From 0c6b4c9741649d35789fe0947bdbbc1a060e06b5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: SID <158349177+0xsid0703@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2026 18:14:10 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] [2.x] Fix watchTriggers to control what triggers instead of
 adding to fileInputs (#8525)

When watchTriggers is explicitly set (non-empty), use only watchTriggers
instead of combining them with fileInputs. This allows users to control
what triggers the watch by setting watchTriggers.

Fixes #7130
---
 .../scala/sbt/internal/WatchTransitiveDependencies.scala | 9 ++++++++-
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/WatchTransitiveDependencies.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/WatchTransitiveDependencies.scala
index 17582a184..80c804f58 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/WatchTransitiveDependencies.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/WatchTransitiveDependencies.scala
@@ -135,7 +135,14 @@ private[sbt] object WatchTransitiveDependencies {
           triggers.flatMap(getDynamicInputs(_, trigger = true))
         )
     }
-    (inputGlobs ++ triggerGlobs ++ legacy(keys :+ scopedKey, args)).distinct.sorted
+    // If watchTriggers is explicitly set (non-empty), use only watchTriggers instead of combining with fileInputs
+    // This allows users to control what triggers the watch by setting watchTriggers
+    val result = if (triggerGlobs.nonEmpty) {
+      triggerGlobs ++ legacy(keys :+ scopedKey, args)
+    } else {
+      inputGlobs ++ triggerGlobs ++ legacy(keys :+ scopedKey, args)
+    }
+    result.distinct.sorted
   }
 
   private def legacy(keys: Seq[ScopedKey[?]], args: Arguments): Seq[DynamicInput] = {