hermes-agent/hermes_cli/_subprocess_compat.py
Cal Marley 5c5960d9f9 fix(windows): suppress console window flashes in env probes, lazy installs, and platform.win32_ver()
From windowless processes (the pythonw gateway and the kanban workers it
spawns), three spawn paths flash visible console windows on Windows:

1. tools/env_probe.py::_run() ran its interpreter/pip probes
   (python3 / python / pip / 'python3 -m pip' / PEP-668 check, ~5 per
   worker start) without creationflags — one console flash per probe.

2. tools/lazy_deps.py had four spawn sites with the same defect:
   'uv pip install', the 'pip --version' probe, ensurepip, and the
   pip install fallback.

Both now pass creationflags=windows_hide_flags() (CREATE_NO_WINDOW on
Windows, 0 on POSIX) — stdio capture still works because the child is
hidden, not detached.

3. CPython 3.11's platform.win32_ver() unconditionally calls
   _syscmd_ver(), which runs 'cmd /c ver' via
   subprocess.check_output(shell=True) with no window suppression. Any
   dependency touching platform.uname()/version()/platform() at import
   time flashes one 'cmd' window per windowless process. New helper
   _subprocess_compat.suppress_platform_ver_console() (Windows-only,
   never raises) stubs platform._syscmd_ver so win32_ver() falls back to
   sys.getwindowsversion().platform_version — verified byte-identical
   platform.platform() output on CPython 3.11
   ('Windows-10-10.0.26100-SP0' either way). Called at the top of
   hermes_cli/main.py, right after the hermes_bootstrap guard, before
   heavyweight imports.

Verified on Windows 11 by polling EnumWindows at ~15 ms and attributing
new visible HWNDs to the suspect process tree (conhost child presence is
NOT evidence of a visible window — it appears even with
CREATE_NO_WINDOW). Tests: tests/tools/test_windows_native_support.py,
test_env_probe.py, test_lazy_deps.py, test_lazy_deps_durable_target.py —
153 passed; the 3 failures are pre-existing on upstream/main in a
Windows environment (POSIX-only assertions and NTFS chmod semantics).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-23 18:20:24 -07:00

