README.md
1# File system notifications for Go
2
3[](https://godoc.org/github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify) [](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify)
4
5fsnotify utilizes [golang.org/x/sys](https://godoc.org/golang.org/x/sys) rather than `syscall` from the standard library. Ensure you have the latest version installed by running:
6
7```console
8go get -u golang.org/x/sys/...
9```
10
11Cross platform: Windows, Linux, BSD and macOS.
12
13|Adapter |OS |Status |
14|----------|----------|----------|
15|inotify |Linux 2.6.27 or later, Android\*|Supported [](https://travis-ci.org/fsnotify/fsnotify)|
16|kqueue |BSD, macOS, iOS\*|Supported [](https://travis-ci.org/fsnotify/fsnotify)|
17|ReadDirectoryChangesW|Windows|Supported [](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/NathanYoungman/fsnotify/branch/master)|
18|FSEvents |macOS |[Planned](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/issues/11)|
19|FEN |Solaris 11 |[In Progress](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/issues/12)|
20|fanotify |Linux 2.6.37+ | |
21|USN Journals |Windows |[Maybe](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/issues/53)|
22|Polling |*All* |[Maybe](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/issues/9)|
23
24\* Android and iOS are untested.
25
26Please see [the documentation](https://godoc.org/github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify) and consult the [FAQ](#faq) for usage information.
27
28## API stability
29
30fsnotify is a fork of [howeyc/fsnotify](https://godoc.org/github.com/howeyc/fsnotify) with a new API as of v1.0. The API is based on [this design document](http://goo.gl/MrYxyA).
31
32All [releases](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/releases) are tagged based on [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/). Further API changes are [planned](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/milestones), and will be tagged with a new major revision number.
33
34Go 1.6 supports dependencies located in the `vendor/` folder. Unless you are creating a library, it is recommended that you copy fsnotify into `vendor/github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify` within your project, and likewise for `golang.org/x/sys`.
35
36## Contributing
37
38Please refer to [CONTRIBUTING][] before opening an issue or pull request.
39
40## Example
41
42See [example_test.go](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/blob/master/example_test.go).
43
44## FAQ
45
46**When a file is moved to another directory is it still being watched?**
47
48No (it shouldn't be, unless you are watching where it was moved to).
49
50**When I watch a directory, are all subdirectories watched as well?**
51
52No, you must add watches for any directory you want to watch (a recursive watcher is on the roadmap [#18][]).
53
54**Do I have to watch the Error and Event channels in a separate goroutine?**
55
56As of now, yes. Looking into making this single-thread friendly (see [howeyc #7][#7])
57
58**Why am I receiving multiple events for the same file on OS X?**
59
60Spotlight indexing on OS X can result in multiple events (see [howeyc #62][#62]). A temporary workaround is to add your folder(s) to the *Spotlight Privacy settings* until we have a native FSEvents implementation (see [#11][]).
61
62**How many files can be watched at once?**
63
64There are OS-specific limits as to how many watches can be created:
65* Linux: /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches contains the limit, reaching this limit results in a "no space left on device" error.
66* BSD / OSX: sysctl variables "kern.maxfiles" and "kern.maxfilesperproc", reaching these limits results in a "too many open files" error.
67
68[#62]: https://github.com/howeyc/fsnotify/issues/62
69[#18]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/issues/18
70[#11]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/issues/11
71[#7]: https://github.com/howeyc/fsnotify/issues/7
72
73[contributing]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
74
75## Related Projects
76
77* [notify](https://github.com/rjeczalik/notify)
78* [fsevents](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsevents)
79
80
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