Add watch-json CLI option

[quartztz]

The current joint behavior of the --watch and --json options is such that, on file change, only the terminal view is updated, and the json report is produced once the job is killed.

In a larger project of developing a Stainless VSCode extension, this PR adds --watch-json, an option to be run in tandem with --watch that enables report outputs on file change. The addition is minimal (2 files changed), and has been tested to work.

To test this PR, run sbt universal:stage in the project root, then use the executable of your choosing (I tested with stainless-dotty) as follows:

$ frontends/dotty/target/universal/stage/bin/stainless-dotty --watch-json --watch path/to/your/file.scala

then edit the file, save its contents, and verify that the contents of the generated report.json file match the state of the file.

[vkuncak]

@quartztz this sounds like a cool useful change! We have a small tutorial doc update coming up, but could you rebase the PR right after that and we will merge it?

[quartztz]

That sounds great! I'll get to that as soon as the doc update is up and running.

[sankalpgambhir]

The doc update was merged last week a bit after Viktor's comment! You can rebase onto it and see that things work. Le lun. 15 sept. 2025, 19:23, Jacopo Philip Moretti < ***@***.***> a écrit :

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*quartztz* left a comment (epfl-lara/stainless#1659) <#1659 (comment)> That sounds great! I'll get to that as soon as the doc update is up and running. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1659 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ACMVG5JPN2JC4LXF3227RCL3S3YX5AVCNFSM6AAAAACA6WDPECVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTEOJTGE4TCOJYHE> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[quartztz]

That'll teach me to read comment dates. Getting to it asap!