fix(desktop): recover login-shell env so the daemon finds zellij/credentials (#389)

* fix(desktop): recover login-shell env so the daemon finds zellij/credentials

A Finder/Dock launch starts the app via launchd, not a login shell, so
~/.zprofile and ~/.zshrc are never sourced. The daemon then inherits
launchd's minimal env (no /opt/homebrew/bin on PATH, no exported
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, etc.), cannot exec zellij/git, and its agents cannot
authenticate. Launching from a terminal masked this because the shell had
already populated the env, so it only reproduced on a real Finder/Dock launch.

Resolve the login-shell environment once at startup
($SHELL -ilc "printf sentinel; env -0"), adopt it as the base for
daemonEnv(), and force PATH from the shell with a static floor when the probe
fails (timeout/non-zero exit). The probe never blocks startup (3s SIGKILL
timeout, stdin closed) and degrades to the floor rather than erroring.

Windows keeps its existing behavior: its env comes from the registry/session
and is inherited by GUI-launched apps, so this bug does not exist there.

Pure parse/merge logic lives in shared/shell-env.ts (no node:* imports, per
the daemon-attach.ts convention) with unit tests; main.ts owns the real spawn.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: format with prettier [skip ci]

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: github-actions[bot] <github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
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197
docs/daemon-environment.md Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
# Daemon environment: the GUI-launch PATH/credentials problem
Status: proposed
Scope: desktop (Electron) launch of the AO daemon on macOS (and any GUI-launched
desktop platform)
## Summary
When the desktop app is launched from Finder/Dock/Spotlight, the daemon it spawns
inherits a stunted environment (minimal `PATH`, no shell-exported credentials).
The daemon then cannot find `zellij`/`git`/the agent CLIs, and the agents it
launches cannot see API keys. The same app launched from a terminal works,
because a terminal-started process inherits the shell's fully-populated
environment. The fix is to resolve the user's login-shell environment once at
startup and use it as the base for the daemon's environment.
## Problem statement
The Electron supervisor spawns the Go daemon with the environment it forwards in
`daemonEnv()` (`frontend/src/main.ts`), which is essentially `...process.env`
plus AO's telemetry defaults. The daemon, in turn, is the parent of every agent
session (it execs `zellij`, which runs `claude`/`codex`, etc.), and the agent's
`PATH` is derived from the daemon's own `PATH`
(`runtimeEnv` -> `HookPATH(m.executable, os.Getenv, ...)` in
`backend/internal/session_manager/manager.go`).
So whatever environment the daemon receives propagates to the entire stack:
```
launchd (or terminal) -> Electron main -> daemon -> zellij -> agent (claude/codex)
```
When that environment is impoverished, everything downstream breaks.
### Observed symptoms
All of these were traced to the same root cause:
- Terminal pane stuck on "Terminal disconnected - reattaching...".
- Terminal pane showing "Terminal ended ... but the session is not marked
terminated yet."
- Sessions stuck `idle` + `is_terminated = 0` in the store, never reaped, and
therefore not restorable (`Restore` requires `IsTerminated`, otherwise
`ErrNotRestorable`).
- `zellij list-sessions` showing sessions as alive-but-unreachable or dead,
depending on which socket universe was inspected.
The unifying cause: the running, GUI-launched daemon cannot execute
`/opt/homebrew/bin/zellij` (and friends), so its liveness probes error
(`ProbeFailed`, never `ProbeDead`, so the reaper never terminates the row) and
its terminal attaches cannot spawn `zellij attach`.
## Root cause: GUI apps do not inherit the shell environment
On macOS, a process's environment is inherited solely from its parent. The
parent differs by launch method:
- **Terminal launch.** The terminal starts a login/interactive shell
(`zsh -l`). That shell sources `/etc/zprofile`, `~/.zprofile`, `~/.zshrc`,
etc. Those files are the only thing that sets the rich environment:
`eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"` adds `/opt/homebrew/bin` to
`PATH`; `export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=...` exports credentials. Every process
started from that terminal inherits the result. The app works.
- **Finder/Dock/Spotlight launch.** The app is started by **launchd**, not by a
shell. launchd hands the process a fixed, minimal environment
(`PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin`, `HOME`, `USER`, `TMPDIR`, little else).
No shell runs anywhere in the chain, so no rc/profile file is ever sourced.
The homebrew `PATH` and the exported credentials simply do not exist for the
app, and `daemonEnv()` faithfully forwards that minimal env down to the daemon.
