diff --git a/jupyter_server/services/contents/filemanager.py b/jupyter_server/services/contents/filemanager.py
index 88aa0e3620..bf7ae97e53 100644
--- a/jupyter_server/services/contents/filemanager.py
+++ b/jupyter_server/services/contents/filemanager.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 
 import nbformat
+import watchfiles
 from anyio.to_thread import run_sync
 from jupyter_core.paths import exists, is_file_hidden, is_hidden
 from send2trash import send2trash
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@
 
 from .filecheckpoints import AsyncFileCheckpoints, FileCheckpoints
 from .fileio import AsyncFileManagerMixin, FileManagerMixin
-from .manager import AsyncContentsManager, ContentsManager
+from .manager import AsyncContentsManager, BaseWatchfiles, ContentsManager
 
 try:
     from os.path import samefile
@@ -33,8 +34,16 @@
 _script_exporter = None
 
 
+class Watchfiles(BaseWatchfiles):
+    watch = watchfiles.watch
+    awatch = watchfiles.awatch
+    Change = watchfiles.Change
+
+
 class FileContentsManager(FileManagerMixin, ContentsManager):
 
+    watchfiles = Watchfiles
+
     root_dir = Unicode(config=True)
 
     @default("root_dir")
@@ -546,6 +555,9 @@ def get_kernel_path(self, path, model=None):
 
 
 class AsyncFileContentsManager(FileContentsManager, AsyncFileManagerMixin, AsyncContentsManager):
+
+    watchfiles = Watchfiles
+
     @default("checkpoints_class")
     def _checkpoints_class_default(self):
         return AsyncFileCheckpoints
diff --git a/jupyter_server/services/contents/manager.py b/jupyter_server/services/contents/manager.py
index 7bd6450803..1f902d02c8 100644
--- a/jupyter_server/services/contents/manager.py
+++ b/jupyter_server/services/contents/manager.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import json
 import re
 import warnings
+from enum import IntEnum
 from fnmatch import fnmatch
 
 from nbformat import ValidationError, sign
@@ -34,6 +35,21 @@
 copy_pat = re.compile(r"\-Copy\d*\.")
 
 
+class BaseWatchfiles:
+    """File system change notifyer API
+
+    Override these attributes in subclasses if the file system supports file change notifications.
+    """
+
+    def watch(*paths, **kwargs):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    async def awatch(*paths, **kwargs):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    Change = IntEnum
+
+
 class ContentsManager(LoggingConfigurable):
     """Base class for serving files and directories.
 
@@ -409,6 +425,8 @@ def rename_file(self, old_path, new_path):
     # ContentsManager API part 2: methods that have useable default
     # implementations, but can be overridden in subclasses.
 
+    watchfiles = BaseWatchfiles
+
     def delete(self, path):
         """Delete a file/directory and any associated checkpoints."""
         path = path.strip("/")
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 886a9a1cf5..9c0d8a8289 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ install_requires =
     terminado>=0.8.3
     tornado>=6.1.0
     traitlets>=5.1
+    watchfiles==0.13
     websocket-client
 
 [options.extras_require]
diff --git a/tests/services/contents/test_largefilemanager.py b/tests/services/contents/test_largefilemanager.py
index 82c5e54e78..61157fa8a5 100644
--- a/tests/services/contents/test_largefilemanager.py
+++ b/tests/services/contents/test_largefilemanager.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import asyncio
+
 import pytest
 import tornado
 
@@ -110,3 +112,29 @@ async def test_save_in_subdirectory(jp_large_contents_manager, tmp_path):
     assert "path" in model
     assert model["name"] == "Untitled.ipynb"
     assert model["path"] == "foo/Untitled.ipynb"
+
+
+async def test_watch_directory(tmp_path):
+    cm = AsyncLargeFileManager(root_dir=str(tmp_path))
+    file_path = tmp_path / "file.txt"
+    stop_event = asyncio.Event()
+
+    async def change_dir():
+        # let the watcher start
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
+        # add file to directory
+        file_path.write_text("foo")
+
+    async def timeout():
+        await asyncio.sleep(10)
+        stop_event.set()
+
+    asyncio.create_task(change_dir())
+    asyncio.create_task(timeout())
+    test_ok = False
+    async for change in cm.watchfiles.awatch(tmp_path, stop_event=stop_event):
+        if (cm.watchfiles.Change.added, str(file_path)) in change:
+            test_ok = True
+            break
+
+    assert test_ok