Hot Reload

ChannelWatch v1.0 watches /config/settings.json for changes. When you save settings through the web UI, the application reloads the affected components immediately — no container restart needed for most changes.

What reloads automatically

These settings take effect the moment you save them in the web UI:

Setting category	What happens on save
DVR servers	Changed DVRs are re-initialized; unchanged DVRs keep running without interruption
Alert settings	New thresholds, cooldowns, and toggles apply to the next alert event
Notification providers	Updated credentials and provider settings apply to the next delivery attempt
Notification templates	Custom message templates apply to the next notification
Logging verbosity	Log level switches immediately (Standard or Verbose)

When a DVR’s configuration changes, ChannelWatch cancels that DVR’s monitoring task and spawns a new one with the updated settings. DVRs whose configuration did not change are not touched. A CONFIG_RELOADED log entry is written with a summary of what changed.

What requires a restart

A small number of settings cannot be changed at runtime. These require a full container restart to take effect:

Setting	Why a restart is required
Network binding (host and port)	The HTTP server binds to the port at startup; rebinding requires stopping and restarting the process
Database URL	The database connection is established at startup; changing it requires a fresh connection pool
RBAC feature flag	The security middleware is wired at startup; toggling RBAC requires reinitializing the middleware stack

To apply any of these changes:

Update the value in your compose file or environment variables.
Run docker compose down && docker compose up -d (or the equivalent for your setup).

Notification plugins and hot reload

Notification provider plugins (files in /config/plugins/notifications/) are not hot-reloaded. The plugin loader runs once at startup. To activate a new plugin or update an existing one, restart the container.

See Provider Plugins for details on the plugin system.

Verifying a reload

After saving settings, check the application logs to confirm the reload completed:

INFO  CONFIG_RELOADED: dvr_servers[0].port changed (8089 -> 8090); DVR task re-initialized

If the new configuration is invalid (for example, a DVR host that can’t be reached), ChannelWatch logs an error and keeps the previous configuration active. It does not apply a broken config.

Core Settings — timezone, log level, log retention, and alert toggles
DVR Connection — add and manage Channels DVR servers
Provider Plugins — third-party notification providers (require restart to activate)
Delivery Log — notification history and retry status