diff --git a/IHP/IDE/FileWatcher.hs b/IHP/IDE/FileWatcher.hs
index 2f1c63559..cf00d3e88 100644
--- a/IHP/IDE/FileWatcher.hs
+++ b/IHP/IDE/FileWatcher.hs
@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@ module IHP.IDE.FileWatcher (withFileWatcher) where
 
 import IHP.Prelude
 import Control.Exception
-import Control.Concurrent (threadDelay, myThreadId)
+import Control.Concurrent (threadDelay)
+import Control.Concurrent.MVar
+import Control.Monad (filterM)
+import System.Directory (listDirectory, doesDirectoryExist)
+import qualified Data.Map as Map
 import qualified System.FSNotify as FS
 import IHP.IDE.Types
 import qualified Data.Time.Clock as Clock
@@ -13,8 +17,55 @@ withFileWatcher :: (?context :: Context) => IO () -> IO ()
 withFileWatcher inner = withAsync callback \_ -> inner
     where
         callback = FS.withManagerConf fileWatcherConfig \manager -> do
-                FS.watchTree manager "." shouldActOnFileChange handleFileChange
+                state <- newFileWatcherState
+                watchRootDirectoryFiles manager state
+                watchSubDirectories manager state
                 forever (threadDelay maxBound) `finally` FS.stopManager manager
+        watchRootDirectoryFiles manager state = 
+                FS.watchDir manager "." shouldActOnRootFileChange (handleRootFileChange manager state)
+        watchSubDirectories manager state = do
+                directories <- listWatchableDirectories
+                forM_ directories \directory -> do
+                    startWatchingSubDirectory manager state directory
+
+type WatchedDirectories = Map FilePath FS.StopListening
+
+type FileWatcherState = MVar WatchedDirectories
+
+newFileWatcherState :: IO FileWatcherState
+newFileWatcherState = newMVar mempty
+
+startWatchingSubDirectory :: (?context :: Context) => FS.WatchManager -> FileWatcherState -> FilePath -> IO ()
+startWatchingSubDirectory manager state path = do
+    watchedDirectories <- readMVar state
+    case Map.lookup path watchedDirectories of
+        Just _ -> pure ()
+        Nothing -> do
+            stop <- FS.watchTree manager path shouldActOnFileChange handleFileChange
+            putMVar state $ Map.insert path stop watchedDirectories
+
+stopWatchingSubDirectory :: FileWatcherState -> FilePath -> IO ()
+stopWatchingSubDirectory state path = do
+    watchedDirectories <- readMVar state
+    case Map.lookup path watchedDirectories of
+        Just stop -> do
+            stop
+            putMVar state $ Map.delete path watchedDirectories
+        Nothing -> pure ()
+
+listWatchableDirectories :: IO [String]
+listWatchableDirectories = do
+    rootDirectoryContents <- listDirectory "."
+    filterM shouldWatchDirectory rootDirectoryContents
+
+shouldWatchDirectory :: String -> IO Bool
+shouldWatchDirectory path = do
+    isDirectory <- doesDirectoryExist path
+    pure $ isDirectory && isDirectoryWatchable path
+
+isDirectoryWatchable :: String -> Bool
+isDirectoryWatchable path = 
+    path /= ".devenv" && path /= ".direnv"
 
 fileWatcherDebounceTime :: NominalDiffTime
 fileWatcherDebounceTime = Clock.secondsToNominalDiffTime 0.1 -- 100ms
@@ -32,7 +83,25 @@ handleFileChange event = do
             else if isAssetFile filePath
                 then notifyAssetChange
                 else mempty
+                  
+handleRootFileChange :: (?context :: Context) => FS.WatchManager -> FileWatcherState -> FS.Event -> IO ()                 
+handleRootFileChange manager state event =
+    case event of
+        FS.Added filePath _ true ->
+            if isDirectoryWatchable filePath then do
+                startWatchingSubDirectory manager state filePath
+            else pure ()
+        FS.Removed filePath _ true ->
+            stopWatchingSubDirectory state filePath
+        _ ->
+            handleFileChange event
 
+shouldActOnRootFileChange :: FS.ActionPredicate
+shouldActOnRootFileChange event =
+    if FS.eventIsDirectory event
+    then isDirectoryWatchable (getEventFilePath event)
+    else shouldActOnFileChange event
+    
 shouldActOnFileChange :: FS.ActionPredicate
 shouldActOnFileChange event =
     let path = getEventFilePath event
@@ -55,4 +124,4 @@ getEventFilePath event = case event of
         FS.Added filePath _ _ -> filePath
         FS.Modified filePath _ _ -> filePath
         FS.Removed filePath _ _ -> filePath
-        FS.Unknown filePath _ _ -> filePath
\ No newline at end of file
+        FS.Unknown filePath _ _ -> filePath