@remcp/remcp 0.2.202 → 0.2.204

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@remcp/remcp",
-  "version": "0.2.202",
+  "version": "0.2.204",
   "description": "ReMCP device client: pair a computer with ReMCP and run the outbound-only agent that hosts the local MCP runtime.",
   "type": "module",
   "license": "MIT",

package/src/cli/config.mjs

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // the server uses to recognise this computer across pairings.
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import process from 'node:process';
 import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
 import { normalizeRuntime } from '../runtime.mjs';
 
@@ -78,6 +79,15 @@ export function writeJsonFile(file, value) {
   fs.chmodSync(file, 0o600);
 }
 
+export function autoUpdateEnabled(config, platform = process.platform) {
+  // Linux often runs unrelated applications through the same global npm prefix. Never
+  // mutate that prefix implicitly: require `remcp auto-update on` for Linux agents.
+  // Keep the historical preference for existing explicit opt-ins and other platforms.
+  if (config?.autoUpdate === true) return true;
+  if (config?.autoUpdate === false) return false;
+  return platform !== 'linux';
+}
+
 export function flagEnabled(value) {
   return value === undefined || value === null ? true : value !== false;
 }

package/src/cli/npm-global.mjs

@@ -11,7 +11,26 @@ export function servicePlatform() {
   return process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test' && process.env.REMCP_TEST_PLATFORM ? process.env.REMCP_TEST_PLATFORM : process.platform;
 }
 
+export function assertSafeReMcpNpmPrefix(value) {
+  const prefix = String(value || '').trim();
+  if (!path.isAbsolute(prefix)) throw new Error('ReMCP update refused: npm global prefix must be an absolute directory.');
+  const normalized = path.resolve(prefix);
+  const parts = normalized.split(path.sep).filter(Boolean);
+  // An inherited NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX aimed inside an already-installed package creates a
+  // second copy in its lib/node_modules. npm then reports success but systemd still starts
+  // the old agent, causing endless replacement attempts and offline device flapping.
+  for (let index = 0; index < parts.length - 2; index += 1) {
+    if (parts[index] === 'node_modules' && parts[index + 1] === '@remcp'
+      && (parts[index + 2] === 'remcp' || parts[index + 2] === 'runtime')) {
+      throw new Error('ReMCP update refused: npm prefix points inside a ReMCP package. Repair the service launcher before retrying.');
+    }
+  }
+  return normalized;
+}
+
 export function globalPrefix() {
+  // Read-only diagnostics must work even when a legacy launcher exports a broken prefix.
+  // Validate only at installation/update write boundaries, not while discovering paths.
   return output(npm.command, [...npm.args, 'prefix', '--global']);
 }
 
@@ -34,6 +53,7 @@ function npmGlobalInstallArgs(specs, { preferOnline = false } = {}) {
 }
 
 export function npmGlobalInstall(...specs) {
+  assertSafeReMcpNpmPrefix(globalPrefix()); // Reject an unsafe prefix before npm writes anything.
   run(npm.command, [...npm.args, ...npmGlobalInstallArgs(specs)]);
   if (servicePlatform() === 'darwin' && specs.some(spec => /^@remcp\/runtime@[0-9]/.test(spec))) {
     try {
@@ -198,7 +218,7 @@ function transactionalWindowsGlobalInstall({ resolved, prefix, packageNames, spe
 // version, so updates revalidate metadata while retaining npm's cache for package bytes.
 export function npmGlobalUpdate(packageNames, ...specs) {
   const platform = servicePlatform();
-  const prefix = globalPrefix();
+  const prefix = assertSafeReMcpNpmPrefix(globalPrefix());
   if (platform === 'darwin') {
     transactionalMacGlobalInstall({ resolved:npm, prefix, packageNames, specs, preferOnline:true });
     return;
@@ -213,7 +233,7 @@ export function npmGlobalUpdate(packageNames, ...specs) {
 export function npmGlobalUpdateForNode(nodePath, packageNames, ...specs) {
   const platform = servicePlatform();
   const resolved = resolveNpm({ nodePath, home, platform });
-  const prefix = output(resolved.command, [...resolved.args, 'prefix', '--global']);
+  const prefix = assertSafeReMcpNpmPrefix(output(resolved.command, [...resolved.args, 'prefix', '--global']));
   if (platform === 'darwin') {
     transactionalMacGlobalInstall({ resolved, prefix, packageNames, specs, preferOnline:true });
     return;

