What causes "Watch target is not a file (directories not supported): ${targetPath}" in MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror?

Replace the directory entry with the specific file paths you want watched

Watch target is not a file (directories not supported)

Error message

Watch target is not a file (directories not supported): ${targetPath}

What it means

Watch targets must be regular files; directories are not supported by the watcher. After confirming the target exists, the watcher calls fs.statSync and only calls watchFile() when stats.isFile() is true; otherwise it logs this warning and skips the entry. Other targets continue to be watched.

Solutions

Replace the directory entry with the specific file paths you want watched
List each file individually in watchTargets (e.g. "modules/myModule/myModule.js")
If you need directory watching, add a file watcher library like chokidar outside this watcher

Example fix

// before
watchTargets: ["modules/default/"]
// after
watchTargets: ["modules/default/default.js", "modules/default/node_helper.js"]

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const stats = fs.statSync(targetPath);
if (!stats.isFile()) {
  console.warn(`Watch target must be a regular file: ${targetPath}`);
}

Type guard

function isRegularFile(p) {
  try { return fs.statSync(p).isFile(); } catch { return false; }
}

Prevention

List individual files, not directories, in watchTargets
Remember the watcher does not support recursive directory watching
Use isFile() checks on candidate paths during config authoring

When it happens

Trigger: A watchTargets entry resolves to a directory (e.g. "js" or "/var/log/mirror") instead of a single file; the path exists but is a symlink to a directory, socket, or other non-regular file.

Common situations: Developers assuming recursive directory watching is supported; passing a folder that used to contain the watched file; wanting to watch all module files and listing the modules directory instead of individual files.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror@4b4a59534f (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9e416341a274bc6b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at serveronly/watcher.js:248

	// Watch each target file
	for (const target of watchTargets) {
		const targetPath = path.isAbsolute(target)
			? target
			: path.join(rootDir, target);

		// Check if file exists
		if (!fs.existsSync(targetPath)) {
			Log.warn(`Watch target does not exist: ${targetPath}`);
			continue;
		}

		// Check if it's a file (directories are not supported)
		const stats = fs.statSync(targetPath);
		if (stats.isFile()) {
			watchFile(targetPath);
		} else {
			Log.warn(`Watch target is not a file (directories not supported): ${targetPath}`);
		}
	}
} catch {
	// Config file might not exist or be invalid, use fallback targets
	Log.warn("Could not load watchTargets from config.");
}

process.on("SIGINT", () => {
	isShuttingDown = true;
	if (restartTimer) clearTimeout(restartTimer);
	if (child) child.kill("SIGTERM");
	process.exit(0);
});

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