chore: version packages

Two independent ways a tab description could be typed in and silently lost.

1. Session Options modal (deterministic). The Session Name input saves on
   blur, and every autosave handler in the modal bails on a null
   editingSessionId. closeSessionOptions() cleared that id BEFORE hiding the
   modal, and hiding it is what blurs the input, so the save always ran too
   late and returned early. Escape and backdrop-click lost the name with no
   PUT at all; only the X button worked, because mousedown blurs the input
   before the click handler runs. Fix: blur the focused modal field first,
   then clear the id. That also covers the auto-compact prompt, which saves
   on change and had the same fate.

2. Right-click inline rename (racy). The _inlineRenameActive guard from #81
   sits in renderSessionTabs() (the scheduler) and _fullRenderSessionTabs(),
   but not in _renderSessionTabsImmediate() (the debounced executor). A
   render queued in the ~100ms before the rename opened still fires and the
   incremental branch rewrites .tab-name's innerHTML, destroying the input
   mid-keystroke: it commits a truncated name, or, if it lands before the
   first keystroke, closes the rename so everything typed after goes
   nowhere. Fix: guard the executor too. finishRename() re-renders on both
   commit and cancel, so a render dropped there is picked back up.

Verified end-to-end against a live server on an isolated instance: all three
modal close paths now persist the name, and the rename input survives a
render mid-typing. Both regression tests were checked to fail with their fix
reverted; the render one was vacuous at first because the synthetic tab sat
on <body> instead of inside #sessionTabs, so it now builds the tab in the
real container.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # aicodeman
 
+## 1.9.9
+
+### Patch Changes
+
+- Two bug fixes.
+
+  **Plain shell sessions could not start when the server process had no `SHELL` (#208).** The tmux pane command for `mode: 'shell'` was the literal string `$SHELL`. That string is embedded in the `bash -c "..."` argument of the `respawn-pane` line, which is run through `/bin/sh -c`, so it was expanded by the _server_ process's shell against the _server_ process's environment rather than inside the pane. Containers and system-level systemd units do not set `SHELL`, so it expanded to nothing and the pane command ended in a dangling `&&`, giving `bash: -c: line 1: syntax error: unexpected end of file` and a pane that died instantly (status 2) while tmux session creation still reported success. The shell is now resolved in Node (`$SHELL`, then the passwd entry, then `/bin/bash`, `/bin/zsh`, `/bin/sh`), requiring an absolute path to an executable and skipping `nologin`-style stubs, then shell-quoted. Only local shell sessions were affected: agent CLI modes emit a real command, and Docker/remote-SSH cases already used a literal `exec bash -l`.
+
+  **A session name typed into the tab options could be silently dropped.** Two independent paths. In the Session Options modal, the Session Name input saves on blur while every autosave handler bails on a null `editingSessionId`, and `closeSessionOptions()` cleared that id before hiding the modal (hiding is what blurs the input), so the save always ran too late; Escape and backdrop-click lost the name with no PUT at all, and only the X button worked because mousedown blurs first. The focused modal field is now blurred before the id is cleared, which also covers the auto-compact prompt. Separately, the right-click inline rename could be destroyed mid-keystroke: the `_inlineRenameActive` guard was missing from `_renderSessionTabsImmediate()`, so a render queued just before the rename opened still rewrote the tab name's innerHTML, committing a truncated name or closing the rename outright. The debounced executor is now guarded too.
+
 ## 1.9.8
 
 ### Patch Changes

CLAUDE.md

@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ When user says "COM":
 
 CI runs `npm run check:lockfile` on every push/PR, so lockfile drift fails the build even if the `version-packages` script is bypassed.
 
