fix: file reloading mechanism and add profile watch ignores by ZerGo0 · Pull Request #2112 · wxt-dev/wxt

ZerGo0 · 2026-02-11T12:00:58Z

Overview

Fixes flaky dev reload detection where WXT sometimes ignores real source file saves.

Root cause:

Dev watcher used a debounced callback (leading: true, trailing: false) and queued events inside that callback.
With noisy filesystem activity (especially browser profile/cache files), relevant source change events could be dropped.

Changes:

Reworked dev file reload flow in packages/wxt/src/core/create-server.ts to:
- queue every watcher event immediately
- process the queue in a serialized loop
- keep flushing after each debounce window until no new events arrive
Added runner profile watch ignores in packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts so browser profile churn is not watched:
- chromiumProfile
- firefoxProfile
- chromiumArgs --user-data-dir (split and = forms)
- firefoxArgs -profile (split and = forms)
Added a single regression test:
- packages/wxt/src/core/__tests__/create-server.test.ts
- Simulates browser-profile noise event followed by real source change and verifies the source change is detected/reloaded.

Manual Testing

This is pretty hard/annoying to reproduce. The new test is probably the best way of reproducing this: pnpm -C packages/wxt test --run src/core/__tests__/create-server.test.ts

Use a project with browser profile inside project dir (example):
- Chromium: chromiumArgs: ['--user-data-dir=./private/.dev-profile']
- Firefox: firefoxProfile: './private/.dev-firefox-profile'
- My main project does a ton of stuff in indexed dbs, this causes a ton of changes in the browser profile directory
Run pnpm wxt.
Save a real source file while browser is active.
A rebuild should be triggered, but it just doesn't sometimes.

Related Issue

None I think.

- Exported `createFileReloader` function to allow external usage. - Improved the file reloading process by implementing a queue worker to handle multiple file changes without dropping events. - Added `getRunnerProfileWatchIgnores` function to dynamically generate ignored paths based on user profiles for Chromium and Firefox. - Updated Vite builder configuration to include these new ignore patterns.

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aklinker1

Nice, I really like these changes!

I just woke up and am on mobile, so I'll need to do some manual testing to make sure everything is working later today.

pkg-pr-new · 2026-02-11T14:12:35Z

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@wxt-dev/analytics

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commit: d9550bf

codecov · 2026-02-11T14:13:48Z

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 77.77778% with 26 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 80.40%. Comparing base (e75e534) to head (d9550bf).

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts	37.50%	11 Missing and 4 partials ⚠️
...ackages/wxt/src/core/utils/create-file-reloader.ts	86.25%	10 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main    #2112      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   79.73%   80.40%   +0.67%     
==========================================
  Files         131      131              
  Lines        3804     3894      +90     
  Branches      861      883      +22     
==========================================
+ Hits         3033     3131      +98     
+ Misses        686      680       -6     
+ Partials       85       83       -2

☔ View full report in Codecov by Sentry.
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- Introduced `getRelevantDevChangedFiles` to filter out unrelated file changes. - Updated `detectDevChanges` to utilize the new filtering function for improved accuracy. - Modified `createFileReloader` to work with relevant file changes, ensuring only necessary reloads occur. - Enhanced tests to validate the new behavior and ensure proper handling of HTML-only reloads.

ZerGo0 · 2026-02-11T15:22:50Z

I pushed another small change. I don't really like the changes in 0cf79bb but I can't really think of a better way of doing this.

The problem is that it would show potentially wrong files in the "Changed: ..." log line and so on because they all use the "raw"/unfiltered queue. My latest commit fixes that.

PatrykKuniczak · 2026-02-11T21:23:33Z

I'm also have 1 file on which HMR doesn't work and i was about to report it, but i'll check it on your branch, maybe your PR will solve that issue 😄

aklinker1

Tested, things seem to behave the same way for me. One requested change.

Move createFileReloader into an internal core utils file and update create-server/test imports.

- Exported `createFileReloader` function to allow external usage. - Improved the file reloading process by implementing a queue worker to handle multiple file changes without dropping events. - Added `getRunnerProfileWatchIgnores` function to dynamically generate ignored paths based on user profiles for Chromium and Firefox. - Updated Vite builder configuration to include these new ignore patterns.

- Introduced `getRelevantDevChangedFiles` to filter out unrelated file changes. - Updated `detectDevChanges` to utilize the new filtering function for improved accuracy. - Modified `createFileReloader` to work with relevant file changes, ensuring only necessary reloads occur. - Enhanced tests to validate the new behavior and ensure proper handling of HTML-only reloads.

Move createFileReloader into an internal core utils file and update create-server/test imports.

PatrykKuniczak · 2026-02-14T09:21:20Z

it's working for Windows also, but it doesn't solve my issue, i'll open new issue about it.

