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waggle-os/docs/briefs/2026-04-29-wave1-hooks-cleanup-brief.md
Oleg Maslov 0c3e2ead3b
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Wave 1 Cleanup Brief — Windows MCP Hook Spawn Fix

Date: 2026-04-30 Authored: 2026-04-30 (PM amendments ratified) Status: Local patch shipped; structural cleanup REQUIRED before Waggle Solo tier launch — LOCKED for execution post-Phase-5-§0-PASS Owner: Marko Markovic Commit: cf6e6c5 on everything-claude-code marketplace clone (~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/everything-claude-code) Triggering session: hive-mind diagnostic — "is hive-mind active" → discovered all mcp__hive-mind__* calls blocked by health-check hook

1. What was patched (Wave 1, complete)

scripts/hooks/mcp-health-check.js::probeCommandServer now sets shell: true + windowsHide: true when process.platform === 'win32'. Without this, Node's child_process.spawn("hive-mind-cli", …) returns ENOENT because Windows requires cmd.exe to resolve .cmd / .bat shims (the npm-generated wrappers for any globally-installed CLI).

The hook was failing → marking the server unhealthy → quarantining for backoff (30s → 10min) → blocking every subsequent MCP tool call until the quarantine expired. POSIX paths are unchanged: Linux and macOS resolve shebangs natively without shell: true.

Mirrored copies (md5 25164dada93b36019e05ddadfac92733):

  • ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/everything-claude-code/scripts/hooks/mcp-health-check.js (canonical, git-tracked, committed)
  • ~/.claude/plugins/cache/everything-claude-code/everything-claude-code/1.9.0/scripts/hooks/mcp-health-check.js (running copy)
  • ~/.claude/scripts/hooks/mcp-health-check.js (user override)

Quarantine state file (~/.claude/mcp-health-cache.json) cleared for:

  • hive-mind — was spawn hive-mind-cli ENOENT, now resolves
  • chrome-devtools — was spawn npx ENOENT, same bug, also fixed by this patch (bonus)
  • composio — left in place (real HTTP 401, unrelated auth issue)

Verification (live, this session):

  • mcp__hive-mind__get_identity returned { "configured": false, "message": "..." } — clean RPC, no ENOENT
  • mcp__hive-mind__save_memory → frame ID 23 persisted at 2026-04-29 11:27:42
  • mcp__hive-mind__recall_memory → returned frame 23 with the probe content intact

2. Why the local patch is not enough

The patch is on Marko's local clone of the marketplace. It will be lost the next time:

  • The plugin is reinstalled
  • The marketplace is git pull-ed and a merge conflict drops the change
  • A new Windows user installs everything-claude-code for the first time
  • Cache eviction triggers a re-clone from upstream

Implication for Waggle Solo tier launch: every Windows customer who installs Waggle's hive-mind-backed memory layer will hit spawn ENOENT on first MCP tool call, see the server quarantined, and conclude that "memory is broken." This is a zero-engagement failure mode — the product appears not to work at all, with no error visible at the UI level (the hook silently blocks; the model just gets a 404-equivalent).

This is unacceptable for a paid tier. We need structural fixes that survive plugin reinstall.

3. Required Wave 2 work (structural)

3.1 Upstream the patch (HIGH priority)

  • Open PR against everything-claude-code upstream with the same diff, exactly as committed in cf6e6c5. Title: fix(mcp-health-check): resolve Windows .cmd shims in probeCommandServer.
  • Reference issue search: check upstream issue tracker for ENOENT / Windows / spawn reports before opening — there are likely duplicates.
  • Acceptance: PR merged + version bumped + Windows users get the fix on next plugin update.
  • Risk if delayed: every Windows session continues to be a ticking time bomb until the user manually quarantines the bug. Solo tier users will not know to do this.

3.2 hive-mind-cli installer hardening (HIGH priority)

The installer (hive-mind-cli from D:\Projects\hive-mind\packages\cli) currently does nothing about the host's hook environment. It assumes the MCP plumbing "just works." It should not.

Add to post-install:

  • Detect presence of everything-claude-code (or any plugin with a known-buggy mcp-health-check.js on Windows) by version
  • If buggy version detected on win32: emit a clear warning + offer a one-line override fix (drop a corrected mcp-health-check.js into ~/.claude/scripts/hooks/ which already takes precedence)
  • Optional: register hive-mind-cli's own diagnostic command — hive-mind-cli doctor — that runs a smoke test (spawn self, save+recall a test frame, report fail/pass) without depending on the upstream hook being correct
  • Acceptance: npm install -g hive-mind-cli on a fresh Windows machine + claude mcp add hive-mind -- hive-mind-cli mcp start ⇒ working in zero manual debug steps

3.3 Health-check hook robustness (MEDIUM priority)

The hook itself has design issues that compounded this incident:

  • It silently blocks. No surface to the user — Marko had to grep error strings to discover it. Add a top-level [MCPHealthCheck] Windows Note: ... line when a spawn ENOENT is detected, suggesting the .cmd cause.
  • Backoff is aggressive. A single ENOENT puts a server out for ~30s minimum, doubling each retry. For a transient init hiccup that's punishing. Consider: don't quarantine at all on the first ENOENT during a session if the MCP daemon itself reports Connected (cross-validation against claude mcp list state).
  • No fallback if the binary works via the daemon but fails the spawn check. That's the exact split-brain we hit: daemon connected, hook quarantines anyway. The hook should treat "daemon reports Connected" as a stronger signal than "my spawn probe failed."

