diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 701866f..a7e0a0c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ dev:
 	$(MAKE) -j2 --no-print-directory reload serve
 
 reload:
-	websocketd --loglevel=fatal --port=8009 watchexec -e html,css,js -d 500 'echo "$$WATCHEXEC_WRITTEN_PATH"'
+	websocketd --loglevel=fatal --port=8009 watchexec --no-vcs-ignore -e html,css,js 'echo "$$WATCHEXEC_WRITTEN_PATH"'
 
 VERSION:
 	git describe --tag > $@
diff --git a/public/ws.js b/public/ws.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08ac7c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/ws.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+var ok = false
+var t = 800
+var ws
+var prot = location.protocol == 'https:' ? "wss://":"ws://"
+let port = ":8009"
+
+function start(){
+  let url = prot + document.location.hostname + port + document.location.pathname + document.location.search;
+  console.log('connecting to ', url);
+  ws = new WebSocket(url);
+  ws.onopen = function(){
+    console.log("open");
+    t = 800
+  }
+  ws.onmessage = function(msg){
+    console.log("reload:", msg.data)
+    if (msg.data == "") {
+      return
+    }
+    window.location.reload()
+  }
+  ws.onclose = function(){
+    console.log("close");
+    setTimeout(function(){
+      //start()
+      if (t < 10 * 1000) t += 200
+    }, t);
+  };
+}
+console.log("ws");
+if (typeof WebSocket != 'undefined') {
+  start()
+}
diff --git a/routes.go b/routes.go
index 5bd0c32..e8af5f0 100644
--- a/routes.go
+++ b/routes.go
@@ -215,6 +215,9 @@ func Initialize(Host string, r *http.Request) (State, error) {
 		Status:  http.StatusOK,
 		Version: version,
 	}
+	if watch != nil {
+		state.Watch = *watch
+	}
 	lemmyDomain := os.Getenv("LEMMY_DOMAIN")
 	if lemmyDomain != "" {
 		state.Host = "."
diff --git a/state.go b/state.go
index 474d893..181417f 100644
--- a/state.go
+++ b/state.go
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ type Session struct {
 }
 
 type State struct {
+	Watch             bool
 	Version           string
 	Client            *lemmy.Client
 	HTTPClient        *http.Client
diff --git a/templates/main.html b/templates/main.html
index 053b4ce..a421bcb 100644
--- a/templates/main.html
+++ b/templates/main.html
@@ -141,6 +141,9 @@
   {{ end }}
 
     <script src="/_/static/utils.js?v=22"></script>
+    {{ if .Watch }}
+    <script src="/_/static/ws.js"></script>
+    {{ end }}
     {{ template "sidebar.html" . }}
     </main>
 {{ end }}