fix(desktop): the t3 command installs inside WSL in WSL-only mode#22485

Approvability

Verdict: Needs Human Approval

Macroscope's review found this PR requires human approval — This fixes WSL-only CLI installation but adds a substantial cross-platform shell launcher and persistent runtime-target handling in packaged desktop startup. It also introduces a static-analysis suppression directive in a new test, so the change warrants human review.

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Review in Change Stack →

• Autofix · Keep fixing CodeRabbit findings and required CI, and resolving merge conflicts

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updated the original branch at 11013ca517390eaba4871aa99268a3089153a90d, preserving @SunkenInTime's commits and merging current main. the original distro installer, atomic runtime pointer, node fallback, ownership protection, and settings behavior remain.

replaced the custom polling/process-group loop with coreutils timeout, removed duplicate spans, and replaced raw shell-output logging with exit/transport status. the timeout regression now blocks on a fifo and verifies that the recorded probe pid is gone, without depending on bash or a sleep. compared the original diff against the result; no installation behavior was dropped.

verification:

• reproduced the bug with the existing wsl-only regression against current main: it returned a windows t3.cmd path instead of the distro path.
• blacksmith vp run check:changed passed formatting, lint, both knip passes, affected typechecks, and 46 tests across four existing suites.
• current-head github checks completed without failures. two independent gpt-6.1-sol reviews approved this exact head.
• the new generated shell scripts execute in the tests, including runtime replacement, node fallback, foreign-command protection, uninstall, and timeout cleanup.

unverified: packaged windows/wsl execution and the desktop settings interaction. this linux vm cannot run the affected native path; dev builds hide the desktop CLI row, so no valid before/after screenshot or interaction recording was captured. before approval, install from settings with wsl-only enabled, run t3 --version and t3 pair in a fresh distro terminal, then remove it. confirm it uses the app's data and preserves any foreign command.

@SunkenInTime: retained known limits are the shared stable/nightly runtime pointer (last packaged app to start wins), and up to two bounded login-shell probes on a fresh install. the second probe can observe a PATH change when a profile conditionally adds the newly created bin directory. coderabbit was rate-limited on this push; its previous logging, timeout-test, and duplicate-span findings are addressed above. macroscope still requests human approval for this cross-layer change.

pushed 1c192eb2aa434b962fb5a3d619f8c31e38bfb0f9 to the original contributor branch without force. merged current main, preserved the wsl installer and main's launcher contract, removed the remaining raw-output warning, and adapted forwarding methods to main's effect diagnostics without duplicate spans.

blacksmith vp run check:changed passed format, lint, both knip checks, typechecks for 31 affected packages, and 46 tests across four existing suites. two independent gpt-6.1-sol reviewers approve this head. the diff remains ten files, 655 insertions and 19 deletions.

unverified: packaged windows/wsl execution and the desktop settings interaction. this linux vm cannot exercise the native path; no browser evidence was fabricated. macroscope human approvability remains for maria. current-head ci is starting.

Verified in a real dev environment

no changed behavior could be verified in this linux boat vm. this is an environment limitation, not a passing verification.

i read the diff, description, commits, discussion and inline reviews, then checked out exact head 1c192eb2aa434b962fb5a3d619f8c31e38bfb0f9. the pr is open, and none of its six pr commits is authored by juliusmarminge or t3dotgg. git.cafe and github both identify this as #22485. git.cafe reports 31 successful checks, zero failing and zero pending; those results do not prove runtime behavior.

actual environment probe:

inspected environment and source-gate transcript

Not verified

• original bug on main and corrected install/status/remove behavior on this head. the affected path is packaged windows desktop → settings → t3 command → desktop IPC → selected wsl distro. DesktopWslEnvironment.ts:1094 returns false outside windows. DesktopCliCommand.ts:221 reports unsupported for unpackaged builds, and line 259 rejects installation. DesktopBackendConfiguration.ts:630 records the runtime target only for packaged builds.
• settings text and interaction. SettingsPanels.tsx:372 renders the row only with the native desktop bridge; a normal web dev server has no such bridge. no screenshots or recording were fabricated by injecting bridge state.
• neighboring behavior: existing windows installation preservation, foreign-command protection, uninstall, runtime replacement and node fallback, and pairing against the same backend home.

because this vm cannot enter the changed path, i did not install dependencies, start main/pr servers, create provider turns, or substitute standalone shell tests for integration proof. no code changed, no checks were rerun, and no task processes remain.

required next check on a packaged windows build: enable wsl only and select a distro; install from settings; in a fresh distro terminal run command -v t3, t3 --version, and t3 pair, confirming the same backend/home as the app. restart after a runtime update and repeat. remove the launcher and confirm a foreign command and any prior windows install survive. repeat on main first to capture the original wrong-target install.