diff --git a/packages/core/src/cli/cli-executable.ts b/packages/core/src/cli/cli-executable.ts
index ee100f91..40d04587 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/cli/cli-executable.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/cli/cli-executable.ts
@@ -44,14 +44,17 @@ program.addCommand(ClearCacheCommand);
 program.addCommand(PluginCommand);
 program.addCommand(PrintEnvCommand);
 
-
-
 // have to pass through the root program for this one so we can access all the subcommands
 addDocsCommand(program);
-
 customizeHelp(program);
 
-initCliRunCtx();
+program
+  .hook('preAction', (thisCommand, actionCommand) => {
+    // we need to know up front whether to enable the file watchers when initializing the vite server
+    const enableWatch = actionCommand.name() === 'dev' || actionCommand.opts().watch;
+    initCliRunCtx(enableWatch);
+  });
+
 debug(`finish loading - begin parse ${+new Date() - startBoot}ms`);
 try {
   await program.parseAsync();
diff --git a/packages/core/src/cli/commands/resolve.command.ts b/packages/core/src/cli/commands/resolve.command.ts
index 4fdc8b2b..c12d368e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/cli/commands/resolve.command.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/cli/commands/resolve.command.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ addWatchMode(program); // must be first
 addCacheFlags(program);
 addServiceSelection(program, { disablePrompt: isSubshell() });
 
-
 program.action(async (opts: {
   // these args should be handled already by the helpers
   // service?: string,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/cli/commands/run.command.ts b/packages/core/src/cli/commands/run.command.ts
index bd97b3b3..07e2b227 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/cli/commands/run.command.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/cli/commands/run.command.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
-import kleur from 'kleur';
 import _ from 'lodash-es';
 import { ExecaChildProcess, execa } from 'execa';
 import which from 'which';
 
-import { tryCatch } from '@dmno/ts-lib';
 import { DmnoCommand } from '../lib/dmno-command';
-import { formatError, formattedValue, getItemSummary } from '../lib/formatting';
 import { addServiceSelection } from '../lib/selection-helpers';
 import { getCliRunCtx } from '../lib/cli-ctx';
 import { addCacheFlags } from '../lib/cache-helpers';
@@ -75,6 +72,7 @@ program.action(async (_command, opts: {
     }
   }
   fullInjectedEnv.DMNO_INJECTED_ENV = JSON.stringify(service.configraphEntity.getInjectedEnvJSON());
+  fullInjectedEnv.DMNO_PROCESS_UUID = 'abc123';
 
   commandProcess = execa(pathAwareCommand || rawCommand, commandArgsOnly, {
     stdio: 'inherit',
diff --git a/packages/core/src/cli/lib/cli-ctx.ts b/packages/core/src/cli/lib/cli-ctx.ts
index f730517f..0baeffec 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/cli/lib/cli-ctx.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/cli/lib/cli-ctx.ts
@@ -40,11 +40,9 @@ const ctxHelpers = {
 
 export const cliRunContext = new AsyncLocalStorage<CliRunCtx>();
 
-export function initCliRunCtx() {
+export function initCliRunCtx(enableWatch = false) {
   cliRunContext.enterWith({
-    // not sure about this...
-    // configLoader: new ConfigLoaderProcess(),
-    configLoader: new ConfigLoader(),
+    configLoader: new ConfigLoader(enableWatch),
     ...ctxHelpers,
   });
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/config-loader/config-loader.ts b/packages/core/src/config-loader/config-loader.ts
index 7d7f7a4d..c62ff0b8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/config-loader/config-loader.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/config-loader/config-loader.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export class ConfigLoader {
   // get isReady() { return this.isReadyDeferred.promise; }
   isReady: Promise<void>;
 
-  constructor() {
+  constructor(private enableWatch: boolean) {
     this.isReady = this.finishInit();
     this.startAt = new Date();
   }
@@ -67,7 +67,11 @@ export class ConfigLoader {
 
     // TODO: we may want to do this on demand
     // so it does not slow down `dmno init` or other commands that don't need it
-    const { viteRunner } = await setupViteServer(this.workspaceRootPath, (ctx) => this.viteHotReloadHandler(ctx));
+    const { viteRunner } = await setupViteServer({
+      workspaceRootPath: this.workspaceRootPath,
+      enableWatch: this.enableWatch,
+      hotReloadHandler: (ctx) => this.viteHotReloadHandler(ctx),
+    });
     this.viteRunner = viteRunner;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/config-loader/vite-server.ts b/packages/core/src/config-loader/vite-server.ts
index f08c837c..07f1f3a1 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/config-loader/vite-server.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/config-loader/vite-server.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@ import { ViteNodeServer } from 'vite-node/server';
 import { installSourcemapsSupport } from 'vite-node/source-map';
 import MagicString from 'magic-string';
 
-export async function setupViteServer(
+export async function setupViteServer(opts: {
   workspaceRootPath: string,
   hotReloadHandler: (ctx: HmrContext) => Promise<void>,
-) {
+  enableWatch: boolean
+}) {
   const customPlugin: Plugin = {
     name: 'dmno-config-loader-plugin',
 
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ export async function setupViteServer(
         return {
           // pointing at dist/index is hard-coded...
           // we could extract the main entry point from the resolution instead?
-          id: `${workspaceRootPath}/node_modules/dmno/dist/index.js`,
+          id: `${opts.workspaceRootPath}/node_modules/dmno/dist/index.js`,
           external: 'absolute',
         };
       }
@@ -68,14 +69,13 @@ export async function setupViteServer(
         if (m.id) viteRunner.moduleCache.deleteByModuleId(m.id);
       });
 
-      await hotReloadHandler(ctx);
+      await opts.hotReloadHandler(ctx);
     },
   };
 
-
   // create vite server
   const server = await createServer({
-    root: workspaceRootPath,
+    root: opts.workspaceRootPath,
     appType: 'custom',
     clearScreen: false,
     logLevel: 'warn',
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ export async function setupViteServer(
     //   },
     // ssr: true,
     },
-
+    ...!opts.enableWatch && { server: { watch: null } },
   });
   // console.log(server.config);