@companion-ai/feynman 0.5.7 → 0.5.9

package/RELEASES.md

@@ -6,6 +6,17 @@ GitHub release notes are generated from the matching `## vX.Y.Z` section in this
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+## v0.5.9 - 2026-09-27
+
+- **Subagents keep their search tools in the foreground.** A `researcher` or `verifier` launched in the foreground failed at once because foreground children never load the parent's extensions, so `web_search`, `fetch_content`, and `feynman_science_database_search` were missing. Feynman now points pi-subagents' `defaultSubagentOnlyExtensions` setting at its research tools and pi-web-access, so every child has them, in the foreground or background.
+- **No alphaXiv account, no alphaXiv search tools.** Without an account, every `alpha_search`, `alpha_get_paper`, `alpha_ask_paper`, and `alpha_read_code` call failed, and research runs retried them. They are now registered only when you are signed in; otherwise papers come from Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, and the other literature databases. Start a new session after `feynman alpha login`.
+- The Windows install docs now say Feynman needs Bash from Git for Windows for shell commands.
+
+## v0.5.8 - 2026-09-26
+
+- `FEYNMAN_HOME=~` or `~/path` now means your home folder. Unexpanded `~` (common in `.env` files, Docker `ENV`, and Windows shells) created a literal `~` folder in the current directory.
+- Starting two Feynman sessions at the same moment no longer crashes one of them with "Subagent config changed during settings normalization". The second start keeps the subagent config the first one wrote.
+
 ## v0.5.7 - 2026-09-26
 
 - When Feynman runs as a package inside another Pi setup, an extension error no longer appears on every turn ("Cannot set properties of undefined (setting 'current_date')") if another extension or the host leaves the system-prompt sections unset (#298, thanks @Oscar-Williams in #300).

package/dist/config/paths.js

@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
 import { mkdirSync } from "node:fs";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
-import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
+// Like Pi's own agent-dir variable: a leading ~ in FEYNMAN_HOME (unexpanded in
+// .env files, Docker ENV, or Windows shells) means the home folder.
+export function expandHomePath(path, home = homedir()) {
+    if (path === "~")
+        return home;
+    return /^~[\\/]/.test(path) ? join(home, path.slice(2)) : path;
+}
 export function getFeynmanHome() {
-    return resolve(process.env.FEYNMAN_HOME ?? homedir(), ".feynman");
+    return resolve(expandHomePath(process.env.FEYNMAN_HOME ?? homedir()), ".feynman");
 }
 export function getFeynmanAgentDir(home = getFeynmanHome()) {
     return resolve(home, "agent");

