diff --git a/src-tauri/src/lib.rs b/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
index 3fdaa91..ae63786 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pub fn run() {
         })
         .setup(|app| {
             tray::build_tray(&app.handle())?;
-            watcher::spawn();
+            watcher::spawn(std::collections::HashMap::new());
             Ok(())
         })
         .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/watcher.rs b/src-tauri/src/watcher.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 9512fde..0000000
--- a/src-tauri/src/watcher.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-/// System event watcher — M1 implementation.
-///
-/// M0 stub: defines the types and the spawn interface so the rest of the app
-/// can wire up event handling now. Actual journald/dmesg reading lands in M1.
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
-#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
-pub enum EventSeverity {
-    Info,
-    Warn,
-    Crit,
-}
-
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
-#[serde(tag = "type", rename_all = "snake_case")]
-pub enum EventSource {
-    Journald,
-    Kmsg,
-    AppLog { app: String },
-}
-
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
-pub struct SystemEvent {
-    pub source: EventSource,
-    pub raw_line: String,
-    pub timestamp: u64,
-}
-
-/// Starts the background watcher task.
-/// M0: no-op placeholder — returns immediately.
-/// M1: spawns a tokio task reading journald + dmesg and emitting events.
-pub fn spawn() {
-    // TODO(M1): spawn tokio::task reading journald via sd-journal crate
-    // TODO(M1): spawn dmesg poller for kernel messages
-    // TODO(M1): emit SystemEvent via tauri app_handle.emit()
-    log::info!("watcher: stub — no-op until M1");
-}
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/watcher/inotify.rs b/src-tauri/src/watcher/inotify.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecf30e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src-tauri/src/watcher/inotify.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+use super::SystemEvent;
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
+
+pub async fn watch(_log_paths: HashMap<String, String>, _tx: mpsc::Sender<SystemEvent>) {
+    // implemented in Task 8
+}
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/watcher/journald.rs b/src-tauri/src/watcher/journald.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01f1d00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src-tauri/src/watcher/journald.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+use super::SystemEvent;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
+
+pub async fn watch(_tx: mpsc::Sender<SystemEvent>) {
+    // implemented in Task 6
+}
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/watcher/kmsg.rs b/src-tauri/src/watcher/kmsg.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c2c47d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src-tauri/src/watcher/kmsg.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+use super::SystemEvent;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
+
+pub async fn watch(_tx: mpsc::Sender<SystemEvent>) {
+    // implemented in Task 7
+}
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/watcher/mod.rs b/src-tauri/src/watcher/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd48b19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src-tauri/src/watcher/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+pub mod inotify;
+pub mod journald;
+pub mod kmsg;
+
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::time::{SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH};
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+pub enum EventSeverity {
+    Info,
+    Warn,
+    Crit,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(tag = "type", rename_all = "snake_case")]
+pub enum EventSource {
+    Journald,
+    Kmsg,
+    AppLog { app: String },
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
+pub struct SystemEvent {
+    pub source: EventSource,
+    pub raw_line: String,
+    pub timestamp: u64,
+}
+
+pub fn now_unix() -> u64 {
+    SystemTime::now()
+        .duration_since(UNIX_EPOCH)
+        .unwrap_or_default()
+        .as_secs()
+}
+
+/// Spawns all watcher tasks. Returns the receiver end of the event channel.
+/// `log_paths` comes from the loaded PatternFile.
+pub fn spawn(log_paths: HashMap<String, String>) -> mpsc::Receiver<SystemEvent> {
+    let (tx, rx) = mpsc::channel::<SystemEvent>(256);
+
+    let tx_j = tx.clone();
+    tauri::async_runtime::spawn(async move {
+        journald::watch(tx_j).await;
+    });
+
+    let tx_k = tx.clone();
+    tauri::async_runtime::spawn(async move {
+        kmsg::watch(tx_k).await;
+    });
+
+    tauri::async_runtime::spawn(async move {
+        inotify::watch(log_paths, tx).await;
+    });
+
+    rx
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn event_source_can_be_cloned() {
+        let s = EventSource::AppLog {
+            app: "steam".into(),
+        };
+        let _ = s.clone();
+        assert!(matches!(s, EventSource::AppLog { .. }));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn system_event_constructed() {
+        let e = SystemEvent {
+            source: EventSource::Journald,
+            raw_line: "test line".into(),
+            timestamp: now_unix(),
+        };
+        assert_eq!(e.raw_line, "test line");
+        assert!(e.timestamp > 0);
+    }
+}