diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dd7fc5e..23cbadd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ Building a production-style polyglot microservice environment normally requires
 Use it to prototype architectures, onboard teams faster, or spin up reproducible demos / PoCs.
 
 ## Features
+
 - 🚀 Rapid polyglot monorepo scaffolding (Node.js, Python/FastAPI, Go, Java Spring Boot, Next.js)
 - 🧩 Optional presets: Turborepo, Nx, or Basic runner
 - 🐳 Automatic Dockerfile + Docker Compose generation
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ Use it to prototype architectures, onboard teams faster, or spin up reproducible
 - 📦 Shared package (`packages/shared`) for cross-service JS utilities
 - 🧪 Vitest test setup for the CLI itself
 - 🌈 Colorized dev logs & health probing for Node/frontend services
+- 🔥 Unified hot reload aggregator (`create-polyglot hot`) for Node, Next.js, Python (uvicorn), Go, and Java (Spring Boot)
 - 🔌 Plugin skeleton generation (`create-polyglot add plugin <name>`)
 - 📄 Single source of truth: `polyglot.json`
 - ✅ Safe guards: port collision checks, reserved name checks, graceful fallbacks
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@ Use it to prototype architectures, onboard teams faster, or spin up reproducible
 ## Quick Start
 Scaffold a workspace named `my-org` with multiple services:
 
+| `create-polyglot hot [--services <subset>] [--dry-run]` | Unified hot reload (restart / HMR) across services. |
 ```bash
 npx create-polyglot init my-org -s node,python,go,java,frontend --git --yes
 ```
@@ -77,6 +80,20 @@ Then run everything (Node + frontend locally):
 ```bash
 create-polyglot dev
 ```
+Unified hot reload (auto restart / HMR):
+```bash
+create-polyglot hot
+```
+
+Dry run (see what would execute without starting processes):
+```bash
+create-polyglot hot --dry-run
+```
+
+Limit to a subset (by names or types):
+```bash
+create-polyglot hot --services node,python
+```
 
 Or via Docker Compose:
 ```bash
diff --git a/bin/index.js b/bin/index.js
index 6ed5940..60db3d1 100755
--- a/bin/index.js
+++ b/bin/index.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 import { renderServicesTable } from './lib/ui.js';
 import { runDev } from './lib/dev.js';
 import { startAdminDashboard } from './lib/admin.js';
+import { runHotReload } from './lib/hotreload.js';
  
 const program = new Command();
  
@@ -164,6 +165,22 @@ program
       process.exit(1);
     }
   });
+
+// Unified hot reload aggregator
+program
+  .command('hot')
+  .description('Unified hot reload across services (auto-restart / HMR)')
+  .option('-s, --services <list>', 'Subset of services (comma names or types)')
+  .option('--dry-run', 'Show what would run without starting processes')
+  .action(async (opts) => {
+    try {
+      const filter = opts.services ? opts.services.split(',').map(s => s.trim()).filter(Boolean) : [];
+      await runHotReload({ servicesFilter: filter, dryRun: !!opts.dryRun });
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error(chalk.red('Failed to start hot reload:'), e.message);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  });
  
 program.parse();
  
diff --git a/bin/lib/hotreload.js b/bin/lib/hotreload.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cd400d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/lib/hotreload.js
@@ -0,0 +1,226 @@
+import fs from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
+import chalk from 'chalk';
+
+/*
+ Unified Hot Reload Aggregator
+ ----------------------------
+ Goal: Provide a single command that watches source files for all supported
+ service types and restarts their dev process (or equivalent) on changes.
+
+ Supported service types & strategy:
+ - node: restart on .js/.mjs/.cjs/.ts changes inside service dir (excluding node_modules).
+         If service has dev script using nodemon/ts-node-dev already, we just run it.
+ - frontend (Next.js): rely on next dev internal HMR (no restart). We'll watch config files
+         (next.config.*, .env*) and trigger a manual restart if they change.