This is deliberate on Apple's part: GUI apps are decoupled from interactive shell
configuration on purpose (it can be slow, interactive, or machine-specific). The
old `~/.MacOSX/environment.plist` escape hatch was removed years ago. This is the
single most common macOS-Electron footgun; it is why packages like `fix-path` and
`shell-env` exist.
### Why "just forward env" is correct in principle
Forwarding the environment is not the bug. The daemon and agents genuinely need:
- `PATH` to resolve `zellij`, `git`, `node`, and the agent CLIs;
- `HOME` for config/credentials (`~/.gitconfig`, `~/.claude`, `~/.codex`, ssh
keys);
- shell-exported credentials (`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`, `GH_TOKEN`,
...);
- locale/proxy (`LANG`, `LC_*`, `HTTPS_PROXY`);
- AO's own vars (telemetry, `AO_DATA_DIR`, `AO_RUN_FILE`, session ids).
The bug is the _source_ of what we forward: under a GUI launch, `process.env` is
launchd's minimal env, not the shell's. The fix is to forward a _good_ base env,
not to stop forwarding.
## Proposed solution: resolve the login-shell environment
Do not reconstruct the shell environment by hand. Run the user's login shell
once, ask it to print its environment, and adopt that as the base for
`daemonEnv()`.
### The mechanism
```
zsh -ilc 'env -0'
```
- `-l` (login): source `/etc/zprofile` and `~/.zprofile` (where the homebrew
`PATH` line typically lives).
- `-i` (interactive): source `~/.zshrc` (where most `export` lines live).
- `-c 'env -0'`: run one command and exit. `env` dumps the environment the shell
built after sourcing all config; `-0` separates entries with NUL bytes instead
of newlines, so values containing newlines parse unambiguously.
The output is a faithful snapshot of "what a terminal would see." Parse it back
into key/value pairs and merge it under the existing forwarded env so explicit
overrides still win:
```
finalEnv = { ...shellEnv, ...process.env, AO_*: defaults }
```
### Worked example
GUI-launched daemon env (before):
```
PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
HOME=/Users/<user>
```
After `zsh -ilc 'env -0'` resolution:
```
PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
HOME=/Users/<user>
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
GH_TOKEN=ghp_...
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
```
The daemon can now resolve `/opt/homebrew/bin/zellij`, and agents inherit the
credentials.
### Implementation details
Place the resolution in Electron's `daemonEnv()` (`frontend/src/main.ts`), the
parent that hands env to the daemon.
- **Resolve once, cache.** Sourcing rc files can take 100ms to >1s
(nvm/pyenv/...). Do it a single time at startup; never per-session.
- **Pick the shell robustly.** Prefer `process.env.SHELL`; under launchd it may
be absent, so fall back to the user record
(`dscl . -read /Users/$USER UserShell`), then `/bin/zsh`. Do not hardcode zsh;
honor bash/fish.
- **Isolate the payload.** Interactive shells can print banners/motd/prompts to
stdout. Bracket the real output with a sentinel and read only after it:
`zsh -ilc 'echo __AO_ENV_START__; env -0'`.
- **No stdin, with a timeout.** Run with `</dev/null` and a ~2-3s timeout so a
misconfigured rc that waits for input cannot hang startup.
- **Fallback on any failure.** If the probe fails, times out, or exits nonzero,
fall back to a static base: prepend
`/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin` and pull
through known credential vars. A weird shell config then degrades to "zellij
and git resolve" rather than "broken."
### Platform scope
- macOS: required (this is where the GUI/launchd split bites).
- Linux: the same class of problem exists for `.desktop`-launched apps; the same
resolution applies.
- Windows: not applicable in the same form; a static `PATH` floor is sufficient.
This matches what `shell-env`/`fix-path` do; the logic above is the entirety of
it. We shell out once to the user's own shell and adopt its result.
## Testing
- Parser unit test: feed NUL-separated output, including a value containing a
newline and leading banner noise before the sentinel; assert the resulting map
is correct and the noise is dropped.
- Fallback test: simulate probe failure/timeout; assert the static PATH floor and
credential pass-through are applied.
- Manual: launch the packaged app from Finder (not a terminal) and confirm a new
session spawns, the terminal attaches, and `zellij`/`git`/agent binaries
resolve.
## Relevant code
- `frontend/src/main.ts` - `daemonEnv()` (env forwarded to the daemon), daemon
spawn.
- `backend/internal/session_manager/manager.go` - `runtimeEnv` / `HookPATH`
(agent `PATH` derived from the daemon's `PATH`); `spawnEnv`.
- `backend/internal/adapters/runtime/zellij/zellij.go` - `defaultBinary()`
(`exec.LookPath("zellij")` against the daemon's `PATH`).
- `backend/internal/observe/reaper/reaper.go`,
`backend/internal/lifecycle/runtime.go` - liveness -> termination
(`ProbeFailed` never terminates, so a daemon that cannot run `zellij` strands
sessions).

