Yeachan-Heo/oh-my-codex · warning

[omx] warning: failed to launch notify fallback watcher

Error message

[omx] warning: failed to launch notify fallback watcher

What it means

The CLI failed to spawn the background notify fallback watcher helper (launchBackgroundHelper rejected). The watcher simply will not run; notify fallback behavior is skipped and the main flow continues.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/index.ts:7793

        notifyScript,
        "--pid-file",
        pidPath,
        "--parent-pid",
        String(process.pid),
        ...(process.env.OMX_NOTIFY_FALLBACK_MAX_LIFETIME_MS
          ? [
            "--max-lifetime-ms",
            process.env.OMX_NOTIFY_FALLBACK_MAX_LIFETIME_MS,
          ]
          : []),
      ],
      {
        cwd,
        env: watcherEnv,
      },
    );
  } catch (error: unknown) {
    console.warn("[omx] warning: failed to launch notify fallback watcher", {
      cwd,
      error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
    });
    return;
  }

  if (!watcherPid) return;

  await writeFile(
    pidPath,
    JSON.stringify(
      { pid: watcherPid, started_at: new Date().toISOString() },
      null,
      2,
    ),
  ).catch((error: unknown) => {
    console.warn(
      "[omx] warning: failed to write notify fallback watcher pid file",

View on GitHub (pinned to 3ad79a8a6f)

Solutions

1. Reinstall the package cleanly: `npm install -g omx@latest` (or the local equivalent)
2. Verify node is on PATH in the environment the CLI runs in
3. Check the watcher script exists and is executable under the package root

Example fix

// before
# watcher script missing after partial install

# after
npm rebuild omx   # or reinstall to restore helper scripts
chmod +x node_modules/omx/dist/notify-fallback-watcher.js

import { existsSync, accessSync, constants } from 'node:fs';
function watcherLaunchable(script: string, nodeOnPath: boolean): boolean {
  return existsSync(script) && nodeOnPath && (accessSync(script, constants.X_OK), true);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Spawning the watcher script (node/helper) fails: missing script file, node binary unavailable in the constructed env, EACCES on the script, or ENOENT for the interpreter.

Common situations: Package installation with missing files (partial npm install); node not on PATH in the child env; script lost +x permission after a git clone/transfer; antivirus or sandbox blocking child process spawn.

Related errors

• [omx] warning: failed to launch hook-derived watcher
• [api] failed to launch native binary: executable not found (
• [api] failed to launch native binary: executable is blocked
• [api] failed to launch native binary: ${errno.message}
• [ask] failed to launch advisor script: ${child.error.message

AI-assisted analysis of Yeachan-Heo/oh-my-codex@3ad79a8a6f (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/35ac7f0dc5e6adb4. Report an issue: GitHub.