-**Version**: 1.9.8 (must match `package.json`)
+**Version**: 1.9.9 (must match `package.json`)
 
 ## Project Overview
 

package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "aicodeman",
-  "version": "1.9.8",
+  "version": "1.9.9",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "aicodeman",
-      "version": "1.9.8",
+      "version": "1.9.9",
       "hasInstallScript": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "workspaces": [

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "aicodeman",
-  "version": "1.9.8",
+  "version": "1.9.9",
   "description": "Mission control for AI coding agents - run 20 autonomous agents with real-time monitoring and session persistence",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/index.js",

src/session.ts

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ import {
   getClaudeCliVersion,
   getClaudeBinaryPath,
   spawnPtyWithHelperRepair,
+  resolveLocalShell,
 } from './utils/index.js';
 import {
   MAX_TERMINAL_BUFFER_SIZE,
@@ -1898,8 +1899,9 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
 
     this._resetBuffers();
 
-    // Use user's default shell or bash
-    const shell = process.env.SHELL || '/bin/bash';
+    // Use user's default shell, falling back to a shell that actually exists.
+    // Shared with the tmux pane command so both paths launch the same binary.
+    const shell = resolveLocalShell();
     console.log(
       '[Session] Starting shell session with:',
       shell + (this._useMux ? ` (with ${this._mux!.backend})` : '')

src/tmux-manager.ts

@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ import {
   resolveCodexDir,
   resolveGeminiDir,
   resolveAntigravityDir,
+  resolveLocalShell,
 } from './utils/index.js';
 import type {
   TerminalMultiplexer,
@@ -773,7 +774,13 @@ export function buildSpawnCommand(options: {
   if (options.mode === 'antigravity') {
     return buildAntigravityCommand(options.antigravityConfig);
   }
-  return '$SHELL';
+  // #208: NOT the literal '$SHELL'. This string is embedded in the `bash -c "…"`
+  // argument of the respawn-pane line, which execSync runs through `/bin/sh -c`,
+  // so a `$SHELL` here is expanded by the SERVER process's shell against the
+  // SERVER process's env — empty in containers and system systemd units, leaving
+  // the pane command ending in a dangling `&&` ("syntax error: unexpected end of
+  // file", pane dead on arrival). Resolve it in Node and quote the result.
+  return shellescape(resolveLocalShell());
 }
 
 /**

src/utils/index.ts

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export { isSafePushEndpoint } from './push-endpoint-validation.js';
 export { stringSimilarity, fuzzyPhraseMatch, todoContentHash } from './string-similarity.js';
 export { assertNever } from './type-safety.js';
 export { wrapWithNice } from './nice-wrapper.js';
+export { resolveLocalShell } from './shell-resolver.js';
 export { findClaudeDir, getAugmentedPath, getClaudeCliVersion, getClaudeBinaryPath } from './claude-cli-resolver.js';
 export { spawnPtyWithHelperRepair } from './node-pty-repair.js';
 export { resolveOpenCodeDir } from './opencode-cli-resolver.js';

src/utils/shell-resolver.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/**
+ * @fileoverview Resolve a real, launchable login shell for `mode: 'shell'` sessions.
+ *
+ * The tmux pane command for a local shell session used to be the literal string
+ * `$SHELL`. That string is embedded in the `bash -c "…"` argument of the
+ * `respawn-pane` line, which `execSync` hands to `/bin/sh -c` — so `$SHELL` was
+ * expanded by the SERVER process's shell (not the pane's), against the SERVER
+ * process's env. Containers and system-level systemd units do not set `SHELL`,
+ * so the expansion produced an empty string and the pane command ended in a
+ * dangling `&&`:
+ *
+ *   bash -c "cd \"/case\" && ulimit … && export … && "
+ *   -> bash: -c: line 1: syntax error: unexpected end of file
+ *
+ * The pane then died instantly (status 2) while tmux creation itself reported
+ * success, which is exactly what issue #208 saw. Resolving the shell HERE, in
+ * Node, removes the shell-expansion layer entirely and guarantees a non-empty
+ * absolute path.
+ *
+ * @module utils/shell-resolver
+ */
+
+import { accessSync, constants } from 'node:fs';
+import { userInfo } from 'node:os';
+
+/** Last-resort shells, in preference order. `/bin/sh` exists on every POSIX host. */
+const FALLBACK_SHELLS = ['/bin/bash', '/bin/zsh', '/bin/sh'];
+
+/**
+ * Shells that exist and are executable but immediately exit — a service account's
+ * passwd entry commonly points at one, which would look identical to the crash
+ * this module exists to prevent.
+ */
+const NON_INTERACTIVE_SHELLS = new Set(['nologin', 'false', 'true', 'sync']);
+
+function isUsableShell(candidate: string): boolean {
+  if (!candidate.startsWith('/')) return false;
+  const base = candidate.slice(candidate.lastIndexOf('/') + 1);
+  if (NON_INTERACTIVE_SHELLS.has(base)) return false;
+  try {
+    accessSync(candidate, constants.X_OK);
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve an absolute path to an interactive shell, preferring the user's own.
+ *
+ * Order: `$SHELL` -> the passwd entry -> `/bin/bash` -> `/bin/zsh` -> `/bin/sh`.
+ * Every candidate must be an absolute path to an executable that is not a
+ * nologin-style stub. Always returns a non-empty string.
+ */
+export function resolveLocalShell(): string {
+  const candidates: string[] = [];
+
+  const envShell = process.env.SHELL?.trim();
+  if (envShell) candidates.push(envShell);
+
+  try {
+    // Throws when the uid has no /etc/passwd entry (common for `--user` containers).
+    const passwdShell = userInfo().shell?.trim();
+    if (passwdShell) candidates.push(passwdShell);
+  } catch {
+    /* no passwd entry — fall through to the static fallbacks */
+  }
+
+  candidates.push(...FALLBACK_SHELLS);
+
+  for (const candidate of candidates) {
+    if (isUsableShell(candidate)) return candidate;
+  }
+
+  // Nothing was verifiable (exotic/read-restricted image). /bin/sh is still the
+  // best guess and is far better than emitting an empty command.
+  return '/bin/sh';
+}

