From fa59b63a1725dc6c629e76eaa8ac4faf127d5d13 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Avi <avi@aiolabs.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2026 22:43:42 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] fix(updates): augment spawned PATH so npm/cargo resolve from
 Electron

The backend spawned by Electron inherits the desktop launcher's
environment, not a login shell: ~/.cargo/bin and the mise/asdf shim
dirs are missing, so 'Check for updates' failed with "'npm' was not
found" even though both tools exist in a terminal.

run() now sets PATH to the inherited value plus the well-known per-user
tool dirs (~/.cargo/bin, ~/.local/bin, mise + asdf shims,
/usr/local/bin), appended after the inherited entries so existing
resolutions keep priority. The NotFound hint now says what to do.

Verified live: update_check under env -i PATH=/usr/bin:/bin returns a
full report (npm advisories + cargo updates) where it previously errored.
Unit tests cover the pure PATH builder incl. missing-env fallback.
---
 src/updates.rs | 81 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 79 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/updates.rs b/src/updates.rs
index ef75d9b..2217a15 100644
--- a/src/updates.rs
+++ b/src/updates.rs
@@ -72,6 +72,51 @@ fn frontend_dir() -> PathBuf {
     source_dir().join("frontend")
 }
 
+/// PATH used for package-manager commands.
+///
+/// When the backend is spawned by Electron its environment is the desktop
+/// launcher's, NOT a login shell: `~/.cargo/bin` (cargo) and the node
+/// version-manager bins/shims (npm) are missing, so the update commands
+/// failed with "'npm' was not found" even though both exist in a terminal.
+/// Augment the inherited PATH with the well-known per-user tool locations,
+/// appended after the inherited entries: where a tool is already resolvable
+/// on the inherited PATH that version wins, and entries that do not exist
+/// are simply ignored by exec.
+fn augmented_path() -> std::ffi::OsString {
+    let inherited = std::env::var_os("PATH");
+    let home = std::env::var_os("HOME");
+    build_augmented_path(inherited.as_deref(), home.as_deref())
+}
+
+/// Pure form of [`augmented_path`], testable without mutating the process
+/// environment.
+fn build_augmented_path(
+    inherited: Option<&std::ffi::OsStr>,
+    home: Option<&std::ffi::OsStr>,
+) -> std::ffi::OsString {
+    let inherited_parts: Vec<PathBuf> = inherited
+        .map(std::env::split_paths)
+        .map(|p| p.collect())
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+    let home = home.map(PathBuf::from);
+    let extra: Vec<PathBuf> = [
+        ".cargo/bin",
+        ".local/bin",
+        ".local/share/mise/shims",
+        ".asdf/shims",
+        "/usr/local/bin",
+    ]
+    .into_iter()
+    .filter_map(|rel| match rel.strip_prefix('/') {
+        // A leading slash marks an absolute system entry: use it verbatim.
+        Some(_) => Some(PathBuf::from(rel)),
+        None => home.as_ref().map(|h| h.join(rel)),
+    })
+    .collect();
+    std::env::join_paths(inherited_parts.into_iter().chain(extra))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|_| std::ffi::OsString::from("/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin"))
+}
+
 /// Verify the app is running from its source checkout before shelling out.
 fn require_source_checkout() -> Result<(), AppError> {
     let manifest = source_dir().join("Cargo.toml");
@@ -88,13 +133,22 @@ fn require_source_checkout() -> Result<(), AppError> {
 /// Run a command with a timeout, capturing stdout/stderr separately.
 async fn run(dir: &Path, program: &str, args: &[&str]) -> Result<std::process::Output, AppError> {
     let mut command = Command::new(program);
-    command.current_dir(dir).args(args).kill_on_drop(true);
+    command
+        .current_dir(dir)
+        .args(args)
+        // See augmented_path(): Electron-spawned backends inherit a desktop
+        // PATH without the per-user tool dirs, and npm/cargo "don't exist".
+        .env("PATH", augmented_path())
+        .kill_on_drop(true);
     let future = command.output();
     match tokio::time::timeout(COMMAND_TIMEOUT, future).await {
         Ok(Ok(output)) => Ok(output),
         Ok(Err(err)) => {
             let hint = if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound {
-                format!("'{program}' was not found on this computer.")
+                format!(
+                    "'{program}' was not found on this computer. \
+                     Install it (or add it to the app's PATH) and try again."
+                )
             } else {
                 format!("Could not run '{program}': {err}")
             };
@@ -355,6 +409,29 @@ pub async fn apply() -> Result<UpdateApplyReport, AppError> {
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
+    #[test]
+    fn augmented_path_appends_tool_dirs_after_inherited() {
+        let joined = build_augmented_path(
+            Some(std::ffi::OsStr::new("/usr/bin:/bin")),
+            Some(std::ffi::OsStr::new("/home/tester")),
+        );
+        let joined = joined.to_string_lossy().into_owned();
+        // Inherited entries keep priority.
+        assert!(joined.starts_with("/usr/bin:/bin:"));
+        // The dirs an Electron-spawned process is missing are now present.
+        assert!(joined.contains("/home/tester/.cargo/bin"));
+        assert!(joined.contains("/home/tester/.local/share/mise/shims"));
+        assert!(joined.contains("/usr/local/bin"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn augmented_path_survives_missing_env() {
+        // No PATH and no HOME: still a usable absolute system path.
+        let joined = build_augmented_path(None, None);
+        let joined = joined.to_string_lossy().into_owned();
+        assert!(joined.contains("/usr/local/bin"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn parses_npm_outdated_entries() {
         let json = r#"{