scope.$watch in a directive isn't being called after AJAX request

I have the following directive: ``` MyApp.directive('myFilter', ['$filter','$rootScope', function($filter, $rootScope) { var dir = {}; dir.restrict = 'E'; dir.templateUrl = 'views/myFilter.html'; dir.replace = true; dir.scope = { name: '@', model: '=', }; dir.link = function(scope,el,attrs) { //stuff here } return dir; }]); ``` Here's how I invoke it: ``` <my-filter model="someField" name="abcd" /> ``` When the directive is first initalized, the `someField` is empty. Later on, it is retrieved via ajax, and its value is filled in. Question is, how can I watch for the value of `someField` to be updated? When I do this from the link method: ``` scope.$watch(scope.model, function() { console.log( "changed, new val: ", scope.model ); } ``` This is only called once, when initalizing the directive, and the value then is empty. When the value is retrieved via ajax (from `$http.get`), this watch function is not called again. However, in other parts of the page where I'm displaying `{{someField}}`, that value DOES update when ajax request is fetched. So I don't think the problem has to do with doing `$scope.apply()` after ajax request. Edit: `someField` is assigned in the controller. Here is the code: ``` MyApp.controller('myCtrl', ['$scope', '$rootScope', '$routeParams', 'ajax', '$filter', function($scope, $rootScope, $routeParams, ajax, $filter) { var userId = parseInt( $routeParams.userId ); $scope.loaded = false; $scope.someField = ""; //initalize with empty value var load = function(data) { $scope.loaded = true; $scope.someField = data.someField; }; ajax.getUser(userId).success(load); } ]); ``` The method `ajax.getUser()` does a `$http.get()` and returns its `promise`. In the code above, the `load` method is called which sets the value of `someField`.