local-operator-ui 0.14.1 → 0.15.1

package/bin/local-operator-ui.js

@@ -11,8 +11,77 @@ const { spawn } = require("node:child_process");
 const path = require("node:path");
 const fs = require("node:fs");
 
-// Get the path to the electron executable
-const electronPath = require("electron");
+// Electron is an optionalDependency pinned to an exact version, not a plain
+// dependency: electron-builder refuses to package a project that lists electron
+// under "dependencies", but the npm/npx launcher below still needs a runtime at
+// require time. "optional" keeps electron-builder happy while npm/bun/pnpm still
+// install it for the CLI. The cost of "optional" is that a failed install is
+// silent, so resolve it defensively and say what to do. See issue #88.
+let electronPath;
+try {
+	electronPath = require("electron");
+} catch (err) {
+	console.error("Error: Could not resolve the Electron runtime.");
+	console.error(
+		"Electron is an optional dependency and its binary download may have been",
+	);
+	console.error(
+		"skipped or blocked. Reinstall with optional dependencies enabled, e.g.",
+	);
+	console.error("  npm install -g local-operator-ui --include=optional");
+	console.error(`Underlying error: ${err.message}`);
+	process.exit(1);
+}
+
+// The try/catch above only catches "nothing resolvable at all", and that is not
+// how issue #88 actually failed. There, `require("electron")` succeeded and
+// returned an AMBIENT Electron 44.2.0 from higher up the directory tree, because
+// our own optional install had not produced one. Resolution throws nothing in
+// that case, so the guard above never fires and the app runs on a runtime we
+// never tested. Assert the version, not just the presence.
+//
+// Compare on MAJOR only. Electron's ABI, V8, Chromium and Node all move on the
+// major boundary, which is the axis that broke #88 (35 vs 44); a patch or minor
+// difference is the normal result of a hoisted or deduped tree and warning about
+// it would print noise on a working install.
+//
+// WARN, never exit. Since #88 the npm channel ships plain JS rather than V8
+// bytecode, so a mismatched major usually still runs. Making this fatal would
+// convert a degraded-but-working install into no app at all, which is a worse
+// outcome than the one being guarded against. The user gets the diagnosis and
+// the app still starts. CI does not get this latitude: scripts/npx-smoke-test.mjs
+// asserts the EXACT pinned version and fails, because there we control the
+// install and an unintended runtime means the artifact was never really tested.
+//
+// Both versions are read defensively inside the try for the same reason: this
+// is a diagnostic, and a diagnostic must never be why the app fails to start.
+// Missing or malformed metadata degrades to "cannot verify". An earlier revision
+// read the pin at module scope and crashed the launcher outright on a
+// package.json with no optionalDependencies.
+try {
+	const pinned = require("../package.json").optionalDependencies?.electron;
+	const resolved = require("electron/package.json").version;
+	if (!pinned || !resolved) {
+		throw new Error("no version to compare");
+	}
+	if (resolved.split(".")[0] !== pinned.split(".")[0]) {
+		console.warn(
+			`Warning: local-operator-ui pins Electron ${pinned} but resolved ${resolved}.`,
+		);
+		console.warn(
+			"This usually means the optional Electron install was skipped and another",
+		);
+		console.warn(
+			"Electron was picked up from the surrounding environment. The app will try",
+		);
+		console.warn("to start anyway. If it misbehaves, reinstall with:");
+		console.warn("  npm install -g local-operator-ui --include=optional");
+	}
+} catch (err) {
+	// Version metadata is unreadable while the binary itself resolved. Nothing
+	// actionable to assert, and the app is more useful started than blocked.
+	console.warn(`Warning: could not verify the Electron version: ${err.message}`);
+}
 
 // Get the path to the main.js file
 const appPath = path.join(__dirname, "../out/main/index.js");