diff --git a/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js b/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..a9f03be7b29e21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+'use strict';
+const {
+  ArrayPrototypeConcat,
+  ArrayPrototypeMap,
+  ArrayPrototypeReduce,
+  ArrayPrototypeSlice,
+  ArrayPrototypeSome,
+  StringPrototypeSplit,
+  StringPrototypeStartsWith,
+} = primordials;
+const {
+  prepareMainThreadExecution,
+  markBootstrapComplete
+} = require('internal/process/pre_execution');
+const { getOptionValue } = require('internal/options');
+
+const { spawn } = require('child_process');
+const { watch } = require('fs/promises');
+const { setTimeout, clearTimeout } = require('timers');
+const { dirname, sep, resolve } = require('path');
+
+
+prepareMainThreadExecution(false);
+markBootstrapComplete();
+
+const kWatchedFiles = ArrayPrototypeMap(getOptionValue('--watch-file'), (file) => resolve(file));
+const args = ArrayPrototypeReduce(ArrayPrototypeConcat(
+  ArrayPrototypeSlice(process.execArgv),
+  ArrayPrototypeSlice(process.argv, 1),
+), (acc, flag, i, arr) => {
+  if (arr[i] !== '--watch-file' && arr[i - 1] !== '--watch-file' && arr[i] !== '--watch') {
+    acc.push(arr[i]);
+  }
+  return acc;
+}, []);
+
+function isWatchedFile(filename) {
+  if (kWatchedFiles.length > 0) {
+    return ArrayPrototypeSome(kWatchedFiles, (file) => StringPrototypeStartsWith(filename, file));
+  }
+
+  const directory = dirname(filename);
+  if (directory === '.') {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  const dirs = StringPrototypeSplit(directory, sep);
+  return !ArrayPrototypeSome(dirs, (dir) => dir[0] === '.' || dir === 'node_modules');
+}
+
+function debounce(fn, duration = 100) {
+  let timeout;
+  return () => {
+    if (timeout) {
+      clearTimeout(timeout);
+    }
+
+    timeout = setTimeout(fn, duration).unref();
+  };
+}
+
+let childProcess;
+function run(restarting) {
+  if (childProcess && !childProcess.killed) {
+    childProcess.kill();
+  }
+  if (restarting) {
+    process.stdout.write('\u001Bc');
+    process.stdout.write('\u001b[32mrestarting process\u001b[39m\n');
+  }
+
+  childProcess = spawn(process.execPath, args, { stdio: ['inherit', 'inherit', 'inherit'] });
+}
+
+const restart = debounce(run.bind(null, true));
+
+(async () => {
+  run();
+  const watcher = watch(process.cwd(), { recursive: true });
+  for await (const event of watcher) {
+    if (isWatchedFile(resolve(event.filename))) {
+      restart();
+    }
+  }
+})();
diff --git a/src/inspector_agent.cc b/src/inspector_agent.cc
index 34bb11e7d7122c..64e0f01b2acead 100644
--- a/src/inspector_agent.cc
+++ b/src/inspector_agent.cc
@@ -676,6 +676,10 @@ bool Agent::Start(const std::string& path,
                   const DebugOptions& options,
                   std::shared_ptr<ExclusiveAccess<HostPort>> host_port,
                   bool is_main) {
+  if (!options.allow_attaching_debugger) {
+    return false;
+  }
+          
   path_ = path;
   debug_options_ = options;
   CHECK_NOT_NULL(host_port);
diff --git a/src/node.cc b/src/node.cc
index 2891c18bb9aa9a..454fb1f04fb4ab 100644
--- a/src/node.cc
+++ b/src/node.cc
@@ -490,6 +490,10 @@ MaybeLocal<Value> StartExecution(Environment* env, StartExecutionCallback cb) {
     return StartExecution(env, "internal/main/test_runner");
   }
 
+  if (env->options()->watch_mode) {
+    return StartExecution(env, "internal/main/watch_mode");
+  }
+
   if (!first_argv.empty() && first_argv != "-") {
     return StartExecution(env, "internal/main/run_main_module");
   }
diff --git a/src/node_options.cc b/src/node_options.cc
index 0869cbb974be86..ad92c293a2079d 100644
--- a/src/node_options.cc
+++ b/src/node_options.cc
@@ -156,11 +156,27 @@ void EnvironmentOptions::CheckOptions(std::vector<std::string>* errors) {
       errors->push_back("either --test or --interactive can be used, not both");
     }
 
+    debug_options_.allow_attaching_debugger = false;
     if (debug_options_.inspector_enabled) {
       errors->push_back("the inspector cannot be used with --test");
     }
   }
 
+  if (watch_mode) {
+    if (syntax_check_only) {
+      errors->push_back("either --watch or --check can be used, not both");
+    }
+
+    if (has_eval_string) {
+      errors->push_back("either --watch or --eval can be used, not both");
+    }
+
+    if (force_repl) {
+      errors->push_back("either --watch or --interactive can be used, not both");
+    }
+    debug_options_.allow_attaching_debugger = false;
+  }
+
 #if HAVE_INSPECTOR
   if (!cpu_prof) {
     if (!cpu_prof_name.empty()) {
@@ -586,7 +602,15 @@ EnvironmentOptionsParser::EnvironmentOptionsParser() {
             "", /* undocumented, only for debugging */
             &EnvironmentOptions::verify_base_objects,
             kAllowedInEnvironment);
-
+  AddOption("--watch",
+            "run in watch mode",
+            &EnvironmentOptions::watch_mode,
+            kAllowedInEnvironment);
+  AddOption("--watch-file",
+            "files to watch",
+            &EnvironmentOptions::watch_mode_files,
+            kAllowedInEnvironment);
+  Implies("--watch-file", "--watch");
   AddOption("--check",
             "syntax check script without executing",
             &EnvironmentOptions::syntax_check_only);
diff --git a/src/node_options.h b/src/node_options.h
index ca43192d85a4b4..625a4d69bf36ef 100644
--- a/src/node_options.h
+++ b/src/node_options.h
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ class DebugOptions : public Options {
   DebugOptions(DebugOptions&&) = default;
   DebugOptions& operator=(DebugOptions&&) = default;
 
+
+  bool allow_attaching_debugger = true;
   // --inspect
   bool inspector_enabled = false;
   // --debug
@@ -172,6 +174,9 @@ class EnvironmentOptions : public Options {
       false;
 #endif  // DEBUG
 
+  bool watch_mode = false;
+  std::vector<std::string> watch_mode_files;
+
   bool syntax_check_only = false;
   bool has_eval_string = false;
   bool experimental_wasi = false;