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@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import {
resolveDaemonFromPort,
resolveDaemonFromRunFile,
} from "./shared/daemon-attach";
import { buildDaemonEnv, resolveShellEnv, type ShellRunner } from "./shared/shell-env";
import { DEFAULT_POSTHOG_HOST, DEFAULT_POSTHOG_PROJECT_KEY } from "./shared/posthog-config";
import { buildTelemetryBootstrap } from "./shared/telemetry";
import { createBrowserViewHost, type BrowserViewHost } from "./main/browser-view-host";
@ -220,9 +221,21 @@ function runFilePath(): string | null {
return defaultRunFilePath(process.platform, process.env, os.homedir());
}
function daemonEnv(): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
// How long to wait for the login shell to print its env before giving up. A
// misconfigured rc that blocks (or a slow nvm/pyenv chain) must not hang startup;
// the daemon then falls back to the static PATH floor.
const SHELL_ENV_TIMEOUT_MS = 3_000;
// The login-shell env resolved once at startup (see docs/daemon-environment.md),
// or null when the probe failed/timed out. Read synchronously by daemonEnv().
let cachedShellEnv: Record<string, string> | null = null;
// Memoize the in-flight resolution so concurrent/repeat awaits are cheap.
let shellEnvPromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
// Telemetry defaults stamped on the daemon env on every platform; explicit env
// always wins.
function telemetryOverrides(): Record<string, string> {
return {
...process.env,
AO_TELEMETRY_EVENTS: process.env.AO_TELEMETRY_EVENTS ?? "on",
AO_TELEMETRY_REMOTE: process.env.AO_TELEMETRY_REMOTE ?? "posthog",
AO_TELEMETRY_POSTHOG_KEY: process.env.AO_TELEMETRY_POSTHOG_KEY ?? DEFAULT_POSTHOG_PROJECT_KEY,
@ -230,6 +243,68 @@ function daemonEnv(): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
};
}
// Run the user's login shell to dump its env. stdin is ignored so an rc that
// reads input hits EOF instead of hanging; stderr is ignored to drop banner
// noise. Never rejects: resolves null on spawn error, non-zero exit, or timeout
// (SIGKILLed), so the caller degrades to the static PATH floor.
const runLoginShell: ShellRunner = (shellPath, args) =>
new Promise((resolve) => {
let settled = false;
const finish = (value: string | null) => {
if (settled) return;
settled = true;
resolve(value);
};
let child: ReturnType<typeof spawn>;
try {
child = spawn(shellPath, args, { stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"] });
} catch {
finish(null);
return;
}
const timer = setTimeout(() => {
child.kill("SIGKILL");
finish(null);
}, SHELL_ENV_TIMEOUT_MS);
let stdout = "";
// stdout may be typed Readable | null under this stdio config; guard it.
child.stdout?.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
stdout += chunk.toString("utf8");
});
child.once("error", () => {
clearTimeout(timer);
finish(null);
});
child.once("exit", (code) => {
clearTimeout(timer);
finish(code === 0 ? stdout : null);
});
});
// Resolve the login-shell env once and cache it. No-op on Windows (the launchd
// shell split does not apply; a static PATH floor suffices). Awaited at the
// daemon-spawn chokepoint so the cache is populated before the first spawn.
function ensureShellEnv(): Promise<void> {
if (process.platform === "win32") return Promise.resolve();
if (!shellEnvPromise) {
shellEnvPromise = resolveShellEnv(process.env, runLoginShell).then((resolved) => {
cachedShellEnv = resolved;
if (!resolved) {
console.error("AO: could not read the login-shell environment; falling back to a static PATH floor.");
}
});
}
return shellEnvPromise;
}
function daemonEnv(): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
// Windows keeps the old behavior exactly: no shell probe, no unix PATH floor.
if (process.platform === "win32") {
return { ...process.env, ...telemetryOverrides() };
}
return buildDaemonEnv(process.env, cachedShellEnv, telemetryOverrides());
}
function pathKey(value: string): string {
const resolved = path.resolve(value);
return process.platform === "win32" ? resolved.toLowerCase() : resolved;
@ -358,6 +433,11 @@ async function startDaemonInner(startEpoch: number): Promise<DaemonStatus> {
return daemonStatus;
}
// Single chokepoint: make sure the login-shell env is resolved before the
// daemon is spawned, so a Finder/Dock launch hands the daemon a real PATH and
// shell-exported credentials rather than launchd's minimal env.
await ensureShellEnv();
const launch = resolveDaemonLaunch(
process.env,
app.isPackaged,