392 lines
17 KiB
Python

"""Windows subprocess compatibility helpers.
Hermes is developed on Linux / macOS and tested natively on Windows too.
Several common subprocess patterns break silently-or-loudly on Windows:
* ``["npm", "install", ...]`` — on Windows ``npm`` is ``npm.cmd``, a batch
shim. ``subprocess.Popen(["npm", ...])`` fails with WinError 193
("not a valid Win32 application") because CreateProcessW can't run a
``.cmd`` file without ``shell=True`` or PATHEXT resolution.
* ``start_new_session=True`` — on POSIX, this maps to ``os.setsid()`` and
actually detaches the child. On Windows it's silently ignored; the
Windows equivalent is the ``CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP | CREATE_NO_WINDOW``
creationflags bundle, which Python only applies when you pass it
explicitly.
* Console-window flashes — every ``subprocess.Popen`` of a ``.exe`` on
Windows spawns a cmd window briefly unless ``CREATE_NO_WINDOW`` is
passed. Cosmetic but jarring for background daemons.
This module centralizes the platform-branching logic so the rest of the
codebase doesn't sprinkle ``if sys.platform == "win32":`` everywhere.
**All helpers are no-ops on non-Windows** — calling them in Linux/macOS
code paths is safe by design. That's the "do no damage on POSIX"
guarantee.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import shutil
import subprocess
import sys
from typing import Sequence
__all__ = [
"IS_WINDOWS",
"resolve_node_command",
"suppress_platform_ver_console",
"windows_detach_flags",
"windows_detach_flags_without_breakaway",
"windows_hide_flags",
"windows_detach_popen_kwargs",
"bounded_git_probe",
]
IS_WINDOWS = sys.platform == "win32"
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Node ecosystem launcher resolution
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
def resolve_node_command(name: str, argv: Sequence[str]) -> list[str]:
"""Resolve a Node-ecosystem command name to an absolute-path argv.
On Windows, commands like ``npm``, ``npx``, ``yarn``, ``pnpm``,
``playwright``, ``prettier`` ship as ``.cmd`` files (batch shims).
``subprocess.Popen(["npm", "install"])`` fails with WinError 193
because CreateProcessW doesn't execute batch files directly.
``shutil.which(name)`` *does* resolve ``.cmd`` via PATHEXT and returns
the fully-qualified path — which CreateProcessW accepts because the
extension tells Windows to route through ``cmd.exe /c``.
On POSIX ``shutil.which`` also returns a fully-qualified path when
found. That's a small change from bare-name resolution (the OS does
its own PATH search) but functionally identical and has the side
benefit of making the argv reproducible in logs.
Behavior when the command is not on PATH:
- On Windows: return the bare name — caller can still try with
``shell=True`` as a last resort, OR the subsequent Popen will
raise FileNotFoundError with a readable error we want to surface.
- On POSIX: same. Bare ``npm`` on a Linux box without npm installed
fails the same way it did before this function existed.
Args:
name: The command name to resolve (``npm``, ``npx``, ``node`` …).
argv: The remaining arguments. Must NOT include ``name`` itself —
this function builds the full argv list.
Returns:
A list suitable for passing to subprocess.Popen/run/call.
"""
resolved = shutil.which(name)
if resolved:
return [resolved, *argv]
return [name, *argv]
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Detached / hidden process creation
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Win32 CreationFlags — defined here rather than imported from subprocess
# because CREATE_NO_WINDOW and DETACHED_PROCESS aren't guaranteed to be
# present on stdlib subprocess on older Pythons or non-Windows builds.
_CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP = 0x00000200
# DETACHED_PROCESS is intentionally NOT part of any flag bundle here — do not
# re-add it. Two reasons (the recurring console-flash bug #54220 / #56747):
#
# 1. MSDN (Process Creation Flags): CREATE_NO_WINDOW "is ignored if used with
# either CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE or DETACHED_PROCESS". Combining them means
# DETACHED_PROCESS governs and the no-window bit is dead.
# 2. A DETACHED_PROCESS child has NO console at all, so every console-subsystem
# descendant it ever spawns (git, gh, cmd, node, wmic, powershell, …) must
# allocate its OWN console — a visible flash per spawn, including spawns
# inside third-party libraries that no per-call-site CREATE_NO_WINDOW sweep
# can reach. A CREATE_NO_WINDOW child instead OWNS a hidden console that
# all descendants inherit, making "no flashing windows" a property of the
# one daemon launch. Root cause isolated + A/B verified on Windows 11 by
# the desktop backend fix (commit aa2ae36c3f): with per-site hide flags
# neutered, naive git/gh/cmd spawns don't flash under a hidden-console
# parent and do flash under a console-less one.
_DETACHED_PROCESS = 0x00000008 # kept for reference; must stay out of bundles
_CREATE_NO_WINDOW = 0x08000000