+ - python (FastAPI): use uvicorn with --reload if available; if requirements specify uvicorn,
+         we spawn `uvicorn app.main:app --reload --port <port>` instead of existing dev script.
+ - go: detect main.go; use `go run .` and restart on .go file changes.
+ - java (Spring Boot): use `mvn spring-boot:run` and restart on changes to src/ (requires JDK & Maven).
+       For performance we debounce restarts.
+
+ Edge cases:
+ - Missing runtime tool (e.g., mvn not installed) -> warn and skip hot reload for that service.
+ - Large flurries of changes -> debounce restart (default 400ms).
+ - Service without supported pattern -> skip with yellow message.
+
+ Exposed function: runHotReload({ servicesFilter, dryRun })
+ */
+
+const DEBOUNCE_MS = 400;
+
+function colorFor(name) {
+  const colors = [chalk.cyan, chalk.magenta, chalk.green, chalk.blue, chalk.yellow, chalk.redBright];
+  let sum = 0; for (let i=0;i<name.length;i++) sum += name.charCodeAt(i);
+  return colors[sum % colors.length];
+}
+
+export async function runHotReload({ servicesFilter = [], dryRun = false } = {}) {
+  const cwd = process.cwd();
+  const cfgPath = path.join(cwd, 'polyglot.json');
+  if (!fs.existsSync(cfgPath)) {
+    console.error(chalk.red('polyglot.json not found. Run inside a generated workspace.'));
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+  const cfg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(cfgPath, 'utf-8'));
+  let services = cfg.services || [];
+  if (servicesFilter.length) {
+    const filterSet = new Set(servicesFilter);
+    services = services.filter(s => filterSet.has(s.name) || filterSet.has(s.type));
+  }
+  if (!services.length) {
+    console.log(chalk.yellow('No matching services for hot reload.'));
+    return;
+  }
+
+  console.log(chalk.cyan(`\n🔥 Unified hot reload starting (${services.length} services)...`));
+
+  const watchers = [];
+  const processes = new Map();
+
+  function spawnService(svc) {
+    const svcPath = path.join(cwd, svc.path);
+    if (!fs.existsSync(svcPath)) {
+      console.log(chalk.yellow(`Skipping ${svc.name} (path missing)`));
+      return;
+    }
+    const color = colorFor(svc.name);
+    let cmd, args, watchGlobs, restartStrategy;
+    switch (svc.type) {
+      case 'node': {
+        const pkgPath = path.join(svcPath, 'package.json');
+        if (!fs.existsSync(pkgPath)) { console.log(chalk.yellow(`Skipping ${svc.name} (no package.json)`)); return; }
+        let pkg; try { pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgPath,'utf-8')); } catch { console.log(chalk.yellow(`Skipping ${svc.name} (invalid package.json)`)); return; }
+        const script = pkg.scripts?.dev || pkg.scripts?.start;
+        if (!script) { console.log(chalk.yellow(`Skipping ${svc.name} (no dev/start script)`)); return; }
+        // Prefer existing nodemon usage; else run node and restart manually.
+        const usesNodemon = /nodemon/.test(script);
+        if (usesNodemon) {
+          cmd = detectPM(svcPath);
+          args = ['run', pkg.scripts.dev ? 'dev' : 'start'];
+          watchGlobs = []; // nodemon handles its own watching
+          restartStrategy = 'internal';
+        } else {
+          cmd = detectPM(svcPath);
+          args = ['run', pkg.scripts.dev ? 'dev' : 'start'];
+          watchGlobs = ['**/*.js','**/*.mjs','**/*.cjs','**/*.ts','!node_modules/**'];
+          restartStrategy = 'respawn';
+        }
+        break;
+      }
+      case 'frontend': {
+        // Next.js handles HMR internally; only restart if config changes.
+        cmd = detectPM(svcPath); args = ['run','dev'];
+        watchGlobs = ['next.config.*','*.env','*.env.*'];
+        restartStrategy = 'internal+config-restart';
+        break;
+      }
+      case 'python': {
+        // Use uvicorn --reload directly if possible.
