folderhook

Folderhook is a term used in computing to describe a mechanism that monitors a directory for filesystem events and triggers predefined actions in response to those events. It acts as a hook or callback between the operating system’s file system and an automation or workflow that processes newly created, modified, moved, or deleted files.

Implementation of a folderhook relies on platform-specific facilities. On Windows, similar functionality is provided by file system watchers such as FileSystemWatcher; on Linux, inotify-based tools; and on macOS, FSEvents. Cross-platform libraries and frameworks offer a uniform API to observe directory changes and to register handlers for events like create, modify, delete, and rename.

Common uses include automated file processing pipelines, real-time synchronization, incremental backups, content indexing, and triggering builds or deployments when new assets arrive in a folder. Folderhooks are employed in desktop applications, servers, cloud sync tools, and development environments.

Key considerations include performance in directories with high change rates, debouncing and event batching to avoid duplicate work, and handling race conditions where a file is modified during processing. Security and permission management are important, as is ensuring the hook survives transient I/O errors across platforms.

See also: file system watcher, inotify, FSEvents, FileSystemWatcher, watchdog, chokidar.