+        watch: false,
     })?;
 
-    let mut wasm_exports = include_str!("../../lib/binding_web/exports.txt")
+    let mut wasm_exports = std::fs::read_to_string("lib/binding_web/exports.txt")?
         .lines()
         .map(|s| s.replace("_wasm", "").replace("byte", "index"))
         // remove leading and trailing quotes, trailing comma
diff --git a/xtask/src/main.rs b/xtask/src/main.rs
index a1333d65..9d8069df 100644
--- a/xtask/src/main.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/main.rs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ enum Commands {
     /// Bumps the version of the workspace.
     BumpVersion(BumpVersion),
     /// Checks that WASM exports are synced.
-    CheckWasmExports,
+    CheckWasmExports(CheckWasmExports),
     /// Runs `cargo clippy`.
     Clippy(Clippy),
     /// Fetches emscripten.
@@ -82,6 +82,9 @@ struct BuildWasm {
     /// Run emscripten with verbose output.
     #[arg(long, short)]
     verbose: bool,
+    /// Rebuild when relevant files are changed.
+    #[arg(long, short)]
+    watch: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(Args)]
@@ -91,6 +94,13 @@ struct BumpVersion {
     version: Option<Version>,
 }
 
+#[derive(Args)]
+struct CheckWasmExports {
+    /// Recheck when relevant files are changed.
+    #[arg(long, short)]
+    watch: bool,
+}
+
 #[derive(Args)]
 struct Clippy {
     /// Automatically apply lint suggestions (`clippy --fix`).
@@ -207,7 +217,7 @@ fn run() -> Result<()> {
         Commands::BuildWasm(build_wasm_options) => build_wasm::run_wasm(&build_wasm_options)?,
         Commands::BuildWasmStdlib => build_wasm::run_wasm_stdlib()?,
         Commands::BumpVersion(bump_options) => bump::run(bump_options)?,
-        Commands::CheckWasmExports => check_wasm_exports::run()?,
+        Commands::CheckWasmExports(check_options) => check_wasm_exports::run(&check_options)?,
         Commands::Clippy(clippy_options) => clippy::run(&clippy_options)?,
         Commands::FetchEmscripten => fetch::run_emscripten()?,
         Commands::FetchFixtures => fetch::run_fixtures()?,
@@ -289,3 +299,57 @@ pub fn create_commit(repo: &Repository, msg: &str, paths: &[&str]) -> Result<Oid
         &[&parent_commit],
     )?)
 }
+
+#[macro_export]
+macro_rules! watch_wasm {
+    ($watch_fn:expr) => {
+        if let Err(e) = $watch_fn() {
+            eprintln!("{e}");
+        }
+
+        let watch_files = [
+            "binding.c",
+            "binding.js",
+            "exports.txt",
+            "imports.js",
+            "prefix.js",
+            "suffix.js",
+        ]
+        .iter()
+        .map(PathBuf::from)
+        .collect::<HashSet<PathBuf>>();
+        let (tx, rx) = std::sync::mpsc::channel();
+        let mut debouncer = new_debouncer(Duration::from_secs(1), None, tx)?;
+        debouncer.watch("lib/binding_web", RecursiveMode::NonRecursive)?;
+
+        for result in rx {
+            match result {
+                Ok(events) => {
+                    for event in events {
+                        if event.kind == EventKind::Access(AccessKind::Close(AccessMode::Write))
+                            && event
+                                .paths
+                                .iter()
+                                .filter_map(|p| p.file_name())
+                                .any(|p| watch_files.contains(&PathBuf::from(p)))
+                        {
+                            if let Err(e) = $watch_fn() {
+                                eprintln!("{e}");
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                Err(errors) => {
+                    return Err(anyhow!(
+                        "{}",
+                        errors
+                            .into_iter()
+                            .map(|e| e.to_string())
+                            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+                            .join("\n")
+                    ));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    };
+}