From b7f245c66b5ccdd0c372eabeb2776595e8ddc7ad Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Daniel Roe <daniel@roe.dev>
Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2025 15:16:37 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] perf(dev): use native `fs.watch` to watch `dist`, config and
 `.env`

---
 knip.json                      |  1 -
 packages/nuxi/package.json     |  1 -
 packages/nuxi/src/dev/utils.ts | 32 ++++++++++++--------------------
 packages/nuxt-cli/package.json |  1 -
 pnpm-lock.yaml                 |  6 ------
 5 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-)

diff --git a/knip.json b/knip.json
index 6d45d0a9d..3a30755b9 100644
--- a/knip.json
+++ b/knip.json
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
     "packages/nuxt-cli": {
       "ignoreDependencies": [
         "c12",
-        "chokidar",
         "clipboardy",
         "confbox",
         "consola",
diff --git a/packages/nuxi/package.json b/packages/nuxi/package.json
index 4dc5db84f..bd4723dc7 100644
--- a/packages/nuxi/package.json
+++ b/packages/nuxi/package.json
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@
     "@types/node": "^22.15.31",
     "@types/semver": "^7.7.0",
     "c12": "^3.0.4",
-    "chokidar": "^4.0.3",
     "citty": "^0.1.6",
     "clipboardy": "^4.0.0",
     "confbox": "^0.2.2",
diff --git a/packages/nuxi/src/dev/utils.ts b/packages/nuxi/src/dev/utils.ts
index ada92bba1..fbbf8cee7 100644
--- a/packages/nuxi/src/dev/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxi/src/dev/utils.ts
@@ -1,19 +1,19 @@
 import type { Nuxt, NuxtConfig } from '@nuxt/schema'
 import type { DotenvOptions } from 'c12'
-import type { FSWatcher } from 'chokidar'
 import type { HTTPSOptions, Listener, ListenOptions, ListenURL } from 'listhen'
 import type { NitroDevServer } from 'nitropack'
+import type { FSWatcher } from 'node:fs'
 import type { IncomingMessage, RequestListener, ServerResponse } from 'node:http'
 import type { AddressInfo } from 'node:net'
 
 import EventEmitter from 'node:events'
+import { watch } from 'node:fs'
 import process from 'node:process'
 
-import chokidar from 'chokidar'
 import defu from 'defu'
 import { toNodeListener } from 'h3'
 import { listen } from 'listhen'
-import { join, relative, resolve } from 'pathe'
+import { resolve } from 'pathe'
 import { debounce } from 'perfect-debounce'
 import { provider } from 'std-env'
 import { joinURL } from 'ufo'
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ interface DevServerEventMap {
 export class NuxtDevServer extends EventEmitter<DevServerEventMap> {
   private _handler?: RequestListener
   private _distWatcher?: FSWatcher
+  private _configWatcher?: FSWatcher
   private _currentNuxt?: NuxtWithServer
   private _loadingMessage?: string
   private _loadingError?: Error
@@ -198,12 +199,11 @@ export class NuxtDevServer extends EventEmitter<DevServerEventMap> {
   }
 
   async close() {
+    this._distWatcher?.close()
+    this._configWatcher?.close()
     if (this._currentNuxt) {
       await this._currentNuxt.close()
     }
-    if (this._distWatcher) {
-      await this._distWatcher.close()
-    }
   }
 
   async _load(reload?: boolean, reason?: string) {
@@ -334,11 +334,8 @@ export class NuxtDevServer extends EventEmitter<DevServerEventMap> {
     }
 
     // Watch dist directory
-    this._distWatcher = chokidar.watch(resolve(this._currentNuxt.options.buildDir, 'dist'), {
-      ignoreInitial: true,
-      depth: 0,
-    })
-    this._distWatcher.on('unlinkDir', () => {
+    this._distWatcher = watch(resolve(this._currentNuxt.options.buildDir, 'dist'))
+    this._distWatcher.on('change', () => {
       this.loadDebounced(true, '.nuxt/dist directory has been removed')
     })
 
@@ -347,18 +344,13 @@ export class NuxtDevServer extends EventEmitter<DevServerEventMap> {
   }
 
   async _watchConfig() {
-    const configWatcher = chokidar.watch([this.options.cwd, join(this.options.cwd, '.config')], {
-      ignoreInitial: true,
-      depth: 0,
-    })
-    configWatcher.on('all', (event, _file) => {
-      if (event === 'all' || event === 'ready' || event === 'error' || event === 'raw') {
-        return
-      }
-      const file = relative(this.options.cwd, _file)
+    this._configWatcher = watch(this.options.cwd, { recursive: true })
+
+    this._configWatcher.on('change', (_event, file: string) => {
       if (file === (this.options.dotenv.fileName || '.env')) {
         this.emit('restart')
       }
+
       if (RESTART_RE.test(file)) {
         this.loadDebounced(true, `${file} updated`)
       }
diff --git a/packages/nuxt-cli/package.json b/packages/nuxt-cli/package.json
index 06e35983a..098c4d740 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt-cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/nuxt-cli/package.json
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "c12": "^3.0.4",
-    "chokidar": "^4.0.3",
     "citty": "^0.1.6",
     "clipboardy": "^4.0.0",
     "confbox": "^0.2.2",
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 187f4e52a..cdd81f7f4 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -118,9 +118,6 @@ importers:
       c12:
         specifier: ^3.0.4
         version: 3.0.4(magicast@0.3.5)
-      chokidar:
-        specifier: ^4.0.3
-        version: 4.0.3
       citty:
         specifier: ^0.1.6
         version: 0.1.6
@@ -223,9 +220,6 @@ importers:
       c12:
         specifier: ^3.0.4
         version: 3.0.4(magicast@0.3.5)
-      chokidar:
-        specifier: ^4.0.3
-        version: 4.0.3
       citty:
         specifier: ^0.1.6
         version: 0.1.6