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If a macFUSE-mounted directory shows every file twice, first compare the backing directory with the filesystem server’s raw FUSE_READDIR response. That identifies whether duplication begins in the filesystem implementation or in macFUSE’s FSKit translation path. The macFUSE project documented a two-file-to-four-entry reproduction on macFUSE 5.2.0 with FSKit; macFUSE 5.3.1 later changed FSKit identity and lookup handling and says it resolves that report’s issues.
What the documented duplicate-listing bug looked like
In macFUSE issue #1166, the reported environment was macOS 26.4.1, macFUSE 5.2.0, and the FSKit backend. The backing directory contained alpha.txt and beta.txt, with inode numbers 10581575 and 10581576. The captured FUSE_READDIR response contained each inode twice, yielding four directory entries for two files. The report identified that duplication as a separate FSKit shim issue from another defect visible in the trace.
That separate defect involved request sequencing: macFUSE sent GETATTR for returned entries without first sending FUSE_LOOKUP for their names. The issue author said the shim treated a dirent’s ino value as an authoritative handle, whereas some userspace FUSE filesystems rely on lookup to establish the corresponding node. These are related observations from the same trace, not evidence that the missing lookup caused the duplicate entries.
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- Record the setup. Note the macOS version, macFUSE version, filesystem implementation and version, and whether the mount explicitly uses
-o backend=fskit. macFUSE uses kernel VFS by default; FSKit is an opt-in backend. - Inspect the backing directory. Establish which names and files actually exist before they are returned through FUSE.
- Capture the raw
FUSE_READDIRresponse. Compare its names and entries with the backing directory. If the response itself repeats names, investigate the filesystem server’s enumeration and directory offsets. If the response is correct but the mounted listing repeats entries, focus on the macFUSE FSKit translation path. - Retest after updating macFUSE. Use a fresh listing and, if the problem persists, capture the response again. A new version may change the behavior, but the release notes do not establish that every possible source of duplicate entries is fixed.
This comparison separates a server-side enumeration problem from a translation-layer problem without treating a similar-looking symptom as proof of a particular cause.
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What changed in later macFUSE releases
macFUSE 5.3.1
The June 13, 2026 release notes say FSKit now uses node identifier and generation as the authoritative handle and performs FUSE_LOOKUP for entries returned by FUSE_READDIR. The notes say these changes resolve issues #1166 and #1167. This directly addresses the documented FSKit identity and lookup handling problems; verify the result against your own filesystem and trace rather than assuming every duplicate-listing symptom has the same cause.
macFUSE 5.4.0
The September 7, 2026 release notes describe additional FSKit directory-enumeration improvements, including cookie and verifier validation and cleanup of remaining handles during close, reclaim, and item deactivation. The release is listed for macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon or Intel. The notes do not explicitly say that the exact duplicate-entry symptom in issue #1166 is independently fixed by 5.4.0, so treat it as a later release with further enumeration changes—not as a blanket guarantee.
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Workarounds if the behavior persists
The issue report describes two userspace options for older affected paths or cases that still reproduce:
- Look up each entry by name during
READDIR. This lets the filesystem establish each node through the lookup path before later attribute requests. - Implement
READDIRPLUSsemantics. Return entries in a way that registers them before subsequent attribute requests.
Both options require support in the userspace filesystem binding. The issue author notes that they duplicate work performed by the kernel FUSE path, so they are workarounds rather than an explanation for why a particular trace is duplicated.
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When comparing FSKit and kernel VFS
A backend comparison can help isolate an FSKit-specific failure if your filesystem and macOS setup support both paths. macFUSE documents FSKit as an experimental user-space backend introduced in version 5.0 for macOS 15.4 and newer, while kernel VFS is the default. FSKit has documented constraints: mount points must be under /Volumes, files open read/write, the FUSE notification API and fuse_context_t are unavailable, many mount options handled by the kernel are not yet implemented, and I/O performance is lower than with the kernel-extension backend.
These differences are context for deciding whether a backend comparison is practical; they do not establish that any one limitation causes duplicate entries or that every filesystem can switch backends safely.
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