src/web/public/app.js

@@ -3290,6 +3290,13 @@ class CodemanApp {
   }
 
   _renderSessionTabsImmediate() {
+    // Same guard as renderSessionTabs()/_fullRenderSessionTabs(): the incremental
+    // branch below rewrites .tab-name's innerHTML, which destroys the inline rename
+    // <input> mid-keystroke. Guarding only the scheduler is not enough: a render
+    // debounced just BEFORE the rename opened still fires ~100ms later and lands
+    // here directly. finishRename() re-renders on both commit and cancel, so a
+    // render dropped here is picked back up when the rename settles.
+    if (this._inlineRenameActive) return;
     const container = this.$('sessionTabs');
     const existingTabs = container.querySelectorAll('.session-tab[data-id]');
     const existingIds = new Set([...existingTabs].map(t => t.dataset.id));

src/web/public/respawn-ui.js

@@ -848,6 +848,18 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
   },
 
   closeSessionOptions() {
+    // Commit the field the user was still editing BEFORE editingSessionId is
+    // cleared. The Session Name input saves on blur (and the auto-compact prompt
+    // on change), and every autosave handler bails out on `!this.editingSessionId`.
+    // Hiding the modal blurs the focused input on its own, but that happens after
+    // the id is gone, so Escape / backdrop-click silently dropped what was typed.
+    // (Clicking the X worked only because mousedown blurs the input first.)
+    const modal = document.getElementById('sessionOptionsModal');
+    const focused = document.activeElement;
+    if (focused && modal && modal.contains(focused) && typeof focused.blur === 'function') {
+      focused.blur();
+    }
+
     this.editingSessionId = null;
     // Stop run summary auto-refresh if it was running
     this.stopRunSummaryAutoRefresh();