+        cmd = 'uvicorn';
+        args = ['app.main:app','--reload','--port', String(svc.port)];
+        watchGlobs = ['app/**/*.py','*.py'];
+        restartStrategy = 'respawn';
+        break;
+      }
+      case 'go': {
+        cmd = 'go'; args = ['run','.'];
+        watchGlobs = ['**/*.go'];
+        restartStrategy = 'respawn';
+        break;
+      }
+      case 'java': {
+        // Spring Boot dev run; restart on src changes.
+        cmd = 'mvn'; args = ['spring-boot:run'];
+        watchGlobs = ['src/main/java/**/*.java','src/main/resources/**/*'];
+        restartStrategy = 'respawn';
+        break;
+      }
+      default:
+        console.log(chalk.yellow(`Skipping ${svc.name} (unsupported type ${svc.type})`));
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (dryRun) {
+      console.log(chalk.gray(`[dry-run] ${svc.name}: ${cmd} ${args.join(' ')} (${restartStrategy})`));
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const child = spawn(cmd, args, { cwd: svcPath, env: { ...process.env, PORT: String(svc.port) }, shell: true });
+    processes.set(svc.name, { child, svc, watchGlobs, restartStrategy, svcPath });
+    child.stdout.on('data', d => process.stdout.write(color(`[${svc.name}] `) + d.toString()));
+    child.stderr.on('data', d => process.stderr.write(color(`[${svc.name}] `) + d.toString()));
+    child.on('exit', code => {
+      process.stdout.write(color(`[${svc.name}] exited (${code})`)+"\n");
+    });
+
+    if (watchGlobs && watchGlobs.length) {
+      // Minimal glob watching without external deps: recursive fs watch + filter.
+      // NOTE: macOS recursive watch limitations; we manually walk tree initially.
+      const fileList = listFilesRecursive(svcPath);
+      const matcher = buildMatcher(watchGlobs);
+      const pending = { timeout: null };
+
+      function scheduleRestart() {
+        if (pending.timeout) clearTimeout(pending.timeout);
+        pending.timeout = setTimeout(() => {
+          const meta = processes.get(svc.name);
+          if (!meta) return;
+          console.log(color(`↻ Restarting ${svc.name} due to changes...`));
+          meta.child.kill('SIGINT');
+          spawnService(svc); // respawn fresh
+        }, DEBOUNCE_MS);
+      }
+
+      // Initial watchers per directory
+      const dirs = new Set(fileList.map(f => path.dirname(f)));
+      for (const dir of dirs) {
+        try {
+          const w = fs.watch(dir, { persistent: true }, (evt, fileName) => {
+            if (!fileName) return;
+            const rel = path.relative(svcPath, path.join(dir, fileName));
+            if (matcher(rel)) {
+              scheduleRestart();
+            }
+          });
+          watchers.push(w);
+        } catch {}
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Spawn all initially
+  for (const svc of services) spawnService(svc);
+
+  if (!dryRun) {
+    console.log(chalk.blue('Hot reload active. Press Ctrl+C to exit.'));
+    process.on('SIGINT', () => {
+      for (const { child } of processes.values()) child.kill('SIGINT');
+      for (const w of watchers) try { w.close(); } catch {}
+      process.exit(0);
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+function listFilesRecursive(root) {
+  const out = [];
+  function walk(p) {
+    let stats; try { stats = fs.statSync(p); } catch { return; }
+    if (stats.isDirectory()) {
+      const entries = fs.readdirSync(p);
+      for (const e of entries) walk(path.join(p, e));
+    } else {
+      out.push(p);
+    }
+  }
+  walk(root);
+  return out;
+}
+
+// Very small glob matcher supporting *, **, suffix patterns and exclusion !prefix.
