File watcher still watching files ignored by .gitignore + search.useIgnoreFiles

[sbrocket]

Issue Type: Bug

I've been running into issues with VSCode complaining about not being able to watch such a large workspace even though my host is already configured with "fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288" (and has been for years).

I use a combination of search.useIgnoreFiles (set to its default of enabled) and manual files.watcherExclude settings to attempt to ignore chunks of my workspace. I've been debugging these issues and trying to figure out how VSCode could be running into the inotify limit despite these ignore settings, and despite the fact that (using tree and other tools) I've confirmed that my workspace is way under 524288 directory+files with just a couple of my excluded directories (much less all of them).

I found a nice script that uses /proc's fdinfo data to dump the list of files being watched (from a comment on another VSCode issue; #45295 (comment)).

The first issue I noticed while digging through this tool's output was that the file watcher was watching directories and files that should have been ignored by my .gitignore and search.useIgnoreFiles. If it included a directory in files.watcherExclude, it would be properly not watched, but entries in .gitignore were still getting watched. Inside VSCode, the Explorer does show .gitignore'd directories greyed out and file search does not include them in results, so that part is working correctly, but it seems like the list of .gitignore'd directories is not making it over to the file watcher.

VS Code version: Code 1.47.2 (17299e4, 2020-07-15T18:18:50.054Z)
OS version: Darwin x64 19.5.0
Remote OS version: Linux x64 5.2.17-1rodete3-amd64

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz (8 x 2800)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled flash_3d: enabled flash_stage3d: enabled flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled gpu_compositing: enabled metal: disabled_off multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on oop_rasterization: disabled_off protected_video_decode: unavailable_off rasterization: enabled skia_renderer: disabled_off_ok video_decode: enabled viz_display_compositor: enabled_on viz_hit_test_surface_layer: disabled_off_ok webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	1, 2, 2
Memory (System)	16.00GB (0.46GB free)
Process Argv
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Item	Value
Remote	SSH: desk
OS	Linux x64 5.2.17-1rodete3-amd64
CPUs	Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2690 v4 @ 2.60GHz (56 x 1197)
Memory (System)	125.89GB (13.48GB free)
VM	0%

Extensions (19)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
theme-monokai-pro-vscode	mon	1.1.17
vscode-json5	mrm	1.0.0
remote-containers	ms-	0.128.0
remote-ssh	ms-	0.51.0
remote-ssh-edit	ms-	0.51.0
remote-wsl	ms-	0.44.4
vscode-remote-extensionpack	ms-	0.20.0
vscode-gn	npc	1.1.0
vim	vsc	1.14.5
material-theme	zhu	3.8.3
githistory	don	0.6.8
nasc-touchbar	fel	1.12.0
language-fidl	fuc	0.3.2
go	gol	0.15.1
vscode-clangd	llv	0.1.6
rust-analyzer	mat	0.2.240
git-graph	mhu	1.24.0
rewrap	stk	1.12.0
clang-format	xav	1.9.0

(2 theme extensions excluded)

[roblourens]

search.useIgnoreFiles is used for search, not for file watching. .gitignore is not used for filewatching either. You want files.watcherExclude which is looks like you have found.