test/inline-rename.test.ts

@@ -245,6 +245,119 @@ describe('Inline rename input', () => {
     expect(result.threw).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it('Render guard: _renderSessionTabsImmediate() does not destroy an open rename input', async () => {
+    await resetState();
+
+    // The debounced tab render is scheduled by renderSessionTabs() but EXECUTED by
+    // _renderSessionTabsImmediate(). A render queued just before the rename opened
+    // still fires ~100ms later and lands in the executor directly, so the guard has
+    // to live there too, otherwise the incremental branch rewrites .tab-name's
+    // innerHTML and the user's half-typed description is lost.
+    //
+    // The tab MUST live inside the real #sessionTabs container and be the only
+    // session in app.sessions: the renderer walks that container, so a synthetic
+    // node parked on <body> would make this test pass with the guard removed.
+    const result = await page.evaluate(() => {
+      const app = (
+        window as unknown as {
+          app: {
+            sessions: Map<string, { id: string; name: string; status: string }>;
+            sessionOrder: string[];
+            startInlineRename: (id: string) => void;
+            _renderSessionTabsImmediate: () => void;
+            _activeRename: unknown;
+          };
+        }
+      ).app;
+      const id = 'render-race';
+      app.sessions.set(id, { id, name: 'w9-case', status: 'idle' });
+      app.sessionOrder = [id];
+
+      const container = document.getElementById('sessionTabs') as HTMLElement;
+      const tab = document.createElement('div');
+      tab.setAttribute('data-test-tab', '1');
+      tab.className = 'session-tab';
+      tab.dataset.id = id;
+      tab.innerHTML =
+        '<span class="tab-status idle"></span><span class="tab-info"><span class="tab-name-row">' +
+        `<span class="tab-name" data-session-id="${id}">w9-case</span>` +
+        '</span></span>';
+      container.appendChild(tab);
+
+      app.startInlineRename(id);
+      const input = document.querySelector('input.tab-rename-input') as HTMLInputElement | null;
+      if (!input) return { opened: false };
+      input.value = 'half-typed';
+
+      // Exactly what a debounce timer queued before the rename would do.
+      app._renderSessionTabsImmediate();
+
+      const after = document.querySelector('input.tab-rename-input') as HTMLInputElement | null;
+      return {
+        opened: true,
+        stillInDom: !!after && document.body.contains(after),
+        value: after?.value ?? null,
+        renameStillActive: !!app._activeRename,
+      };
+    });
+
+    expect(result.opened).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.stillInDom).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.value).toBe('half-typed');
+    expect(result.renameStillActive).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('Modal: closeSessionOptions() commits the Session Name field before clearing the id', async () => {
+    await resetState();
+
+    // Every autosave handler in the session-options modal bails on a null
+    // editingSessionId, and hiding the modal blurs the focused input. If the id is
+    // cleared first, the blur-driven save is dropped and the typed name vanishes,
+    // which is what Escape and backdrop-click used to do.
+    const result = await page.evaluate(async () => {
+      const app = (
+        window as unknown as {
+          app: {
+            editingSessionId: string | null;
+            sessions: Map<string, { id: string; name: string }>;
+            closeSessionOptions: () => void;
+          };
+        }
+      ).app;
+      app.sessions.set('modal-id', { id: 'modal-id', name: 'w9-case' });
+      app.editingSessionId = 'modal-id';
+
+      const nameInput = document.getElementById('modalSessionName') as HTMLInputElement;
+      const modal = document.getElementById('sessionOptionsModal') as HTMLElement;
+      modal.classList.add('active');
+      // The Session Name field lives on the modal's Context tab, which is hidden
+      // until selected: a hidden input cannot take focus.
+      document.getElementById('context-tab')?.classList.remove('hidden');
+      nameInput.value = 'mydesc';
+      nameInput.focus();
+      const wasFocused = document.activeElement === nameInput;
+
+      let putBody: string | null = null;
+      const origFetch = window.fetch;
+      window.fetch = (async (input: RequestInfo | URL, init?: RequestInit) => {
+        if (String(input).includes('/api/sessions/modal-id/name')) putBody = String(init?.body ?? '');
+        return new Response('{"success":true}', { status: 200 });
+      }) as typeof window.fetch;
+
+      app.closeSessionOptions();
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 30));
+      window.fetch = origFetch;
+      modal.classList.remove('active');
+
+      return { wasFocused, putBody, editingAfter: app.editingSessionId };
+    });
+
+    expect(result.wasFocused).toBe(true);
+    // Prefixed session: the suffix the user typed is appended to the w9-case prefix.
+    expect(result.putBody).toContain('w9-case: mydesc');
+    expect(result.editingAfter).toBe(null);
+  });
+
   it('Re-entry: starting rename while one is active aborts the previous one', async () => {
     await resetState();
     expect(await startRename('first-id', 'First')).toBe(true);