package/src/cli/service-inventory.mjs

@@ -189,10 +189,11 @@ export function rememberCurrentInstallation(config, { service = false } = {}) {
 export function syncKnownInstallations(config, ...specs) {
   const serviceInfo = serviceInstallationInfo(config);
   const current = currentInstallationInfo(config);
-  const candidates = [
-    ...(Array.isArray(config?.installations) ? config.installations : []),
-    ...(serviceInfo.nodePath ? [{ nodePath:serviceInfo.nodePath, cliPath:serviceInfo.cliPath, service:true }] : []),
-  ];
+  // Only the active service installation is mandatory. Other recorded Node manager prefixes
+  // can host unrelated user scripts and must not be mutated by an automatic agent update.
+  const candidates = serviceInfo.nodePath
+    ? [{ nodePath:serviceInfo.nodePath, cliPath:serviceInfo.cliPath, service:true }]
+    : [];
   const currentNode = (() => { try { return fs.realpathSync(current.nodePath); } catch { return current.nodePath; } })();
   const seen = new Set();
   const results = [];

package/src/cli/service.mjs

@@ -29,8 +29,14 @@ export function linuxServiceLauncherText(cliPath, nodePath) {
   if (!path.isAbsolute(cliPath) || !path.isAbsolute(nodePath) || path.basename(path.dirname(cliPath)) !== 'bin') {
     throw new Error('Linux service needs absolute CLI and Node paths in a global bin directory');
   }
-  const prefix = path.dirname(path.dirname(cliPath));
   const cliScript = resolvedCliScript(cliPath);
+  // A saved service CLI is often the resolved package entry rather than the global bin shim.
+  // Using dirname(dirname(cliPath)) for that case targets the package itself as npm prefix,
+  // nesting each update under @remcp/remcp/lib/node_modules while leaving the agent stale.
+  const packageEntrySuffix = path.join('lib', 'node_modules', ...PACKAGE_NAME.split('/'), 'bin', 'remcp.mjs');
+  const prefix = cliScript.endsWith(`${path.sep}${packageEntrySuffix}`)
+    ? cliScript.slice(0, -(packageEntrySuffix.length + 1)) || path.sep
+    : path.dirname(path.dirname(cliPath));
   const lines = [
     '#!/bin/sh',
     'NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=' + shellQuote(prefix),

package/src/cli/update.mjs

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { loadConfig, saveConfig } from './config.mjs';
 import { assertSecureServerUrl } from './connect.mjs';
 import { installedVersion } from './doctor.mjs';
 import { linuxServiceFile, macServiceFile, officialOrigin } from './env.mjs';
-import { currentInstallationInfo, ensureMacCliCommand, ensureServiceIfRecorded, installationVersionsAtCliPath, npmGlobalUpdate, persistentServiceExpected, rememberCurrentInstallation, restartPersistentServiceIfInstalled, serviceInstallationInfo, syncKnownInstallations } from './service.mjs';
+import { currentInstallationInfo, ensureMacCliCommand, ensureServiceIfRecorded, npmGlobalUpdate, persistentServiceExpected, rememberCurrentInstallation, restartPersistentServiceIfInstalled, serviceInstallationInfo, syncKnownInstallations } from './service.mjs';
 
 const UPDATE_DISCOVERY_TIMEOUT_MS = 5000;
 
@@ -188,19 +188,19 @@ export function updateAlreadyCurrent({ cfg, targets, currentInstall, serviceInst
     if (String(serviceInstall?.runtimeVersion || '').trim() !== targetRuntimeVersion) return false;
   }
 
-  // A machine can have more than one Node manager. Do not claim "already current" while a known,
-  // still-existing ReMCP installation is recorded on an older release; the normal update path will
-  // converge it through syncKnownInstallations().
-  for (const item of Array.isArray(cfg?.installations) ? cfg.installations : []) {
-    const cliPath = String(item?.cliPath || '').trim();
-    if (!cliPath || !fs.existsSync(cliPath)) continue;
-    const actual = installationVersionsAtCliPath(cliPath, cfg.runtime.packageName);
-    if (String(actual.cliVersion || '').trim() !== targetClientVersion) return false;
-    if (String(actual.runtimeVersion || '').trim() !== targetRuntimeVersion) return false;
-  }
+  // Historic secondary installations may belong to other Node managers and applications.
+  // Never let one stale record force an automatic update of the active, healthy service.
   return true;
 }
 
+export function verifyManagedServiceReleasePair(serviceInstall, clientSpec, runtimePackageName, runtimeSpec) {
+  const expectedClient = specVersion(PACKAGE_NAME, clientSpec);
+  const expectedRuntime = specVersion(runtimePackageName, runtimeSpec);
+  if (!expectedClient || !expectedRuntime || serviceInstall?.cliVersion !== expectedClient || serviceInstall?.runtimeVersion !== expectedRuntime) {
+    throw new Error(`ReMCP update refused to restart: managed service still runs client ${serviceInstall?.cliVersion || 'missing'} / runtime ${serviceInstall?.runtimeVersion || 'missing'}; expected ${expectedClient || 'invalid'} / ${expectedRuntime || 'invalid'}. Repair npm prefix and retry.`);
+  }
+}
+
 export async function updateCommand(flags) {
   let cfg = rememberCurrentInstallation(loadConfig());
   const targets = await resolveUpdateTargets({ cfg, flags });
@@ -253,14 +253,25 @@ export async function updateCommand(flags) {
   console.log(`Updating ReMCP to ${targets.clientSpec} with ${targets.runtimeSpec}…`);
   npmGlobalUpdate([PACKAGE_NAME, cfg.runtime.packageName], targets.clientSpec, targets.runtimeSpec);
 
