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Support negated pattern-list syntax in fs.glob #63959

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Support negated pattern-list syntax in fs.glob#63959
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feature requestIssues requesting new Node.js features.

Description

@TheAlexLichter
TheAlexLichter
opened on Jun 17, 2026

What problem would this feature solve?

Node's fs.glob() accepts an array of patterns, but entries beginning with ! are not interpreted as exclusions:

globSync([
  'src/**/*.js',
  '!src/generated/**',
]);

Node.js does support negative extglobs such as !(pattern), but that is a different feature. An extglob negates part of a single pattern while negated pattern-list syntax applies an exclusion to the matches (based on other entries in the array).

Node.js also provides options.exclude, but it cannot fully represent ordered pattern lists where a later positive pattern re-includes a path.

Ecosystem

Leading-! entries are supported by packages such as globby and tinyglobby:

await globby(['src/**/*.js', '!src/generated/**']);
await glob(['src/**/*.js', '!src/generated/**']); // tinyglobby

Supporting this syntax would make migration to the built-in API easier and allow existing pattern arrays from configuration files and CLI arguments to be reused unchanged.

What feature are you proposing?

When pattern is an array, interpret entries beginning with ! as negated pattern-list entries:

globSync([
  'src/**/*.js',
  '!src/generated/**',
]);

Patterns should be processed in order:

  • A positive pattern adds matching paths.
  • A negated pattern removes matching paths.
  • A later positive pattern can re-include previously removed paths.

For example:

globSync([
  'src/**/*.js',
  '!src/generated/**',
  'src/generated/keep.js',
]);

This should include src/generated/keep.js.

The existing options.exclude API should remain available for global exclusions and exclusion callbacks.

What alternatives have you considered?

Applications can split positive and negative entries:

globSync(include, { exclude });

However, this loses ordering semantics and cannot represent later re-inclusion without additional processing.

Activity

  1. TheAlexLichter
    added
    feature requestIssues requesting new Node.js features.
    on Jun 17, 2026
  2. github-project-automation
    added this to Node.js feature requestson Jun 17, 2026
  3. github-project-automation
    moved this to Awaiting Triage in Node.js feature requestson Jun 17, 2026

  4. Delapouite commented on Jun 18, 2026

    @Delapouite
    Delapouite
    on Jun 18, 2026
    Contributor

    Related PR adding documentation on supported patterns that should probably adjusted and merged afterwards?
    #58988

  5. avivkeller commented on Jun 19, 2026

    @avivkeller
    avivkeller
    on Jun 19, 2026
    Member

    @TheAlexLichter Node.js supports that functionality with !(my_negated_pattern), not !my_negated_pattern.

    e.g.,

    > fs.globSync("*")
[
  'Applications', 'Desktop',
  'Documents',    'Downloads',
  'Library',      'Movies',
  'Music',        'Pictures',
  'Public'
]
> fs.globSync("!Applications")
[]
> fs.globSync("Applications")
[ 'Applications' ]
> fs.globSync("!(Applications)")
[
  'Desktop',   'Documents',
  'Downloads', 'Library',
  'Movies',    'Music',
  'Pictures',  'Public'
]
  6. avivkeller
    closed this as completedon Jun 19, 2026

  7. TheAlexLichter commented on Jun 20, 2026

    @TheAlexLichter
    TheAlexLichter
    on Jun 20, 2026
    Author

    @avivkeller it does support negative extglobs but not the negated pattern-list syntax (e.g. globSync(['src/**/*.js', '!src/generated/**']) 🤔

    Happy to raise a new issue or update this one with a more precise description.

  8. avivkeller
    reopened this on Jun 20, 2026
  9. TheAlexLichter
    changed the title [-]Support negation patterns in `fs.glob`[/-] [+]Support negated pattern-list syntax in `fs.glob`[/+] on Jun 21, 2026

  10. donmccurdy commented on Sep 1, 2026

    @donmccurdy
    donmccurdy
    on Sep 1, 2026

    I came across this request recently, while attempting to replace an outdated dependency with the Node.js built-in function. I worked around the issue with a custom callback as shown below...

    import { globSync } from 'node:fs';

/**
 * Wraps `node:fs` globSync() in a globby-compatible API.
 *
 * @param {string[]} patterns
 * @returns {Promise<string[]>}
 */
export async function globCompat(patterns) {
  const cwd = process.cwd();
  const next = globSync(
    patterns.filter((p) => !p.startsWith("!")),
    {
      cwd,
      withFileTypes: true,
      exclude: (dirent) => {
        const filePath = path.join(dirent.parentPath, dirent.name);
        const filePathRelative = path.relative(cwd, filePath);

        let exclude = false;
        for (const pattern of patterns) {
          if (path.matchesGlob(filePathRelative, pattern.replace(/^\!/, ""))) {
            exclude = pattern.startsWith("!");
          }
        }

        return exclude;
      },
    },
  ).map((dirent) =>
    path.relative(cwd, path.join(dirent.parentPath, dirent.name)),
  );

  return next;
}

    ... but it took me several tries to get this right with order-sensitive inputs ...

    [
    "a/b/**/*.js",
    "!a/b/*.js",
    "!a/b/c/excluded.js",

    "d/e/**/*",
    "!d/e/f/**/*",
    "d/e/f/createTaskProcessorWorker.js",
]

    ... and the need to reconstruct cwd-relative paths. I'd be glad to see negated pattern-list syntax supported in node:js directly — or an easier way to handle the situation above. Thank you!

    Aside, for anyone trying to use my globCompat function above: I also had to replace some trailing ** suffixes in my patterns, such as:

    -path/to/**
+path/to/**/*

...

-path/to/**.js
+path/to/**/*.js

    I'm not sure if that's a bug, or non-standard syntax... our project previously used the ** syntax in globby, and had to update it for node:fs. Easy fix but also easy to miss.

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