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@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
import {
buildDaemonEnv,
FALLBACK_PATH_DIRS,
parseEnvBlock,
resolveShellEnv,
resolveShellPath,
SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL,
type ShellRunner,
withFallbackPath,
} from "./shell-env";
describe("parseEnvBlock", () => {
it("parses NUL-separated records after the sentinel", () => {
const stdout = `${SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL}PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin\0HOME=/Users/me\0`;
expect(parseEnvBlock(stdout)).toEqual({
PATH: "/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin",
HOME: "/Users/me",
});
});
it("drops banner/prompt noise printed before the sentinel", () => {
const stdout = `motd line\nWelcome\n${SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL}FOO=bar\0`;
expect(parseEnvBlock(stdout)).toEqual({ FOO: "bar" });
});
it("preserves a value containing a newline", () => {
const stdout = `${SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL}MULTI=line1\nline2\0NEXT=ok\0`;
expect(parseEnvBlock(stdout)).toEqual({ MULTI: "line1\nline2", NEXT: "ok" });
});
it("skips records with no '=' or a leading '='", () => {
const stdout = `${SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL}NOEQUALS\0=leading\0GOOD=value\0`;
expect(parseEnvBlock(stdout)).toEqual({ GOOD: "value" });
});
});
describe("withFallbackPath", () => {
it("appends only floor dirs not already present, preserving the existing order", () => {
// /opt/homebrew/bin and /usr/bin are already present and stay put; the rest
// of the floor is appended in floor order, with no duplicates added.
const result = withFallbackPath("/opt/homebrew/bin:/custom/bin:/usr/bin");
expect(result).toBe(
"/opt/homebrew/bin:/custom/bin:/usr/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin",
);
});
it("yields the full floor for undefined input", () => {
expect(withFallbackPath(undefined)).toBe(FALLBACK_PATH_DIRS.join(":"));
});
it("yields the full floor for empty input", () => {
expect(withFallbackPath("")).toBe(FALLBACK_PATH_DIRS.join(":"));
});
});
describe("buildDaemonEnv", () => {
const minimalProcessEnv: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { PATH: "/usr/bin:/bin" };
it("lets overrides win over both shell and process env", () => {
const env = buildDaemonEnv(
{ ...minimalProcessEnv, AO_TELEMETRY_EVENTS: "off" },
{ PATH: "/opt/homebrew/bin", AO_TELEMETRY_EVENTS: "shell" },
{ AO_TELEMETRY_EVENTS: "on" },
);
expect(env.AO_TELEMETRY_EVENTS).toBe("on");
});
it("keeps a credential present only in the shell env", () => {
const env = buildDaemonEnv(minimalProcessEnv, { PATH: "/opt/homebrew/bin", ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "sk-ant" }, {});
expect(env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY).toBe("sk-ant");
});
it("takes PATH from the shell env (with floor) over a minimal process PATH", () => {
const env = buildDaemonEnv(minimalProcessEnv, { PATH: "/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin" }, {});
expect(env.PATH).toBe("/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin");
});
it("still produces a PATH containing the floor when shellEnv is null", () => {
const env = buildDaemonEnv(minimalProcessEnv, null, {});
for (const dir of FALLBACK_PATH_DIRS) {
expect(env.PATH?.split(":")).toContain(dir);
}
});
});
describe("resolveShellPath", () => {
it("returns $SHELL when set", () => {
expect(resolveShellPath({ SHELL: "/bin/bash" })).toBe("/bin/bash");
});
it("falls back to /bin/zsh when unset", () => {
expect(resolveShellPath({})).toBe("/bin/zsh");
});
it("falls back to /bin/zsh when blank", () => {
expect(resolveShellPath({ SHELL: " " })).toBe("/bin/zsh");
});
});
describe("resolveShellEnv", () => {
it("yields the parsed map on a successful probe", async () => {
const run: ShellRunner = async () => `${SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL}PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin\0FOO=bar\0`;
expect(await resolveShellEnv({ SHELL: "/bin/zsh" }, run)).toEqual({
PATH: "/opt/homebrew/bin",
FOO: "bar",
});
});
it("returns null when the runner returns null", async () => {
const run: ShellRunner = async () => null;
expect(await resolveShellEnv({}, run)).toBeNull();
});
it("returns null when the runner throws", async () => {
const run: ShellRunner = async () => {
throw new Error("spawn failed");
};
expect(await resolveShellEnv({}, run)).toBeNull();
});
it("returns null when the parsed env lacks PATH", async () => {
const run: ShellRunner = async () => `${SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL}FOO=bar\0`;
expect(await resolveShellEnv({}, run)).toBeNull();
});
});

