diff --git a/frappe/public/js/frappe/desk.js b/frappe/public/js/frappe/desk.js
index c25f22dcbf..e80e994c0f 100644
--- a/frappe/public/js/frappe/desk.js
+++ b/frappe/public/js/frappe/desk.js
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ frappe.Application = Class.extend({
 			});
 			dialog.get_close_btn().toggle(false);
 		});
+
+		// listen to build errors
+		this.setup_build_error_listener();
+
 		if (frappe.sys_defaults.email_user_password){
 			var email_list =  frappe.sys_defaults.email_user_password.split(',');
 			for (var u in email_list) {
@@ -519,6 +523,14 @@ frappe.Application = Class.extend({
 			});
 		}
 	},
+
+	setup_build_error_listener() {
+		if (frappe.boot.developer_mode) {
+			frappe.realtime.on('build_error', (data) => {
+				console.log(data);
+			});
+		}
+	}
 });
 
 frappe.get_module = function(m, default_module) {
diff --git a/node_utils.js b/node_utils.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..85988131d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node_utils.js
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+const redis = require('redis');
+const bench_path = path.resolve(__dirname, '..', '..');
+
+function get_conf() {
+	// defaults
+	var conf = {
+		redis_async_broker_port: 12311,
+		socketio_port: 3000
+	};
+
+	var read_config = function (file_path) {
+		const full_path = path.resolve(bench_path, file_path);
+
+		if (fs.existsSync(full_path)) {
+			var bench_config = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(full_path));
+			for (var key in bench_config) {
+				if (bench_config[key]) {
+					conf[key] = bench_config[key];
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// get ports from bench/config.json
+	read_config('config.json');
+	read_config('sites/common_site_config.json');
+
+	// detect current site
+	if (fs.existsSync('sites/currentsite.txt')) {
+		conf.default_site = fs.readFileSync('sites/currentsite.txt').toString().trim();
+	}
+
+	return conf;
+}
+
+function get_redis_subscriber() {
+	const conf = get_conf();
+	const host = conf.redis_socketio || conf.redis_async_broker_port;
+	return redis.createClient(host);
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+    get_conf,
+    get_redis_subscriber
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/rollup/watch.js b/rollup/watch.js
index 9d025d067a..245a05ee50 100644
--- a/rollup/watch.js
+++ b/rollup/watch.js
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ const {
 	get_options_for
 } = require('./config');
 
+const { get_redis_subscriber } = require('../node_utils');
+const subscriber = get_redis_subscriber();
+
 watch_assets();
 
 function watch_assets() {
@@ -79,4 +82,17 @@ function log_error(error) {
 	if (error.frame) {
 		log(chalk.red(error.frame));
 	}
+
+	// notify redis which in turns tells socketio to publish this to browser
+	const payload = {
+		event: 'build_error',
+		message: `
+Error in: ${error.id}
+${error.toString()}
+
+${error.frame ? error.frame : ''}
+		`
+	}
+
+	subscriber.publish('events', JSON.stringify(payload));
 }
diff --git a/socketio.js b/socketio.js
index 5280acb797..5fcbf46785 100644
--- a/socketio.js
+++ b/socketio.js
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ var io = require('socket.io')(server);
 var cookie = require('cookie')
 var fs = require('fs');
 var path = require('path');
-var redis = require("redis");
 var request = require('superagent');
+var { get_conf, get_redis_subscriber } = require('./node_utils');
 
 var conf = get_conf();
 var flags = {};
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ var files_struct = {
 	is_private: 0
 };
 
-var subscriber = redis.createClient(conf.redis_socketio || conf.redis_async_broker_port);
+var subscriber = get_redis_subscriber();
 
 // serve socketio
 server.listen(conf.socketio_port, function () {
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ io.on('connection', function (socket) {
 				socket.join(get_site_room(socket));
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 	socket.on('disconnect', function () {
 		delete socket.files;
 	})
@@ -207,7 +207,12 @@ io.on('connection', function (socket) {
 
 subscriber.on("message", function (channel, message, room) {
 	message = JSON.parse(message);
-	io.to(message.room).emit(message.event, message.message);
+
+	if (message.room) {
+		io.to(message.room).emit(message.event, message.message);
+	} else {
+		io.emit(message.event, message.message);
+	}
 });
 
 
@@ -345,33 +350,3 @@ function send_viewers(args) {
 		viewers: viewers
 	});
 }
-
-function get_conf() {
-	// defaults
-	var conf = {
-		redis_async_broker_port: 12311,
-		socketio_port: 3000
-	};
-
-	var read_config = function (path) {
-		if (fs.existsSync(path)) {
-			var bench_config = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path));
-			for (var key in bench_config) {
-				if (bench_config[key]) {
-					conf[key] = bench_config[key];
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	// get ports from bench/config.json
-	read_config('config.json');
-	read_config('sites/common_site_config.json');
-
-	// detect current site
-	if (fs.existsSync('sites/currentsite.txt')) {
-		conf.default_site = fs.readFileSync('sites/currentsite.txt').toString().trim();
-	}
-
-	return conf;
-}
\ No newline at end of file