test/shell-session-launch.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/**
+ * Regression tests for issue #208 — "Plain shell PTY exits with code 1 after
+ * successful tmux creation in Docker".
+ *
+ * The shell-mode pane command used to be the literal string `$SHELL`. It ends up
+ * inside the `bash -c "…"` argument of the respawn-pane line, which execSync runs
+ * through `/bin/sh -c`, so it was expanded by the SERVER process's shell against
+ * the SERVER process's env. Containers (and system-level systemd units) do not set
+ * SHELL, so it expanded to nothing and the pane command ended in a dangling `&&`:
+ *
+ *   bash: -c: line 1: syntax error: unexpected end of file
+ *
+ * These tests pin the resolver's guarantees and assert that a shell launch command
+ * survives the outer `sh -c` layer with an unset SHELL.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { buildSpawnCommand } from '../src/tmux-manager.js';
+import { resolveLocalShell } from '../src/utils/shell-resolver.js';
+
+describe('resolveLocalShell', () => {
+  const originalShell = process.env.SHELL;
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (originalShell === undefined) delete process.env.SHELL;
+    else process.env.SHELL = originalShell;
+  });
+
+  it('returns an absolute executable path when SHELL is unset (container case)', () => {
+    delete process.env.SHELL;
+    const shell = resolveLocalShell();
+    expect(shell).not.toBe('');
+    expect(shell.startsWith('/')).toBe(true);
+    // Proves the resolved path is really launchable, not just a plausible string.
+    expect(execFileSync(shell, ['-c', 'echo ok'], { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim()).toBe('ok');
+  });
+
+  it('returns an absolute executable path when SHELL is empty or whitespace', () => {
+    for (const value of ['', '   ']) {
+      process.env.SHELL = value;
+      const shell = resolveLocalShell();
+      expect(shell.startsWith('/')).toBe(true);
+      expect(execFileSync(shell, ['-c', 'echo ok'], { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim()).toBe('ok');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('honors a valid $SHELL', () => {
+    process.env.SHELL = '/bin/sh';
+    expect(resolveLocalShell()).toBe('/bin/sh');
+  });
+
+  it('ignores a $SHELL that does not exist', () => {
+    process.env.SHELL = '/nonexistent/shell-that-is-not-here';
+    const shell = resolveLocalShell();
+    expect(shell).not.toBe('/nonexistent/shell-that-is-not-here');
+    expect(shell.startsWith('/')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('ignores a relative $SHELL (never emits a bare word into the launch command)', () => {
+    process.env.SHELL = 'bash';
+    expect(resolveLocalShell().startsWith('/')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('ignores nologin-style stubs that would exit instantly', () => {
+    process.env.SHELL = '/usr/sbin/nologin';
+    expect(resolveLocalShell()).not.toContain('nologin');
+    process.env.SHELL = '/bin/false';
+    expect(resolveLocalShell()).not.toBe('/bin/false');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('shell-mode spawn command (issue #208)', () => {
+  const originalShell = process.env.SHELL;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    delete process.env.SHELL;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (originalShell === undefined) delete process.env.SHELL;
+    else process.env.SHELL = originalShell;
+  });
+
+  it('never emits an unexpanded $SHELL into the pane command', () => {
+    const cmd = buildSpawnCommand({ mode: 'shell', sessionId: 'abc123de-0000-0000-0000-000000000000' });
+    expect(cmd).not.toContain('$SHELL');
+    expect(cmd.trim()).not.toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('produces a launch command that parses after the outer sh -c expansion layer', () => {
+    const cmd = buildSpawnCommand({ mode: 'shell', sessionId: 'abc123de-0000-0000-0000-000000000000' });
+    // Mirrors tmux-manager: `… bash -c ${JSON.stringify(launchCmd)}` handed to `sh -c`.
+    const launchCmd = `cd ${JSON.stringify('/tmp')} && export CODEMAN_MUX=1 && ${cmd}`;
+    const outer = `bash -n -c ${JSON.stringify(launchCmd)}`;
+
+    // `bash -n` parses without executing: exits 0 on the fix, 2 with the dangling `&&`.
+    const result = execFileSync('/bin/sh', ['-c', `${outer}; echo "rc=$?"`], { encoding: 'utf8' });
+    expect(result).toContain('rc=0');
+    expect(result).not.toContain('unexpected end of file');
+  });
+});