# Escape any Win32 job object the parent process belongs to. Without this,
# a detached child still inherits its parent's job object membership, and
# when that parent (Electron, Tauri, Windows Terminal, the Desktop GUI's
# bootstrap-installer) dies, the OS tears down the whole job — taking the
# "detached" child with it. Critical for the post-update gateway watcher:
# Electron spawns the Tauri updater inside its own job, the updater spawns
# the watcher subprocess; without BREAKAWAY the watcher dies the instant
# Electron exits, so the gateway never gets respawned after a `hermes
# update` triggered from the GUI. See fix/windows-gateway-reliability.
_CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB = 0x01000000
def windows_detach_flags() -> int:
"""Return Win32 creationflags that detach a child from the parent
console and process group without leaving it console-less. 0 on
non-Windows.
Pair with ``start_new_session=False`` (default) when calling
subprocess.Popen — on POSIX use ``start_new_session=True`` instead,
which maps to ``os.setsid()`` in the child.
Rationale:
- ``CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP`` — child has its own process group so
Ctrl+C in the parent console doesn't propagate.
- ``CREATE_NO_WINDOW`` — the child gets its own fresh console that is
never shown. This both detaches it from the parent's console
lifetime (closing the launching terminal doesn't CTRL_CLOSE it) AND
gives every console-subsystem descendant (git, gh, cmd, node, …) a
console to inherit, so they don't allocate visible flashing ones.
This deliberately replaces the old ``DETACHED_PROCESS`` approach:
MSDN specifies CREATE_NO_WINDOW is *ignored* when combined with
DETACHED_PROCESS, and a truly console-less daemon re-creates the
per-descendant console-flash bug (#54220/#56747) at every spawn —
see the note on ``_DETACHED_PROCESS`` above.
- ``CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB`` — escape any job object the parent is
in. Electron (Desktop app) and Tauri (bootstrap installer) wrap
their children in job objects; without breakaway, those children
die when the parent process exits even though they have their own
console. This was the missing flag that made the post-update
gateway respawn watcher silently die alongside the Tauri updater
after the Electron Desktop's update flow finished.
If a process is in a job that disallows breakaway (rare —
JOB_OBJECT_LIMIT_BREAKAWAY_OK isn't set), CreateProcess returns
ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED. Python surfaces that as ``PermissionError``
on the ``subprocess.Popen`` call. Callers in this codebase already
wrap detached spawns in ``try/except OSError`` and fall back to a
cmd.exe wrapper, so the breakaway-denied case degrades gracefully
rather than crashing.
"""
if not IS_WINDOWS:
return 0
return (
_CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP
| _CREATE_NO_WINDOW
| _CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB
)
def windows_detach_flags_without_breakaway() -> int:
"""Same as :func:`windows_detach_flags` minus ``CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB``.
The docstring on :func:`windows_detach_flags` notes that a process in
a job which disallows breakaway (no ``JOB_OBJECT_LIMIT_BREAKAWAY_OK``)
will see ``ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED`` from CreateProcess, surfacing as
``OSError`` (``PermissionError``) on the ``subprocess.Popen`` call.
Callers that want to recover — by retrying without the breakaway
bit — can pair the two helpers symbolically rather than coding the
``& ~0x01000000`` magic at every site:
.. code-block:: python
try:
subprocess.Popen(argv, creationflags=windows_detach_flags(), …)
except OSError:
subprocess.Popen(
argv,
creationflags=windows_detach_flags_without_breakaway(),
…,
)
See ``gateway_windows.py::_spawn_detached`` for the canonical
implementation of this pattern. Returns 0 on non-Windows.
"""
if not IS_WINDOWS:
return 0
return _CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP | _CREATE_NO_WINDOW
def windows_hide_flags() -> int:
"""Return Win32 creationflags that merely hide the child's console
window without detaching the child. 0 on non-Windows.
Use for short-lived console apps spawned as part of a larger
operation (``taskkill``, ``where``, version probes) where we want no
flash but also want to collect stdout/exit code synchronously.
The difference from :func:`windows_detach_flags`: no
``CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP`` / ``CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB`` — the
child stays in the parent's process group and job so Ctrl+C and job
teardown propagate normally, as a short-lived helper wants. Stdio
handles are inherited either way, so ``capture_output=True`` works
with both bundles.
"""
if not IS_WINDOWS:
return 0
return _CREATE_NO_WINDOW
def suppress_platform_ver_console() -> None:
"""Stub out ``platform._syscmd_ver`` on Windows so it can never flash a
console window. No-op on non-Windows.
CPython's ``platform.win32_ver()`` — reached by ``platform.uname()``,
``platform.version()``, and ``platform.platform()`` — unconditionally
shells out ``cmd /c ver`` via ``subprocess.check_output(..., shell=True)``
with no ``CREATE_NO_WINDOW``. From a windowless parent (the pythonw
gateway and every kanban worker it spawns) that allocates a fresh