package/dist/pi/settings.js

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
-import { BUNDLED_PI_PACKAGES, getFeynmanPackageSources } from "./runtime.js";
+import { BUNDLED_PI_PACKAGES, getFeynmanPackageSources, resolvePackageRoot } from "./runtime.js";
 import { choosePreferredModelRecord, getAvailableModelRecords } from "../model/catalog.js";
 // Written by Feynman <= 0.4.0 next to a subagent extension path it managed.
 const LEGACY_RESEARCHER_EXTENSION_MARKER = "_feynmanResearchToolsExtension";
@@ -150,6 +150,17 @@ function removeLegacyResearcherExtension(settings) {
     else
         delete researcher.subagentOnlyExtensions;
 }
+// Foreground subagents run inside the parent process and never load its
+// extensions, so researcher and verifier lost web and paper search there.
+// pi-subagents loads these paths in every child session; they are rewritten on
+// each launch because the install path changes between versions.
+export function feynmanSubagentExtensions(appRoot) {
+    const webAccess = resolvePackageRoot(appRoot, "pi-web-access");
+    return [join(appRoot, "extensions", "research-tools.ts"), ...(webAccess ? [webAccess] : [])];
+}
+function isFeynmanSubagentExtension(path) {
+    return typeof path === "string" && (/[\\/]extensions[\\/]research-tools\.ts$/.test(path) || /[\\/]pi-web-access$/.test(path));
+}
 export async function ensureFeynmanSettings(settingsPath, bundledSettingsPath, appRoot, defaultThinkingLevel, authPath) {
     // Validate before model discovery or either settings write. Invalid custom
     // configuration must not silently turn into an empty/default configuration.
@@ -173,6 +184,12 @@ export async function ensureFeynmanSettings(settingsPath, bundledSettingsPath, a
     if (isRecord(settings.subagents) && settings.subagents.agentExcludeDirs === undefined) {
         settings.subagents.agentExcludeDirs = ["~/.agents"];
     }
+    if (isRecord(settings.subagents)) {
+        const current = settings.subagents.defaultSubagentOnlyExtensions;
+        if (current === undefined || (Array.isArray(current) && current.every(isFeynmanSubagentExtension))) {
+            settings.subagents.defaultSubagentOnlyExtensions = feynmanSubagentExtensions(appRoot);
+        }
+    }
     if (!settings.defaultProvider || !settings.defaultModel) {
         const preferredModel = choosePreferredModelRecord(await getAvailableModelRecords(authPath));
         if (preferredModel) {
@@ -180,15 +197,20 @@ export async function ensureFeynmanSettings(settingsPath, bundledSettingsPath, a
             settings.defaultModel = preferredModel.id;
         }
     }
-    if (subagentDefaults) {
-        const current = existsSync(subagentDefaults.path) ? readFileSync(subagentDefaults.path, "utf8") : undefined;
-        if (current !== subagentDefaults.original) {
-            throw new Error(`Subagent config changed during settings normalization: ${subagentDefaults.path}. Retry without overwriting it.`);
-        }
+    // If another process wrote the subagent config while models were being
+    // discovered, keep its version instead of overwriting it or failing startup.
+    const subagentCurrent = subagentDefaults && existsSync(subagentDefaults.path) ? readFileSync(subagentDefaults.path, "utf8") : undefined;
+    if (subagentDefaults && subagentCurrent === subagentDefaults.original) {
         mkdirSync(dirname(subagentDefaults.path), { recursive: true });
-        writeFileSync(subagentDefaults.path, subagentDefaults.content, {
-            encoding: "utf8", mode: 0o600, flag: subagentDefaults.original === undefined ? "wx" : "w",
-        });
+        try {
+            writeFileSync(subagentDefaults.path, subagentDefaults.content, {
+                encoding: "utf8", mode: 0o600, flag: subagentDefaults.original === undefined ? "wx" : "w",
+            });
+        }
+        catch (error) {
+            if (error.code !== "EEXIST")
+                throw error;
+        }
     }
     const content = JSON.stringify(settings, null, 2) + "\n";
     if (content === existing?.source)

package/extensions/research-tools/alpha.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import {
 	clearPaperAnnotation,
 	disconnect,
 	getPaper,
+	isLoggedIn,
 	listPaperAnnotations,
 	readPaperCode,
 	searchPapers,
@@ -41,14 +42,18 @@ const paperSectionsSchema = Type.Unsafe<string[]>({
 	}),
 });
 
-export function registerAlphaTools(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
+export function registerAlphaTools(pi: ExtensionAPI, signedIn = isLoggedIn()): void {
 	// The alphaXiv MCP client keeps a connection open; close it so print and
 	// JSON runs can exit once the session ends.
 	pi.on("session_shutdown", async () => {
 		await disconnect();
 	});
+	// Search, paper, Q&A, and code tools need an alphaXiv account. Without one,
+	// every call failed, so leave them out and let the model use the other
+	// paper sources. Annotations are local and stay available.
+	const registerAccountTool: ExtensionAPI["registerTool"] = signedIn ? (tool) => pi.registerTool(tool) : () => {};
 
-	pi.registerTool({
+	registerAccountTool({
 		name: "alpha_search",
 		label: "Alpha Search",
 		description:
@@ -65,7 +70,7 @@ export function registerAlphaTools(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
 		},
 	});
 
-	pi.registerTool({
+	registerAccountTool({
 		name: "alpha_get_paper",
 		label: "Alpha Get Paper",
 		description:
@@ -96,7 +101,7 @@ export function registerAlphaTools(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
 		},
 	});
 
-	pi.registerTool({
+	registerAccountTool({
 		name: "alpha_ask_paper",
 		label: "Alpha Ask Paper",
 		description: "Ask a targeted question about an arXiv or alphaXiv paper. Uses AI to analyze the PDF and answer. DOI-only papers are not supported; read those with fetch_content on the open-access PDF or Europe PMC full text.",
@@ -140,7 +145,7 @@ export function registerAlphaTools(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
 		},
 	});
 
-	pi.registerTool({
+	registerAccountTool({
 		name: "alpha_read_code",
 		label: "Alpha Read Code",
 		description: "Read files from a paper's GitHub repository. Use '/' for repo overview.",

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@companion-ai/feynman",
-  "version": "0.5.7",
+  "version": "0.5.9",
   "description": "Research-first CLI agent built on Pi and alphaXiv",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",