--no-build is incompatible with watch action %s in service %

Error message

--no-build is incompatible with watch action %s in service %s

What it means

A rebuild watch trigger requires compose to be allowed to build. When watch is invoked with options.Build == nil (the --no-build flag), the incompatibility is detected while building watch rules and fails with this error naming the service.

Source

Thrown at pkg/compose/watch.go:224

		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

		if service.Develop != nil {
			config = service.Develop
		}

		if config == nil {
			continue
		}

		for _, trigger := range config.Watch {
			if trigger.Action == types.WatchActionRebuild {
				if service.Build == nil {
					return nil, fmt.Errorf("can't watch service %q with action %s without a build context", service.Name, types.WatchActionRebuild)
				}
				if options.Build == nil {
					return nil, fmt.Errorf("--no-build is incompatible with watch action %s in service %s", types.WatchActionRebuild, service.Name)
				}
				// set the service to always be built - watch triggers `Up()` when it receives a rebuild event
				service.PullPolicy = types.PullPolicyBuild
				project.Services[serviceName] = service
			}
		}

		for _, trigger := range config.Watch {
			if isSync(trigger) && checkIfPathAlreadyBindMounted(trigger.Path, service.Volumes) {
				logrus.Warnf("path '%s' also declared by a bind mount volume, this path won't be monitored!\n", trigger.Path)
				continue
			} else {
				shouldInitialSync := trigger.InitialSync

				// Check legacy extension attribute for backward compatibility
				if !shouldInitialSync {
					var legacyInitialSync bool
					success, err := trigger.Extensions.Get("x-initialSync", &legacyInitialSync)

View on GitHub (pinned to ddc4b044b6)

Solutions

Drop --no-build from the watch invocation so rebuild triggers can build.
Or remove/replace the rebuild triggers in the develop.watch config of the named service with sync or sync+restart.
Scope the watch command to services without rebuild triggers if --no-build must stay.

Example fix

# before
$ docker compose watch --no-build
# Error: --no-build is incompatible with watch action rebuild in service web

# after
$ docker compose watch

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

func watchOptionsConsistent(project *types.Project, hasBuildOpt bool) error {
	for name, svc := range project.Services {
		if svc.Develop == nil { continue }
		for _, t := range svc.Develop.Watch {
			if t.Action == types.WatchActionRebuild && !hasBuildOpt {
				return fmt.Errorf("cannot use --no-build: service %q rebuilds on watch", name)
			}
		}
	}
	return nil
}

Try / catch

if _, err := composeService.Watch(ctx, projectName, watchOpts); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "--no-build is incompatible") {
        // drop --no-build / unset the no-build option and retry
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

Never combine --no-build with watch on projects using rebuild actions.
Keep watch invocations minimal (compose watch with no extra flags) in dev scripts.
Document which services rely on rebuild triggers so flag choices are explicit.

When it happens

Trigger: Running docker compose watch --no-build (or passing WatchOptions without Build) on a project where any selected service's develop.watch contains action: rebuild.

Common situations: CI or scripts reusing flags from up --no-build; users trying to prevent image builds during watch while keeping rebuild triggers; copy-pasted command lines.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of docker/compose@ddc4b044b6 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/784ec8aa2cd3e860. Report an issue: GitHub.