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@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
// Recovering the login-shell environment so a Finder/Dock launch (started by
// launchd, not a shell) gets the same PATH and exported credentials a terminal
// launch would. See docs/daemon-environment.md for the root cause.
//
// Kept pure and dependency-injected (no node:* or electron imports — the
// vite-plugin-electron-renderer polyfill breaks node:* under vitest, see
// daemon-attach.ts) so the parsing/merging logic is testable directly; the real
// shell spawn lives in main.ts and is injected as a ShellRunner.
export const SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL = "__AO_SHELL_ENV__";
// PATH floor: dirs a working macOS/Linux box keeps tools in, appended when the
// shell probe fails so zellij/git/agents still resolve.
export const FALLBACK_PATH_DIRS = [
"/opt/homebrew/bin",
"/opt/homebrew/sbin",
"/usr/local/bin",
"/usr/bin",
"/bin",
"/usr/sbin",
"/sbin",
];
// Ask the login shell (-l sources zprofile, -i sources zshrc) to print a
// sentinel then a NUL-separated env dump (-0 keeps values with newlines intact).
export function shellEnvArgs(): string[] {
return ["-ilc", `printf '%s' '${SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL}'; env -0`];
}
// Slice after the sentinel (drops banner/motd/prompt noise printed before it),
// split on NUL, split each record on the first '='.
export function parseEnvBlock(stdout: string): Record<string, string> {
const at = stdout.lastIndexOf(SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL);
const block = at === -1 ? stdout : stdout.slice(at + SHELL_ENV_SENTINEL.length);
const out: Record<string, string> = {};
for (const rec of block.split("\0")) {
if (rec === "") continue;
const eq = rec.indexOf("=");
if (eq <= 0) continue; // skip records with no key or a leading '='
out[rec.slice(0, eq)] = rec.slice(eq + 1);
}
return out;
}
// Prefer $SHELL (the user's login shell); under launchd it may be absent, so
// fall back to /bin/zsh.
export function resolveShellPath(env: Record<string, string | undefined>): string {
const shell = env.SHELL?.trim();
return shell && shell.length > 0 ? shell : "/bin/zsh";
}
// Append any missing floor dirs to PATH, preserving the existing order/priority
// and de-duping.
export function withFallbackPath(currentPath: string | undefined): string {
const result = (currentPath ?? "").split(":").filter(Boolean);
const present = new Set(result);
for (const dir of FALLBACK_PATH_DIRS) {
if (!present.has(dir)) {
present.add(dir);
result.push(dir);
}
}
return result.join(":");
}
// Base = shell env, overlaid by processEnv so Electron/AO runtime vars win, then
// PATH forced to the shell's PATH (with floor), then explicit overrides.
export function buildDaemonEnv(
processEnv: NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
shellEnv: Record<string, string> | null,
overrides: Record<string, string>,
): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
const merged: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { ...(shellEnv ?? {}), ...processEnv };
merged.PATH = withFallbackPath(shellEnv?.PATH ?? processEnv.PATH);
return { ...merged, ...overrides };
}
export type ShellRunner = (shellPath: string, args: string[]) => Promise<string | null>;
// Run the probe via an injected runner (main.ts supplies the real spawn).
// Returns null on any failure or if the result lacks PATH; the caller then falls
// back to the static floor.
export async function resolveShellEnv(
env: Record<string, string | undefined>,
run: ShellRunner,
): Promise<Record<string, string> | null> {
try {
const stdout = await run(resolveShellPath(env), shellEnvArgs());
if (stdout == null) return null;
const parsed = parseEnvBlock(stdout);
return parsed.PATH ? parsed : null;
} catch {
return null;
}
}