Daemon self-update fails with exit 127 when node comes from an older mise install: the npm wrapper's mise reshim is not on the service PATH #6079

Summary

After the server moved to a nightly with a newer daemon protocol (237 → 246), a Mac machine stayed disconnected. Its auto-updating LaunchAgent daemon downloaded and installed the server's bb-app, but the install command exited 127, so bb recorded a failed update, never restarted into the new build, and kept retrying with backoff. The npm beside a node installed by an older mise is a bash wrapper that runs mise reshim after every global install, and mise is not on the LaunchAgent's PATH. Expected: the daemon restarts on the server's protocol, as it does with a plain node install.

Versions and environment

• Server: bb-app 0.46.2-nightly.39620384282.1, npm install run by a systemd user unit (server moved here with bb server move), Debian 13, Node 24.17.0 from mise.
• Affected machine: macOS (version not recorded), bb-app 0.46.1 daemon run by the LaunchAgent app.getbb.host-daemon.<slug> that the desktop app installed with install-machine.sh --adopt after the server move (--auto-update), Node 24.18.0 from mise (~/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.18.0/bin/node in ProgramArguments), bb Connect.
• Repro machine: Debian 13 (trixie), mise 2026.9.13 with its binary in ~/.local/bin, bb main at 2799d45.

Steps to reproduce

Smallest repro: a global install through the npm wrapper of a node that an older mise installed, with PATH built the way defaultInstallTarball builds it (node's directory, then launchd's default PATH):

NODE_DIR=~/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.17.0/bin
mkdir /tmp/mise-npm-prefix && cd /tmp
env -i HOME="$HOME" PATH="$NODE_DIR:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin" \
  "$NODE_DIR/npm" install -g --prefix /tmp/mise-npm-prefix bb-app@0.46.1
echo "exit=$?"

Through bb's own code path, from a bb checkout at 2799d45 with dependencies installed:

pnpm exec turbo run generate:profile-worker --filter=@bb/process-utils
mkdir /tmp/bb-repro /tmp/bb-repro-dl /tmp/bb-repro-prefix-a /tmp/bb-repro-prefix-b
cat > /tmp/bb-repro/repro-self-update.mts <<EOF
import { defaultInstallTarball, defaultRunProcess } from "$PWD/apps/host-daemon/src/protocol-self-update.ts";

const tarball = process.argv[2];
if (tarball === undefined) throw new Error("usage: repro-self-update.mts <tarball>");
console.log("PATH:", process.env.PATH);
console.log("execPath:", process.execPath);
try {
  await defaultInstallTarball(tarball, defaultRunProcess);
  console.log("defaultInstallTarball: resolved");
} catch (error) {
  const e = error as { code?: unknown; stdout?: string; stderr?: string };
  console.log("defaultInstallTarball: rejected, code", e.code);
  console.log("stdout:", JSON.stringify(e.stdout));
  console.log("stderr:", JSON.stringify(e.stderr));
}
EOF
curl -fsS -o /tmp/bb-repro-dl/bb-app.tgz http://127.0.0.1:38886/install/bb-app.tgz
NODE=~/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.17.0/bin/node
env -i HOME="$HOME" PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin BB_APP_NPM_PREFIX=/tmp/bb-repro-prefix-a \
  "$NODE" --import tsx /tmp/bb-repro/repro-self-update.mts /tmp/bb-repro-dl/bb-app.tgz
env -i HOME="$HOME" PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin" BB_APP_NPM_PREFIX=/tmp/bb-repro-prefix-b \
  "$NODE" --import tsx /tmp/bb-repro/repro-self-update.mts /tmp/bb-repro-dl/bb-app.tgz

Does not reproduce:

• with mise's directory on PATH (second run above);
• with the wrapper mise wrote for node 22.19.0 on 2026-10-21, which runs mise reshim || true (line 101, "Run mise reshim, ignore its exit code"): the same smallest repro prints mise: command not found and exits 0. The wrapper written for 24.17.0 on 2026-06-21 runs a bare mise reshim (line 76) under set -euo pipefail.

