EMFILE in hidden project paths (e.g. ~/.codex/worktrees) with devtools enabled

[onmax]

Reproduction (minimal)

mkdir -p /tmp/.my-hidden-folder
cd /tmp/.my-hidden-folder
pnpm dlx nuxi@latest init -t minimal repro-hidden
cd repro-hidden
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Actual

Nuxt starts, then crashes with:

EMFILE: too many open files, watch

Control

Same project in a non-hidden path works:

cd /tmp
pnpm dlx nuxi@latest init -t minimal repro-visible
cd repro-visible
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Scope

With devtools: { enabled: false } in nuxt.config.ts, hidden-path repro runs normally.

Why this is important

Codex worktrees are commonly under hidden paths like ~/.codex/worktrees/.... The same happens for Claude Code.

This makes Nuxt dev fail out of the box in a common AI/agent workflow.

Related context

Potentially related watcher/chokidar ecosystem discussion: nuxt/nuxt#31897 (not the same repro).

[green-mike]

Same issue here. I tested creating a new project both in a normal directory and inside a hidden directory. When it’s inside a hidden directory, npm shows:

Pre-transform error: spawn EBADF

and pnpm shows:

EMFILE: too many open files, watch

It appears to be the same underlying issue.