3.4 Documentation (MEDIUM)

Add a "Windows Quirks" section to whatever Waggle Solo onboarding doc exists:

  • npm-global CLIs are .cmd shims — anything that spawns them needs shell: true or explicit .cmd extension
  • How to clear mcp-health-cache.json if a server gets stuck quarantined
  • How to verify hive-mind is healthy in <10 seconds (get_identity should return without ENOENT)

3.5 Regression test (LOW but cheap)

Add a Node test that spawns mcp-health-check.js with a synthetic input on Windows CI runner (GitHub Actions windows-latest), pointing at a fake MCP config whose command is nonexistent-cli and one whose command is npx. Asserts:

  • The npx case probes successfully (proves .cmd resolution works)
  • The nonexistent case fails cleanly with a useful message (proves the error path is preserved)
  • Exit code semantics match what the doc claims

4. Scope of the patch (what is NOT covered)

  • Other plugins with their own hook scripts may have the same bug independently. Patch is scoped to everything-claude-code/scripts/hooks/mcp-health-check.js only.
  • Reconnect command path at line 433+ already uses shell: true correctly — no change needed there.
  • HTTP-style MCP servers (the requestHttp path) are unaffected — this is purely about stdio command servers.
  • Composio's HTTP 401 is a real auth issue and is left in the quarantine state file. Separate fix.

5. Open questions — RATIFIED 2026-04-30

  1. Upstream relationship: does Waggle have a contributor relationship with everything-claude-code maintainer? ANSWER (PM ratified 2026-04-30): No contributor relationship. Per feedback_memory_install_dead_simple binding rule (mirror: D:/Projects/PM-Waggle-OS/memory-mirror/feedback_memory_install_dead_simple.md), §3.2 (hive-mind-cli's own override) is the PRIMARY path, not a backup. Solo launch does NOT wait on upstream merge timing. Upstream PR proceeds in parallel as good-citizen contribution but is NEVER on the critical path. If upstream maintainer is responsive, the override can later be retired; until then the override is the source of truth for Windows users.

  2. Solo tier scope: is hive-mind the only MCP server the Solo tier ships, or are there others (e.g., chrome-devtools is also affected)? ANSWER (PM ratified 2026-04-30): Wave 1 hive-mind is primary, but the §3.2 override MUST cover all .cmd cases regardless of which servers Solo formally ships. The bonus catch on chrome-devtools (npx-launched, same spawn ENOENT symptom) confirms this is a class of bug, not a single-server bug. Override detection logic operates at the config level: scan every entry in mcp_servers whose command resolves to a .cmd shim on Windows; treat them all as candidates for the patched hook. No allow-listing by server name.

  3. Mac/Linux Solo users: does the same Solo tier installer also run on POSIX? If yes, the post-install detection in 3.2 must be a no-op there. ANSWER (PM ratified 2026-04-30): Yes, same installer cross-platform. The post-install script MUST short-circuit on POSIX with if (process.platform !== 'win32') return; before any detection or override-drop logic runs. This is hard acceptance for §3.2 — Linux/macOS install paths must be zero-touch and zero-impact, otherwise we risk regressing working systems. Verified by automated test on ubuntu-latest runner (no override file written, no warnings emitted).

Schedule decision (PM ratified 2026-04-30)

No new 2-week scheduled agent created. Existing remote trigger trig_013hjgTkpaSvqi89pJvAunt3 ("Phase 5 brief progress + Faza 2 sprint check") armed for 2026-05-13T07:00:00Z (09:00 CEST) is the canonical 2-week PM ping. Wave 2 cleanup status appended as section 5 to that trigger's prompt metadata via RemoteTrigger update. If trigger update fails or trigger gets immutable in future, fall back to manual loop tracking by Marko — do NOT create a parallel scheduled agent that could fire out-of-sync with the Phase 5 / Faza 2 cadence.

6. Definition of done (Wave 2)

  • Upstream PR opened, linked here, merged
  • hive-mind-cli post-install detects buggy hook versions on Windows + offers fix
  • hive-mind-cli doctor command added with end-to-end smoke (spawn → save → recall)
  • Solo tier onboarding doc has Windows Quirks section
  • Windows CI regression test green on windows-latest
  • Acceptance test: fresh Windows VM + 3-step install → working memory in <60s with zero terminal errors

Evidence appendix

  • Patch commit: cf6e6c5 (~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/everything-claude-code repo)
  • Memory probe frame: ID 23, importance important, source tool_verified, content begins PROBE-WAVE1-HOOKS-2026-04-29T11:18Z
  • md5 of all three patched copies: 25164dada93b36019e05ddadfac92733
  • Quarantine cleared at: roughly 2026-04-29T11:27Z (state file edit just before save_memory)
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