Expected vs actual

Smallest repro, 24.17.0 wrapper (the package is installed; lib/node_modules/bb-app/package.json reports 0.46.1):

added 52 packages in 2s

24 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details
Reshimming mise 24.17.0...
/home/<user>/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.17.0/bin/npm: line 76: mise: command not found
exit=127

bb code path, launchd PATH:

PATH: /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
execPath: /home/<user>/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.17.0/bin/node
defaultInstallTarball: rejected, code 127
stdout: "\nadded 46 packages in 2s\n\n8 packages are looking for funding\n  run `npm fund` for details\n"
stderr: "npm warn Unknown cli config \"--allow-scripts\". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.\nReshimming mise 24.17.0...\n/home/<user>/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.17.0/bin/npm: line 76: mise: command not found\n"

bb code path, mise on PATH:

PATH: /home/<user>/.local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
execPath: /home/<user>/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.17.0/bin/node
defaultInstallTarball: resolved

Affected Mac, ~/.bb/logs/host-daemon*.log (stack trimmed):

{"level":50,"time":1792615491650,"component":"host-daemon","serverUrl":"https://<name>.getbb.app","err":{"type":"Error","message":"Command failed: npm install -g --allow-scripts=better-sqlite3,node-pty,@parcel/watcher --prefix /Users/<user>/.bb/npm /Users/<user>/.bb/bb-app-update-1087.tgz\nReshimming mise 24.18.0...\n/Users/<user>/.local/share/mise/installs/node/24.18.0/bin/npm: line 75: mise: command not found\n",…,"code":127,"killed":false,"signal":null,…,"stdout":"\nchanged 46 packages in 2s\n\n8 packages are looking for funding\n  run `npm fund` for details\n",…},"msg":"Daemon self-update failed; keeping the current daemon running and retrying normally."}
{"level":40,"time":1792615502581,"component":"host-daemon","serverUrl":"https://<name>.getbb.app","attemptCount":6,"retryAt":1792615648964,"retryDelayMs":160000,"serverProtocolVersion":246,"msg":"Daemon self-update is backing off; keeping the current daemon running."}

Expected: defaultInstallTarball resolves once the package is installed, the daemon restarts, and the machine reconnects on protocol 246.

Evidence

• defaultInstallTarball prepends dirname(process.execPath) to the inherited PATH and runs the npm it finds there, which is the mise wrapper:

  bb/apps/host-daemon/src/protocol-self-update.ts

  Lines 167 to 191 in 2799d45

  	export async function defaultInstallTarball(
  	tarballPath: string,
  	runProcess: SelfUpdateProcessRunner,
  	): Promise<void> {
  	const executableDirectory = dirname(process.execPath);
  	const inheritedPath = process.env.PATH;
  	const path = inheritedPath
  	? `${executableDirectory}${delimiter}${inheritedPath}`
  	: executableDirectory;
  	const rawConfiguredPrefix = process.env.BB_APP_NPM_PREFIX?.trim();
  	const configuredPrefix =
  	rawConfiguredPrefix === "" ? undefined : rawConfiguredPrefix;
  	if (configuredPrefix !== undefined && !isAbsolute(configuredPrefix)) {
  	throw new Error("BB_APP_NPM_PREFIX must be an absolute path");
  	}
  	const prefixArgs =
  	configuredPrefix === undefined ? [] : ["--prefix", configuredPrefix];
  	await runProcess(
  	"npm",
  	["install", "-g", BB_APP_ALLOW_SCRIPTS_ARG, ...prefixArgs, tarballPath],
  	{
  	env: { ...process.env, PATH: path },
  	},
  	);
  	}

• Only an "updated" result restarts the daemon:

  bb/apps/host-daemon/src/server-connection.ts

  Lines 395 to 406 in 2799d45

  	if (
  	error instanceof ServerResponseError &&
  	error.code === "protocol_version_mismatch"
  	) {
  	this.protocolMismatchObserved = true;
  	const result =
  	await this.options.protocolSelfUpdater?.handleProtocolMismatch({
  	force: error.protocolUpdateRetryRequested,
  	});
  	if (result === "updated") {
  	await this.options.onSelfUpdateInstalled?.();
  	}