+function buildMatcher(globs) {
+  const positives = globs.filter(g => !g.startsWith('!'));
+  const negatives = globs.filter(g => g.startsWith('!')).map(g => g.slice(1));
+  return rel => {
+    if (negatives.some(n => minimatchBasic(rel, n))) return false;
+    return positives.some(p => minimatchBasic(rel, p));
+  };
+}
+
+function minimatchBasic(rel, pattern) {
+  // Convert pattern to regex roughly; handle **/, *, and dotfiles.
+  let regex = pattern
+    .replace(/[.+^${}()|\-]/g, r => `\\${r}`)
+    .replace(/\\\*\*\//g, '(?:.+/)?') // /**/ style
+    .replace(/\*\*/g, '.*')
+    .replace(/\*/g, '[^/]*');
+  return new RegExp(`^${regex}$`).test(rel);
+}
+
+function detectPM(root) {
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.join(root,'pnpm-lock.yaml'))) return 'pnpm';
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.join(root,'yarn.lock'))) return 'yarn';
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.join(root,'bun.lockb'))) return 'bun';
+  return 'npm';
+}
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 9c46401..34bd17d 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
 {
   "name": "create-polyglot",
-  "version": "1.6.0",
+  "version": "1.6.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "create-polyglot",
-      "version": "1.6.0",
+      "version": "1.6.1",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "chalk": "^5.6.2",
         "commander": "^14.0.1",
         "degit": "^2.8.4",
+        "execa": "^9.6.0",
         "fs-extra": "^11.3.2",
         "prompts": "^2.4.2"
       },
@@ -19,7 +20,6 @@
         "create-polyglot": "bin/index.js"
       },
       "devDependencies": {
-        "execa": "^9.6.0",
         "vitepress": "^1.3.3",
         "vitest": "^1.6.1"
       }
@@ -391,7 +391,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/@sec-ant/readable-stream": {
       "version": "0.4.1",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT"
     },
     "node_modules/@shikijs/core": {
@@ -472,7 +471,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/@sindresorhus/merge-streams": {
       "version": "4.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18"
@@ -1024,7 +1022,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/cross-spawn": {
       "version": "7.0.6",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "path-key": "^3.1.0",
@@ -1168,7 +1165,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/execa": {
       "version": "9.6.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@sindresorhus/merge-streams": "^4.0.0",
@@ -1193,7 +1189,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/figures": {
       "version": "6.1.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "is-unicode-supported": "^2.0.0"
@@ -1247,7 +1242,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/get-stream": {
       "version": "9.0.1",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@sec-ant/readable-stream": "^0.4.1",
@@ -1314,7 +1308,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/human-signals": {
       "version": "8.0.1",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18.18.0"
@@ -1322,7 +1315,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/is-plain-obj": {
       "version": "4.1.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=12"
@@ -1333,7 +1325,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/is-stream": {
       "version": "4.0.1",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18"
@@ -1344,7 +1335,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/is-unicode-supported": {
       "version": "2.1.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18"
@@ -1366,7 +1356,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/isexe": {
       "version": "2.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "ISC"
     },
     "node_modules/js-tokens": {
@@ -1597,7 +1586,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/npm-run-path": {
       "version": "6.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "path-key": "^4.0.0",
@@ -1612,7 +1600,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/npm-run-path/node_modules/path-key": {
       "version": "4.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=12"
@@ -1661,7 +1648,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/parse-ms": {
       "version": "4.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18"
@@ -1672,7 +1658,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/path-key": {
       "version": "3.1.1",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=8"
@@ -1767,7 +1752,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/pretty-ms": {
       "version": "9.3.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "parse-ms": "^4.0.0"
@@ -1878,7 +1862,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/shebang-command": {
