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How to Watch a Directory for New Files in Python

Poll a directory at regular intervals and detect newly added files, printing each one as it appears.

import time
import os
from pathlib import Path

WATCH_DIR = Path("watched_files")

def watch_for_new_files(directory: Path, sleep_time: float = 1.0, max_iterations: int = 10):
    """Poll a directory for new files and print when one appears."""
    directory.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    existing = set(os.listdir(directory…

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