onDidChange is called once

[maximeallanic]

Replace fs.watch to fs.watchFile in _watch method.

[dancon]

It indeed is called once, and fs.watchFile works as expected as @maximeallanic said, so，is there any plan to fix the issue? @sindresorhus

[sindresorhus]

What Node.js version and operating system?

[sindresorhus]

fs.watch was an intentional choice. If it doesn't work, I recommend opening an issue on Node.js instead.

From the Node.js docs:

Using fs.watch() is more efficient than fs.watchFile and fs.unwatchFile. fs.watch should be used instead of fs.watchFile and fs.unwatchFile when possible.

[sindresorhus]

// @yaodingyd

[brpaz]

Have the same issue. the onDidChange is only called the first time I change the file config file.

Node v12.16.3 and Fedora 32

[dancon]

MacOS 10.15.5 and Node 12.6.3

[yaodingyd]

I can't reproduce this on my machine. macOS: 10.14.6 node: 12.4.0

[adlerluiz]

Windows 10:

• node: 12.18.3
  • fs.watch - Ok
  • fs.watchFile - Ok (+- 1s delay)

Ubuntu 20.04:

• node 12.18.3
  • fs.watch - Fail (once)
  • fs.watchFile - Ok

Mac:

• I don't have = (

as said by @sindresorhus seems to be a nodejs problem.

There are several issues about this case such as:

• Mac: fs.watch() not detecting changes to file from git operation nodejs/node#5039
• fs.watch only fires once on CentOS nodejs/node#22517
  and several others that despite being closed, problem continues to occur.

I suggest two workarounds:

1. Implementation of https://github.com/paulmillr/chokidar
2. Add { watchFile: true | false } like { watch: true | false }

[sindresorhus]

@adlerluiz Can you check the latest Node.js 15 version? Would be useful to see if that improves the situation. (We'll still need to work around for Node.js 12)