-  // Converge every ReMCP installation this account has actually used on this machine. The canonical
-  // service installation is mandatory; secondary nvm/Hermes/Homebrew copies are best-effort and
-  // remain visible in status if they cannot be updated.
+  // Converge only the canonical service installation. Never update secondary nvm/Hermes/
+  // Homebrew installations implicitly: they may be managed by other applications.
   const synced = syncKnownInstallations(cfg, targets.clientSpec, targets.runtimeSpec);
   for (const item of synced) {
     if (!item.ok) console.error(`ReMCP update: could not sync secondary installation at ${item.nodePath}: ${item.error}`);
   }
 
+  // npm can report a successful install into a wrong global prefix. Before touching
+  // systemd/launchd, verify the exact release pair at the canonical service CLI path.
+  // Otherwise a stale launcher repeatedly restarts the old agent and loses device RPCs.
+  // Exact server-advertised or explicit release pairs must match the service on disk.
+  // A legacy manual `remcp update` against an untrusted/custom server may use @latest,
+  // for which no exact version is known until npm resolves it. Keep that manual path
+  // compatible; the automatic agent always supplies an exact version.
+  if (serviceExpected && specVersion(PACKAGE_NAME, targets.clientSpec)
+      && specVersion(cfg.runtime.packageName, targets.runtimeSpec)) {
+    verifyManagedServiceReleasePair(serviceInstallationInfo(cfg), targets.clientSpec, cfg.runtime.packageName, targets.runtimeSpec);
+  }
+
   // Persist the validated runtime pair before repairing the supervisor so a repair cannot be
   // overwritten by an older in-memory config object.
   if (targets.persistRuntime) {

package/src/cli.mjs

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { normalizeRuntime } from './runtime.mjs';
 import { PACKAGE_NAME, VERSION } from './version.mjs';
 import { probeFilesystemAccess } from './fs-access.mjs';
 
-import { ensureMachineId, loadConfig, readJsonFile, saveConfig, setTelemetry, telemetryState, writeJsonFile } from './cli/config.mjs';
+import { autoUpdateEnabled, ensureMachineId, loadConfig, readJsonFile, saveConfig, setTelemetry, telemetryState, writeJsonFile } from './cli/config.mjs';
 import { assertRuntimeTrust, assertSecureServerUrl, pairWithDeviceCode } from './cli/connect.mjs';
 import { diagnoseLocalRuntime, installedVersion, runtimeAllowedRoots } from './cli/doctor.mjs';
 import { configFile, npm, officialOrigin, runtimeConfigFile } from './cli/env.mjs';
@@ -40,6 +40,13 @@ function printHelp() {
 export async function main(argv = process.argv.slice(2)) {
   const { command, flags, positional } = parse(argv);
 
+  // Help must be side-effect free even for mutating subcommands. Older agents
+  // incorrectly treated `remcp update --help` as an update and ran npm.
+  if (command === '--help' || command === '-h' || flags.help === true || flags.h === true) {
+    printHelp();
+    return;
+  }
+
   if (command === '--version' || command === '-v' || command === 'version') {
     console.log(VERSION);
     return;
@@ -144,7 +151,7 @@ export async function main(argv = process.argv.slice(2)) {
     const telemetry = telemetryState();
     await runAgent({
       ...cfg,
-      autoUpdate: cfg.autoUpdate !== false,
+      autoUpdate: autoUpdateEnabled(cfg),
       trustRuntime: cfg.trustRuntime === true
         || process.env.REMCP_TRUST_RUNTIME === '1'
         || new URL(cfg.serverUrl).origin === officialOrigin,
@@ -160,7 +167,7 @@ export async function main(argv = process.argv.slice(2)) {
     const action = String(positional[0] || 'status').toLowerCase();
     const cfg = loadConfig(false) || {};
     if (action === 'status') {
-      console.log(JSON.stringify({ autoUpdate: cfg.autoUpdate !== false, checkIntervalHours: 6 }, null, 2));
+      console.log(JSON.stringify({ autoUpdate: autoUpdateEnabled(cfg), checkIntervalHours: 6 }, null, 2));
       return;
     }
     if (action === 'on' || action === 'enable') { saveConfig({ ...cfg, autoUpdate: true }); console.log('Auto-update enabled.'); return; }
@@ -301,7 +308,7 @@ export async function main(argv = process.argv.slice(2)) {
         ...(health.error ? { error:health.error } : {}),
       },
       update:{
-        auto:cfg.autoUpdate !== false,
+        auto:autoUpdateEnabled(cfg),
         targetClient,
         targetRuntime,
         multipleInstallations,