• The LaunchAgent and the systemd unit set no PATH, only BB_APP_NPM_PREFIX and BB_DATA_DIR:

  bb/apps/server/src/assets/install-machine.sh

  Lines 1079 to 1094 in 2799d45

  	<key>ProgramArguments</key>
  	<array>
  	<string>$escaped_node_bin</string>
  	<string>$escaped_bb_app</string>
  	<string>host-daemon</string>
  	<string>--auto-update</string>
  	<string>--host-daemon-port</string>
  	<string>$host_daemon_port</string>
  	<string>--server-url</string>
  	<string>$escaped_server</string>
  	</array>
  	<key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
  	<dict>
  	<key>BB_APP_NPM_PREFIX</key><string>$escaped_bb_app_npm_prefix</string>
  	<key>BB_DATA_DIR</key><string>$escaped_data_dir</string>
  	</dict>

  and

  bb/apps/server/src/assets/install-machine.sh

  Lines 1162 to 1164 in 2799d45

  	ExecStart="$escaped_node_bin" "$escaped_bb_app" host-daemon --auto-update --host-daemon-port "$host_daemon_port" --server-url "$escaped_server"
  	Environment="BB_APP_NPM_PREFIX=$escaped_bb_app_npm_prefix"
  	Environment="BB_DATA_DIR=$escaped_data_dir"

• The server's in-app updater is unaffected: its npm install is not global, and the wrapper passes non-global commands straight to npm-cli.js. It can also already run npm-cli.js with process.execPath:

  bb/packages/bb-app/src/app-update/npm-revision.ts

  Lines 154 to 169 in 2799d45

  	const npmCommand =
  	args.npmCliPath === null
  	? { args: [] as string[], command: "npm" }
  	: { args: [args.npmCliPath], command: process.execPath };
  	try {
  	args.signal?.throwIfAborted();
  	args.onStep(`Downloading bb-app ${args.version}`);
  	await runCheckedCommand(args.runner, "npm install", {
  	args: [
  	...npmCommand.args,
  	"install",
  	"--no-audit",
  	"--no-fund",
  	"--omit=dev",
  	`bb-app@${args.version}`,
  	],

• Server side during the outage: Rejecting daemon session: protocol version mismatch. An older auto-update-enabled daemon will install this server's bb-app; … for the Mac host 32 times in 6 minutes, about every 11 s. bb machine retry-update did not change the outcome.
• Found from bb thread thr_gme2wi3yrb on the server machine.

What you ruled out

• Not LaunchAgent server has no node on PATH, so the MCP server (and other plugins) can't run the bb CLI #5807: that is the MCP plugin choosing the node-shebang BB_CLI. Both come from the LaunchAgent having no PATH, but a BB_CLI_LAUNCHER fix does not reach this code path. Related PATH trackers: Packaged Nightly plugin processes lose PATH for node and gh #2343, Host daemon falls back to bare launchd PATH when login-shell probe fails, breaking provider CLI detection (codex/claude) until daemon restart #5292.
• Not transport, auth, or the artifact: the server URL is https, the download and install succeed (changed 46 packages), and the same version installed from an interactive shell (mise on PATH) followed by launchctl kickstart -k reconnected the machine on protocol 246.
• Not auto-update being off: the daemon ran the update and logged Daemon self-update failed.
• protocol-self-update.ts is identical between 0.46.1 (411eac5) and main (2799d45).

Possible fixes: run npm's JS entry with process.execPath instead of the npm on PATH (the in-app updater already has resolveNpmCliPath), or treat a verified installed package as success when only a post-install step failed, or write a PATH into the generated LaunchAgent and systemd unit (that would also help #5807).

Suggested priority and effort (optional)

Low to medium. It affects every auto-updating machine whose node came from an older mise and whose mise binary is not on the service PATH, and on nightly the daemon protocol changes often (237 → 246 between 0.46.1 and this nightly). Workaround: install the server's version by hand and run launchctl kickstart -k, or add EnvironmentVariables:PATH with mise's directory to the plist and reload it. No data is lost, but the machine is unusable until someone intervenes.

Checks

• I reproduced this on the latest release or on main, or I say above that I could not.
• I searched open and closed issues for the same problem.
• If an agent wrote this, the body ends with > AGENT GENERATED and links the thread or report.

AGENT GENERATED — written by Claude Code from bb thread thr_gme2wi3yrb on the server machine.