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doc: clarify that fs.exists() may return false for existing symlink
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Given that this API is problematic in any case, we should be precise
about its (perhaps surprising) behavior.

PR-URL: #53566
Reviewed-By: Jithil P Ponnan <[email protected]>
Reviewed-By: Moshe Atlow <[email protected]>
Reviewed-By: Yagiz Nizipli <[email protected]>
Reviewed-By: Marco Ippolito <[email protected]>
Reviewed-By: Luigi Pinca <[email protected]>
Reviewed-By: Ulises Gascón <[email protected]>
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tniessen authored and marco-ippolito committed Aug 19, 2024
1 parent bcd08be commit 73860ac
Showing 1 changed file with 4 additions and 1 deletion.
5 changes: 4 additions & 1 deletion doc/api/fs.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -2656,7 +2656,7 @@ changes:
* `callback` {Function}
* `exists` {boolean}
Test whether or not the given path exists by checking with the file system.
Test whether or not the element at the given `path` exists by checking with the file system.
Then call the `callback` argument with either true or false:
```mjs
Expand All @@ -2673,6 +2673,9 @@ parameter, optionally followed by other parameters. The `fs.exists()` callback
has only one boolean parameter. This is one reason `fs.access()` is recommended
instead of `fs.exists()`.
If `path` is a symbolic link, it is followed. Thus, if `path` exists but points
to a non-existent element, the callback will receive the value `false`.
Using `fs.exists()` to check for the existence of a file before calling
`fs.open()`, `fs.readFile()`, or `fs.writeFile()` is not recommended. Doing
so introduces a race condition, since other processes may change the file's
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