List of files in workspace seems to not load or get stuck

[afgomez]

Reproduction steps

Looks like the workspace sometimes cannot list all files in the directory.

I haven't found yet a good way to reproduce this consistently. The best I could do is get a big repo and run pnpm install. Then sometimes it blips.

In this video, I'm running pnpm install in the turborepo monorepo. Around the 0:11 and 0:15 second marks you can see the workspace removing all files and adding them again.

sidebar-shenanigans-pnpm-i.mov

In this other video, the same thing happens after the pnpm install, around the 0:03 second mark

sidebar-shenanigans-2.mov

I do have a private project in which the issue is more severe, as in: it takes seconds for the worktree to load. While the worktree is in that state, the file picker cannot select any files. (Might be related to #62431)

Current vs. Expected behavior

See the videos above for current behaviour.

The expected behaviour is that this doesn't happen. The worktree stays stable.

Zed version and system specs

Zed: v1.16.0+preview.338.99b8cea6b36fe2fe40cc95e06bba335d52a3238a (Zed Preview)
OS: macOS 26.6.1
Memory: 48 GiB
Architecture: aarch64

Attach Zed log file

These are not exactly from when the video was recorded, but might be relevant nonetheless

Zed.log

[...same for 200+ lines]
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for Native; scheduling rescans for 16 registrations
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:32+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 INFO  [project::prettier_store] Prettier config file ".editorconfig" changed, reloading prettier instances for worktree 6
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 INFO  [dev_container::devcontainer_api] find_configs_in_snapshot: Found 1 configurations
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for Native; scheduling rescans for 16 registrations
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 WARN  [fs::fs_watcher] filesystem watcher lost sync for many files, not logging more
2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 INFO  [zed::reliability::hang_detection::logging] Background hang detected on Unknown:
Tasks(s) that ran too long
261.009542ms         - crates/extension_host/src/wasm_host.rs:580:35

2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 INFO  [zed::reliability::hang_detection::logging] Background hang detected on Unknown:
Tasks(s) that ran too long
161.559542ms         - crates/session/src/session.rs:89:30

2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 INFO  [zed::reliability::hang_detection::logging] Background hang detected on Unknown:
Tasks(s) that ran too long
161.571791ms         - crates/session/src/session.rs:89:30

2026-08-14T15:51:34+02:00 INFO  [zed::reliability::hang_detection::logging] Background hang detected on Unknown:
Tasks(s) that ran too long
161.512084ms         - crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs:7063:26

Relevant Zed settings

settings.json

Relevant Keymap

keymap.json

(for AI issues) Model provider details

No response

If you are using WSL on Windows, what flavor of Linux are you using?

None

[zed-community-bot]

This issue appears to be a duplicate of:

• Worktree stops opening new files / expanding folders after 'filesystem watcher lost sync' rescan storm (macOS, large pnpm monorepo) #58678
• Queued rescan events trigger repeated worktree scans after watcher overflow #59610

If this is indeed a duplicate:
Please close this issue and subscribe to the linked issue for updates (select "Close as not planned" → "Duplicate")

If this is a different issue:
No action needed. A maintainer will review this shortly.

Why were these issues selected?

#58678: Nearly identical scenario: large pnpm monorepo, heavy filesystem activity triggers bursts of 'filesystem watcher lost sync for Native; scheduling rescans for N registrations' (new issue shows 16 registrations, #58678 shows 22-23), causing the worktree to stop showing files and file operations to stall. The new issue's log matches #58678's log evidence exactly, and both involve pnpm monorepos on macOS.

Shared root cause: FSEvents overflow on large pnpm monorepos triggers repeated 'filesystem watcher lost sync' rescans that overwhelm the worktree scanner, causing the file list to flicker/disappear and interactive operations to stall.

#59610: This issue directly identifies the root cause mechanism: queued Rescan events trigger repeated full worktree scans after watcher overflow. The new issue's log shows the same 'filesystem watcher lost sync for Native; scheduling rescans for 16 registrations' pattern that #59610 describes as the trigger. The proposed fix (deduplicating rescan events) would address the new issue's flickering/stuck behavior.

Shared root cause: GlobalWatcher processes every queued Rescan event separately, causing multiple full worktree scans from a single FSEvents overflow burst, which manifests as the file list clearing and re-populating or getting stuck.

Additional recent context for triagers

Possibly related open issues:

• Worktree snapshot application blocks the main thread for 20s+ on large node_modules trees (worktree.rs:1363), causing compositor ANR dialogs #62545 — Same trigger (large pnpm monorepo with node_modules), same log evidence (hang detection on worktree operations), and the new issue mentions 'it takes seconds for the worktree to load' and file picker being unable to select files — consistent with main-thread blocking during worktree snapshot application at worktree.rs:1363. The new issue's hang log ('Background hang detected... Tasks(s) that ran too long 261.0') aligns with Worktree snapshot application blocks the main thread for 20s+ on large node_modules trees (worktree.rs:1363), causing compositor ANR dialogs #62545's hang traces.
  • Possible shared root cause: Worktree snapshot application blocks the main thread during rescans of large node_modules trees, causing the UI to freeze and file operations to stall.
• Slow filesystem updates in file explorer #30851 — Same symptom (filesystem changes slow to appear in file explorer) with the same trigger (npm/pnpm install on large directories). Both report the file tree flickering or being slow to update after heavy package installation activity.
  • Possible shared root cause: Filesystem watcher overwhelmed by large package installation activity causes slow or incomplete worktree updates.

---

_{This is an automated analysis and might be incorrect.}

[afgomez]

It looks like it's a duplicate of #62545, but I'm not completely sure so I'll leave it open for now