       "version": "2.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "shebang-regex": "^3.0.0"
@@ -1889,7 +1872,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/shebang-regex": {
       "version": "3.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=8"
@@ -1917,7 +1899,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/signal-exit": {
       "version": "4.1.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "ISC",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=14"
@@ -1980,7 +1961,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/strip-final-newline": {
       "version": "4.0.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18"
@@ -2061,7 +2041,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/unicorn-magic": {
       "version": "0.3.0",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18"
@@ -2461,7 +2440,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/which": {
       "version": "2.0.2",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "ISC",
       "dependencies": {
         "isexe": "^2.0.0"
@@ -2501,7 +2479,6 @@
     },
     "node_modules/yoctocolors": {
       "version": "2.1.2",
-      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=18"
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4ee5e23..c19fc77 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "create-polyglot",
-  "version": "1.6.0",
+  "version": "1.6.1",
   "description": "Scaffold polyglot microservice monorepos with built-in templates for Node, Python, Go, and more.",
   "main": "bin/index.js",
   "scripts": {
@@ -52,10 +52,10 @@
     "commander": "^14.0.1",
     "degit": "^2.8.4",
     "fs-extra": "^11.3.2",
-    "prompts": "^2.4.2"
+    "prompts": "^2.4.2",
+    "execa": "^9.6.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "execa": "^9.6.0",
     "vitepress": "^1.3.3",
     "vitest": "^1.6.1"
   }
diff --git a/tests/dev-command.test.js b/tests/dev-command.test.js
index 6d43967..82db9bd 100644
--- a/tests/dev-command.test.js
+++ b/tests/dev-command.test.js
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ describe('polyglot dev command (non-docker)', () => {
     proc.kill('SIGINT');
     await proc.catch(()=>{}); // ignore exit errors due to SIGINT
     expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(projectPath,'polyglot.json'))).toBe(true);
-  }, 20000);
+  }, 30000);
 
     // New tests for updated dev.js
     it('warns and skips service with no package.json', async () => {
diff --git a/tests/hotreload.test.js b/tests/hotreload.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f12824
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/hotreload.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { execa } from 'execa';
+import { describe, it, expect, afterAll } from 'vitest';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+import os from 'os';
+
+// Tests for unified hot reload command
+
+describe('hot reload command', () => {
+  const tmpParent = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'polyglot-hot-'));
+  const tmpDir = path.join(tmpParent, 'workspace');
+  fs.mkdirSync(tmpDir);
+  const projName = 'hot-proj';
+
+  afterAll(() => { try { fs.rmSync(tmpParent, { recursive: true, force: true }); } catch {} });
+
+  it('dry-run lists spawn strategies for node service', async () => {
+    const repoRoot = process.cwd();
+    const cliPath = path.join(repoRoot, 'bin/index.js');
+  // Use fewer services to speed up scaffold
+  await execa('node', [cliPath, 'init', projName, '--services', 'node', '--no-install', '--yes'], { cwd: tmpDir, env: { ...process.env, CI: 'true' } });
+    const projectPath = path.join(tmpDir, projName);
+
+    // Ensure dev scripts exist where needed for node/frontend
+    const nodePkgPath = path.join(projectPath, 'services/node/package.json');
+    const nodePkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(nodePkgPath,'utf-8'));
+    nodePkg.scripts = nodePkg.scripts || {}; nodePkg.scripts.dev = 'node src/index.js';
+    fs.writeFileSync(nodePkgPath, JSON.stringify(nodePkg, null, 2));
+
+    const proc = await execa('node', [cliPath, 'hot', '--dry-run'], { cwd: projectPath, env: { ...process.env, CI: 'true' } });
+    expect(proc.stdout).toMatch(/\[dry-run\] node:/);
+  }, 30000);
+
+  it('filters node service via --services option', async () => {
+    const repoRoot = process.cwd();
+    const cliPath = path.join(repoRoot, 'bin/index.js');
+  await execa('node', [cliPath, 'init', projName+'2', '--services', 'node', '--no-install', '--yes'], { cwd: tmpDir, env: { ...process.env, CI: 'true' } });
+    const projectPath = path.join(tmpDir, projName+'2');
+
+    const proc = await execa('node', [cliPath, 'hot', '--dry-run', '--services', 'node'], { cwd: projectPath, env: { ...process.env, CI: 'true' } });
+    expect(proc.stdout).toMatch(/\[dry-run\] node:/);
+  }, 30000);
+});