*visible* console: one flashing ``cmd`` window per process, triggered by
any dependency that merely touches ``platform.uname()`` at import time.
With ``_syscmd_ver`` stubbed to return its inputs, ``win32_ver()`` hits
the documented ``ValueError`` fallback and reads the version from
``sys.getwindowsversion().platform_version`` — same information, queried
in-process, no subprocess, no window. Verified equivalent on
CPython 3.11 (``platform()`` → ``Windows-10-10.0.xxxxx-SP0`` either way).
Call early, before heavyweight imports — the flash typically happens
during a dependency's import, not from Hermes' own code.
"""
if not IS_WINDOWS:
return
try:
import platform
if hasattr(platform, "_syscmd_ver"):
def _quiet_syscmd_ver(system="", release="", version="",
supported_platforms=("win32", "win16", "dos")):
return system, release, version
platform._syscmd_ver = _quiet_syscmd_ver
except Exception:
# Purely cosmetic hardening — never let it break startup.
pass
def windows_detach_popen_kwargs() -> dict:
"""Return a dict of Popen kwargs that detach a child on Windows and
fall back to the POSIX equivalent (``start_new_session=True``) on
Linux/macOS.
Usage pattern:
.. code-block:: python
subprocess.Popen(
argv,
stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
close_fds=True,
**windows_detach_popen_kwargs(),
)
This replaces the unsafe-on-Windows pattern:
.. code-block:: python
subprocess.Popen(..., start_new_session=True)
which silently fails to detach on Windows (the flag is accepted but
has no effect — the child stays attached to the parent's console
and dies when the console closes).
"""
if IS_WINDOWS:
return {"creationflags": windows_detach_flags()}
return {"start_new_session": True}
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Bounded, fail-open git probing (Windows post-kill deadlock guard)
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
def _kill_git_process_tree(proc: "subprocess.Popen") -> None:
"""Best-effort terminate *proc* and, on Windows, its descendants.
``proc.kill()`` alone only terminates the PATH-resolved ``git`` launcher; a
suspended descendant ``git.exe`` can survive holding duplicates of the
captured pipe handles, which keeps the pipes from reaching EOF and leaks two
reader threads + the process per fired timeout. ``taskkill /T /F`` takes the
whole tree down so the bounded drain that follows can actually reach EOF.
All failures are swallowed — this is cleanup on an already-failing path, and
the caller's contract is to fail open. ``kill()`` can raise (access denied,
already reaped); an unhandled raise here would escape the caller's ``except``
handler and break that contract. The ``taskkill`` spawn itself cannot
re-enter the deadlock class it fixes: it captures no pipes (DEVNULL), so its
own timeout cleanup has no reader threads to join.
"""
try:
proc.kill()
except OSError:
pass
if IS_WINDOWS:
try:
subprocess.run(
["taskkill", "/T", "/F", "/PID", str(proc.pid)],
stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
timeout=2,
check=False,
creationflags=windows_hide_flags(),
)
except Exception:
pass
def bounded_git_probe(argv: Sequence[str], *, timeout: float) -> str:
"""Run a short, throwaway ``git`` probe and return stripped stdout, or ``""``
on ANY failure (nonzero exit, timeout, spawn error, decode error).
This is the shared, deadlock-safe replacement for
``subprocess.run(["git", ...], timeout=...)`` at fail-open probe call sites
(``tui_gateway.git_probe.run_git``, ``agent.coding_context._git``).
Why not ``subprocess.run``: on Windows, ``run()``'s post-timeout cleanup
calls an *unbounded* ``communicate()`` after killing git. Killing the
PATH-resolved launcher can leave a suspended descendant ``git.exe`` holding
duplicates of the captured stdout/stderr handles, so the pipes never reach
EOF and the reader-thread join blocks forever. On the Desktop agent-build
path (``_start_agent_build → _session_info → branch() → run_git``) that turned
an optional branch label into ``agent initialization timed out``
(issues #68609 / #66037).
The bounded flow: an explicit ``communicate(timeout)``, then on any failure a
tree-kill (see :func:`_kill_git_process_tree`) plus a bounded 1s post-kill
drain; if the pipes are still held after that, they're abandoned (the orphaned
reader threads are daemonic and cost nothing).
The normal-path spawn contract mirrors the previous ``run`` call byte-for-byte:
PIPE/PIPE/DEVNULL, ``text`` with UTF-8 ``errors="replace"`` decoding, and the
hidden-window ``creationflags`` on Windows only.
"""
_popen_kwargs = {"creationflags": windows_hide_flags()} if IS_WINDOWS else {}
try:
proc = subprocess.Popen(
list(argv),
stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
text=True,
encoding="utf-8",
errors="replace",
**_popen_kwargs,
)
except Exception:
return ""
try:
stdout, _ = proc.communicate(timeout=timeout)
except Exception:
# Timeout OR any other communicate() failure (torn-down pipe, decode
# error): terminate the child + descendants and drain bounded. Leaving
# it running would leak the same suspended-descendant class this guards.
_kill_git_process_tree(proc)
try:
proc.communicate(timeout=1)
except Exception:
pass
return ""
return stdout.strip() if proc.returncode == 0 else ""