…into fix/dev-watch-missed-reloads

- detect entrypoint directory file events that are missed by step-based dev change detection and treat them as rebuild candidates. - recompute and merge latest entrypoint groups on file changes so new entrypoints are built immediately instead of waiting for a dev server restart. - reload the extension when new entrypoints are introduced to keep manifest/runtime behavior in sync. - add and update `createFileReloader` tests to cover noisy events and newly added entrypoint files.

PatrykKuniczak · 2026-04-12T20:16:02Z

@aklinker1 This one also, needs your review

aklinker1 · 2026-04-27T02:16:44Z

+): string[] {
+  const root = normalizePath(wxtConfig.root);
+  const chromiumArgProfiles = extractPathArgs(
+    wxtConfig.runnerConfig.config?.chromiumArgs,


Hmm, I'm working on adding an alternative runner in the next major version and hardcoding access to one of the runner's config will prevent me from abstracting it.

It works for now like this, but we'll likely have to add a hook for this in the future...

Just thinking out loud, no changes here.

aklinker1 · 2026-04-27T02:22:23Z

@@ -1,35 +1,15 @@
-import { debounce } from 'perfect-debounce';


Can we remove this dependency?

ZerGo0 · 2026-04-27T03:32:46Z

@aklinker1 I can do a clean PR if you want?

(This issue is super frustrating tbh, 1/20 file saves trigger a rebuild/reload for me right now for me. It's usually faster to just stop and start the dev command ^^)

aklinker1 · 2026-04-27T13:20:22Z

Yeah, resolve the conflicts and I'll finish reviewing it.

…d-reloads # Conflicts: # packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts # packages/wxt/src/core/utils/create-file-reloader.ts

aklinker1 · 2026-04-29T12:43:17Z

+    expect(server.reloadExtension).toBeCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('should rebuild and reload extension when a new entrypoint is added', async () => {


I noticed you resolved that TODO, thanks!

aklinker1 · 2026-04-29T12:49:09Z

+        const needsFullExtensionReload =
+          newEntrypointGroups.length ||
+          changes.type === 'extension-reload' ||
+          changes.type === 'no-change';
+        if (needsFullExtensionReload) {
+          server.reloadExtension();
+          wxt.logger.success(`Reloaded extension`);


Alright, changes look good. This is the only thing that stood out to me: why reload the extension when no changes were detected?

I'm pretty sure that I added it as a temp fix for new entry points, but I removed it now since it's not needed anymore.

ZerGo0 requested review from Timeraa and aklinker1 as code owners February 11, 2026 12:00

aklinker1 reviewed Feb 11, 2026

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PatrykKuniczak reviewed Feb 11, 2026

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Comment thread packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts

aklinker1 requested changes Feb 12, 2026

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Comment thread packages/wxt/src/core/create-server.ts Outdated

ZerGo0 added 4 commits February 13, 2026 07:12

fix: keep createFileReloader out of the public API

41b2084

Move createFileReloader into an internal core utils file and update create-server/test imports.

fix: keep createFileReloader out of the public API

9e4d40d

Move createFileReloader into an internal core utils file and update create-server/test imports.

PatrykKuniczak force-pushed the fix/dev-watch-missed-reloads branch from 41b2084 to 9e4d40d Compare February 14, 2026 09:09

PatrykKuniczak requested changes Feb 14, 2026

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Comment thread packages/wxt/src/core/utils/create-file-reloader.ts Outdated

ZerGo0 added 2 commits February 16, 2026 07:38

Merge branch 'fix/dev-watch-missed-reloads' of github.com:ZerGo0/wxt …

d3c877f

…into fix/dev-watch-missed-reloads

ZerGo0 requested a review from PatrykKuniczak February 16, 2026 07:22

PatrykKuniczak reviewed Feb 16, 2026

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Comment thread packages/wxt/src/core/utils/create-file-reloader.ts Outdated

aklinker1 force-pushed the main branch from db3e29d to adaae6e Compare February 22, 2026 23:30

Merge upstream/main into fix/dev-watch-missed-reloads

c5be896

ZerGo0 requested review from PatrykKuniczak and aklinker1 March 12, 2026 08:55

PatrykKuniczak approved these changes Mar 12, 2026

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aklinker1 mentioned this pull request Apr 27, 2026

chore: Move createFileReloader into it's own file #2307

Merged

aklinker1 reviewed Apr 27, 2026

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ZerGo0 added 2 commits April 29, 2026 09:23

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/main' into fix/dev-watch-misse…

1fb1d26

…d-reloads # Conflicts: # packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts # packages/wxt/src/core/utils/create-file-reloader.ts

chore: address file reloader review comments

d9550bf

ZerGo0 requested a review from aklinker1 April 29, 2026 07:42

aklinker1 requested changes Apr 29, 2026

View reviewed changes

fix: avoid redundant no-change reload condition

cd5c7cf

ZerGo0 requested a review from aklinker1 April 30, 2026 06:57

		@@ -1,35 +1,15 @@
		import { debounce } from 'perfect-debounce';

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ZerGo0 commented Feb 11, 2026

Overview

Manual Testing

Related Issue

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