# \`jekyll serve\` doesn't pickup new collections automatically

**URL:** <https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-serve-doesnt-pickup-new-collections-automatically/5765>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [March 13, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-serve-doesnt-pickup-new-collections-automatically/5765 "2021-03-13T17:00:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mohshar916](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@mohshar916](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/mohshar916)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-serve-doesnt-pickup-new-collections-automatically/5765/1 "2021-03-13T17:00:14Z")

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I have a local server up using `jekyll serve`. When I add a new `collections` (I update the `_config.yml` and create a corresponding directory), it’s not automatically served. I checked the `_site` directory and it contains no subdirectory for the newly added collection.  
However, if I run `jekyll build`, the `_site` directory contains the subdirectory for the collection.

Is this expected behavior where adding a new collection requires a build step for local server to pick it up?

I am using jekyll 4.0.1. Please let me know if you need more information.

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**Author:** ![ckruse](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/ckruse/32/16_2.png) [@ckruse](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/ckruse)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-serve-doesnt-pickup-new-collections-automatically/5765/2 "2021-03-13T18:06:51Z")

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Hey @mohshar916, welcome to the community.

Any changes to `_config.yml` does indeed require restarting the server for the changes to take effect.

So if you’re using `jekyll serve` for local development, just stop and restart it.

`jekyll build` doesn’t run a webserver in the background. It’s a one-time thing so it’ll pick up any changes you’ve made to `_config.yml`.

Hope that helps.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mohshar916](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@mohshar916](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/mohshar916)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/jekyll-serve-doesnt-pickup-new-collections-automatically/5765/3 "2021-03-13T18:09:18Z")

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> [@ckruse](#):
>
> indeed require restarting the server for the changes

Hi @ckruse! Thanks for your answer!  
It makes sense now! Just restarting the local server also works, `jekyll build` is not required for serving content locally.