I think the issue is that /share is not accessible to the home assistant user. Better to create a subdirectory in /config and watch that as per the docs example. So you will have config like:
folder_watcher:
- folder: /config/my_watched_dir
@robmarkcole Unfortunately, no dice 
I updated the config, restarted HA from the UI, and for good measure, I also restarted the VM to make sure the allowlist_external_dirs gets updated, and I still get the same error in the logs:
2020-09-09 15:21:33 ERROR (SyncWorker_38) [homeassistant.components.folder_watcher] folder /config/folder_watcher is not valid or allowed
2020-09-09 15:21:34 INFO (MainThread) [homeassistant.setup] Setup of domain folder_watcher took 0.1 seconds
2020-09-09 15:21:34 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.setup] Setup failed for folder_watcher: Integration failed to initialize.
Must be a permissions thing. Best bet is to login as the home assistant user and check what can be accessed, and update permissions accordingly
This is probably almost certainly me being dense - but log in where as the HA user? I am always logged into HA via the UI and can access all these folders via a Samba share (from a separate windows machine).
Are you saying inspect the permissions via this separate windows machine via the Samba share? Stick with me, I’ll get there! 
As I understand it, it’s technically docker, but I am running HassIO - so the CLI is limited to HassIO commands apparently - so I don’t think I can SSH into the container. I don’t do it often, since I manage my config via the Samba share + VSC on another Windows machine, but I do have the SSH & Web terminal addon, and I can ls there and see my folders. But still can’t run docker commands from there. 
Suggest asking on the discord HassIO channel how to do this.
All I can say is that I previously used folder watcher on hassio, and on the share folder for that matter, see here
ok will do - thanks for the assistance.
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I can’t setup folder_watcher but I really can’t understand what I am doing wrong.
In configuration.yaml appended:
device_tracker:
- platform: ping
hosts:
pping_m20: 192.168.1.119
pping_s10: 192.168.1.121
display:
- platform: fully_kiosk
name: Kitchen Tablet
host: 192.168.1.58
password: 123456789
mobile_app:
tts:
- platform: google_translate
base_url: http://192.168.1.6:8123
service_name: google_say
folder_watcher:
- folder: /home/homeassistant/.homeassistant/cml
patterns:
- 'cml.gif'
The same way as I include other integrations (tts, mobile_app, display).
But the “folder_watcher” one seems to be ignored.
In the boot log I can’t find any reference to folder_watcher.
In the “event” page, I can’t subscribe to folder_watcher event (I can’t find one).
I obviously can’t create an automation, since it won’t be validated as the trigger part is invalid.
My HA runs in a python virtual enviroment.
Version 0.118.2
What am I missing?
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Have you checked your logs?
Have you done this?
Configured folders must be added to allowlist_external_dirs. Note that by default folder monitoring is recursive, meaning that the contents of sub-folders are also monitored.
allowlist_external_dirs is correctly configured (as I am able to send a gif on this folder via telegram in an HA automation).
Logs? Absolutely nothing relevant. No mention to “folder_watcher”. It seems silly, I understand. But I already double checked that configuration.yaml is correct. (e.g. if I use a wrong intendation, the file is not valid for HA).
Since I am in a virtual env, am I suppose to install anything else with pip?
Have you tried enabling any debug logs?
Maybe also check permissions. If there are any children directories with problematic permissions then the integration will fail (it recurses by default).
I ran into this as an issue trying to watch /tmp/. But, if that’s the case you should see an error. For my case, there is no solution if I wanted to use this integration and monitor /tmp/ so I went for a combination of the folder integration (built-in) and creating an automation to trigger if the number of files has changed. There’s also a 3rd party files integration you can install via HACS. Just posing these as alternatives.
It shouldn’t be necessary to install anything else via pip and running in a venv should work fine (my HA runs in a venv).
Hey everyone
I’m trying to only watch the top folder, which would mean I want the folder watcher to not be recursive but I cannot figure out how to do it.
Any suggestions?
Yeah that’s what I want to do, but what would the pattern be exactly?
e.g. my-path/*.jpg or whatever file extension you want
My goal is to watch for any file or directory that is created, but only at the top level directory
thank you!
Hi everyone
I am now getting this warning in my Home Assistant:
The Folder Watcher YAML configuration is being removed
This stops working in version 2024.11.0. Please address before upgrading.
Configuring Folder Watcher using YAML is being removed.
Your existing YAML configuration has been imported into the UI automatically.
Remove the
folder_watcherconfiguration from your configuration.yaml file and restart Home Assistant to fix this issue.Warning - 5/2/2024
I couldn’t find any documentation about this change, if anyone has a link, please post.
So, before I go and break everything, am I reading correctly, that I can simply remove my existing configuration from configuration.yaml? Where did my old configuration go, so I can adjust the paths in case something changes?
Thanks in advance for any insights.
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Yes – and restart after doing that.
Under your integrations page on HA. There will be a configure button/link and a system settings option under the kebab menu icon on the specific integeration.
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