From 6f94d17b6c0253c66835dd11b5f8c7f8079c345b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Myles Scolnick <myles@marimo.io>
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2025 09:46:39 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] don't override auto-save by when in --watch mode

---
 marimo/_config/manager.py      |  4 ++++
 marimo/_server/start.py        | 15 ++-------------
 tests/_server/test_sessions.py | 24 +++++-------------------
 3 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 32 deletions(-)

diff --git a/marimo/_config/manager.py b/marimo/_config/manager.py
index 87fa9bd1157..4c03525a324 100644
--- a/marimo/_config/manager.py
+++ b/marimo/_config/manager.py
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ def language_servers(self) -> LanguageServersConfig:
             return self._config["language_servers"]
         return {}
 
+    @property
+    def is_auto_save_enabled(self) -> bool:
+        return self._config["save"]["autosave"] == "after_delay"
+
     @property
     def experimental(self) -> ExperimentalConfigType:
         if "experimental" in self._config:
diff --git a/marimo/_server/start.py b/marimo/_server/start.py
index d8dc807f087..fb7a9325450 100644
--- a/marimo/_server/start.py
+++ b/marimo/_server/start.py
@@ -196,19 +196,8 @@ def start(
             min_port=DEFAULT_PORT + 400,
         )
 
-    # If watch is true, disable auto-save and format-on-save,
-    # watch is enabled when they are editing in another editor
-    if watch:
-        config_reader = config_reader.with_overrides(
-            {
-                "save": {
-                    "autosave": "off",
-                    "format_on_save": False,
-                    "autosave_delay": 1000,
-                }
-            }
-        )
-        LOGGER.info("Watch mode enabled, auto-save is disabled")
+    if watch and config_reader.is_auto_save_enabled:
+        LOGGER.warning("Watch mode enabled and may interfere with auto-save.")
 
     if GLOBAL_SETTINGS.MANAGE_SCRIPT_METADATA:
         config_reader = config_reader.with_overrides(
diff --git a/tests/_server/test_sessions.py b/tests/_server/test_sessions.py
index 1da82966180..93b1a24b444 100644
--- a/tests/_server/test_sessions.py
+++ b/tests/_server/test_sessions.py
@@ -604,23 +604,14 @@ def __():
 
 
 @save_and_restore_main
-def test_watch_mode_config_override(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
-    """Test that watch mode properly overrides config settings."""
+def test_watch_mode_does_not_override_config(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Test that watch mode does not override config settings."""
     # Create a temporary file
     tmp_file = tmp_path / "test_watch_mode_config_override.py"
     tmp_file.write_text("import marimo as mo")
 
-    # Create a config with autosave enabled
+    # Create a default config (autosave enabled by default)
     config_reader = get_default_config_manager(current_path=None)
-    config_reader_watch = config_reader.with_overrides(
-        {
-            "save": {
-                "autosave": "off",
-                "format_on_save": False,
-                "autosave_delay": 2000,
-            }
-        }
-    )
 
     # Create a session manager with watch mode enabled
     file_router = AppFileRouter.from_filename(MarimoPath(str(tmp_file)))
@@ -631,7 +622,7 @@ def test_watch_mode_config_override(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
         quiet=True,
         include_code=True,
         lsp_server=MagicMock(),
-        config_manager=config_reader_watch,
+        config_manager=config_reader,
         cli_args={},
         argv=None,
         auth_token=None,
@@ -657,13 +648,8 @@ def test_watch_mode_config_override(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     )
 
     try:
-        # Verify that the config was overridden
+        # Verify that the config was not overridden for watch mode
         config = session_manager._config_manager.get_config()
-        assert config["save"]["autosave"] == "off"
-        assert config["save"]["format_on_save"] is False
-
-        # Verify that the config was not overridden
-        config = session_manager_no_watch._config_manager.get_config()
         assert config["save"]["autosave"] == "after_delay"
         assert config["save"]["format_on_save"] is True
 

From fa8eb41db36b78ccb7d955bd0801869c4925950b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Myles Scolnick <myles@marimo.io>
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2025 11:33:15 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Update marimo/_server/start.py

Co-authored-by: Trevor Manz <trevor.j.manz@gmail.com>
---
 marimo/_server/start.py | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/marimo/_server/start.py b/marimo/_server/start.py
index fb7a9325450..6bd169b3611 100644
--- a/marimo/_server/start.py
+++ b/marimo/_server/start.py
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ def start(
         )
 
     if watch and config_reader.is_auto_save_enabled:
-        LOGGER.warning("Watch mode enabled and may interfere with auto-save.")
+        LOGGER.warning("Enabling watch mode may interfere with auto-save.")
 
     if GLOBAL_SETTINGS.MANAGE_SCRIPT_METADATA:
         config_reader = config_reader.with_overrides(