watch mode in node.js 20 doesn't watch changes in non-entry files

[o-alexandrov]

Bug description

watch mode works on node.js lts/hydrogen v18, but doesn't on 20+.

Reproduction

1. Create 2 files

// file-1.ts - this is your entrypoint
import { example } from './file-2';
console.log(example);

// file-2.ts
export const example = 'Hello World!';

2. Run tsx watch file-1.ts
3. Modify value in file-2.ts
4. Observe there's no rerun by tsx

Environment

System:
  OS: MacOS (currently latest 13.3)
  CPU: m1 pro
  Shell: zsh
Binaries:
  Node: 20.1.0
npmPackages:
  tsx: `3.12.7` (current latest)

Can you work on a fix?

• I’m interested in opening a pull request to address this issue.

[marvinroger]

I think it might be related to a bug in Chokidar, see vitejs/vite#12495

[Billcountry]

Found a temporary solution by using tsx as a loader instead:

node --watch --loader=tsx index.ts

[privatenumber]

If anyone is able to, please investigate what's causing this.

If it's chokidar, is there an issue tracked in their repository? We can consider swapping to a different watcher.

[azhar1038]

I am using Node 20 in Windows and it seems to be working fine.
Is it just a MacOS issue?
Can anyone check if @parcel/watcher is working in mac or not?

[mkoreo]

Experiencing identical issues on Linux.

thopop@Latitude5490: ~ $ uname -r
6.4.1-zen2-1-zen
thopop@Latitude5490: ~ $ node -v
v20.3.1

Found a temporary solution by using tsx as a loader instead:

node --watch --loader=tsx index.ts

I don't know why that works for you, but not using tsx directly gives me following error:

> tsc --build && dotenv -e .env.dev node --watch --loader=tsx src/server.ts --inspect=0.0.0.0:%SERVER_PORT%
TypeError [ERR_UNKNOWN_FILE_EXTENSION]: Unknown file extension ".ts" for /usr/src/app/projects/backend/auth-service/src/server.ts

Edit: Does work as you described. I had an error in my command. (Missing -- after dotenv -e .env.dev)

[fspoettel]

I don't think this is caused by chokidar, but a change to IPC that affects @esbuild-kit/esm-loader.

It appears as if we don't receive dependency messages from the esm-loader anymore. I patched in the following debug logs:

https://github.com/esbuild-kit/tsx/blob/9acf1c0eadcc6b7275b91a285acb180171b30d78/src/watch/index.ts#L86

runProcess.on('message', (data) => {
  console.log("received", data);

https://github.com/esbuild-kit/esm-loader/blob/332a0a0220dbb80de806ebb3a15ec7c3ce893bee/src/loaders.ts#L214

console.log("sending esm", url, "process.send", process.send);
if (process.send) {

https://github.com/esbuild-kit/cjs-loader/blob/3442035bd4d1251538141ecd3e80de1add41024a/src/index.ts#L55

console.log("sending cjs", filePath, "process.send", process.send);
if (process.send) {

This gives the following outputs (on macOS):

Node 18.17.0

> node-typescript-starter@0.0.0 dev
> tsx watch --clear-screen=false ./src/main.ts | pino-pretty

sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/main.ts process.send [Function (anonymous)]
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/dotenv/lib/main.js process.send [Function (anonymous)]
received {
  type: 'dependency',
  path: 'file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/main.ts'
}
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/lib/logger.ts process.send [Function (anonymous)]
received {
  type: 'dependency',
  path: 'file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/dotenv/lib/main.js'
}
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/lib/config.ts process.send [Function (anonymous)]
received {
  type: 'dependency',
  path: 'file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/lib/logger.ts'
}
received {
  type: 'dependency',
  path: 'file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/lib/config.ts'
}
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/pino/pino.js process.send [Function (anonymous)]
received {
  type: 'dependency',
  path: 'file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/pino/pino.js'
}
sending cjs /Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/dotenv/lib/main.js process.send [Function (anonymous)]
received {
  type: 'dependency',
  path: '/Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/dotenv/lib/main.js'
}

<...>

Node 20.5.0

> node-typescript-starter@0.0.0 dev
> tsx watch --clear-screen=false ./src/main.ts | pino-pretty

sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/main.ts process.send undefined
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/dotenv/lib/main.js process.send undefined
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/lib/logger.ts process.send undefined
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/src/lib/config.ts process.send undefined
sending esm file:///Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/pino/pino.js process.send undefined
sending cjs /Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/dotenv/lib/main.js process.send [Function (anonymous)]
sending cjs /Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/pino/pino.js process.send [Function (anonymous)]
sending cjs /Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/pino-std-serializers/index.js process.send [Function (anonymous)]
sending cjs /Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/pino-std-serializers/lib/err.js process.send [Function (anonymous)]
received {
  type: 'dependency',
  path: '/Users/felix/code/node-ts-template/node_modules/dotenv/lib/main.js'
}
<...>

In this case, no esm module is ever received as process.send is not defined when the loader tries to send dependencies over IPC.

I looked for causes and found this change to the loader API that might be related.

In a github issue that discusses a seemingly similar case, it was suggested that globalPreload could be a workaround.

Hope this is helpful!

[privatenumber]

Wow thank you so much for the insightful investigation @fspoettel
I think we can work on a fix now

[npdev453]

Wrote a fix esbuild-kit/esm-loader#64 based on @fspoettel research. Working well for me, but can somebody test it in him configurations also too?

@privatenumber, waiting for review.