Files
paperclip/packages
Russell Dempsey 854fa81757 fix(pi-local): prepend installed skill bin/ dirs to child PATH (#4331)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip orchestrates AI agents; each agent runs under an adapter
that spawns a model CLI as a child process.
> - The pi-local adapter (`packages/adapters/pi-local`) spawns `pi` and
inherits the child's shell environment — including `PATH`, which
determines what the child's bash tool can execute by name.
> - Paperclip skills ship executable helpers under `<skill>/bin/` (e.g.
`paperclip-get-issue`) and Reviewer/QA-style `AGENTS.md` files invoke
them by name via the agent's bash tool.
> - Pi-local builds its runtime env with `ensurePathInEnv({
...process.env, ...env })` only — it never adds the installed skills'
`bin/` dirs to PATH. The pi CLI's `--skill` arg loads each skill's
SKILL.md but does not augment PATH.
> - Consequence: every bash invocation of a skill helper fails with
`exit 127: command not found`. The agent then spends its heartbeat
guessing (re-reading SKILL.md, trying `find`, inventing command paths)
and either times out or gives up.
> - This PR prepends each injected skill's `bin/` directory to the child
PATH immediately before runtimeEnv is constructed.
> - The benefit: pi_local agents whose AGENTS.md uses any `paperclip-*`
skill helper can actually run those helpers.

## What Changed

- `packages/adapters/pi-local/src/server/execute.ts`: compute
`skillBinDirs` from the already-resolved `piSkillEntries`, dedupe
against the existing PATH, prepend them to whichever of `PATH` / `Path`
the merged env uses, then build `runtimeEnv`. No new helpers, no
adapter-utils changes.

## Verification

Manual repro before the fix:

1. Create a pi_local agent wired to a paperclip skill (e.g.
paperclip-control).
2. Wake the agent on an in_review issue with an AGENTS.md that starts
with `paperclip-get-issue "$PAPERCLIP_TASK_ID"`.
3. Session file: `{ "role": "toolResult", "isError": true, "content": [{
"text": "/bin/bash: paperclip-get-issue: command not found\n\nCommand
exited with code 127" }] }`.

After the fix: same wake; `paperclip-get-issue` resolves and returns the
issue JSON; agent proceeds.

Local commands:

```
pnpm --filter @paperclipai/adapter-pi-local typecheck   # clean
pnpm --filter @paperclipai/adapter-pi-local build       # clean
pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server exec vitest run \
  src/__tests__/pi-local-execute.test.ts \
  src/__tests__/pi-local-adapter-environment.test.ts \
  src/__tests__/pi-local-skill-sync.test.ts
# 5/5 passing
```

No new tests: the existing `pi-local-skill-sync.test.ts` covers skill
symlink injection (upstream of the PATH step), and
`pi-local-execute.test.ts` covers the spawn path; this change only
augments env on the same spawn path.

## Risks

Low. Pure PATH augmentation on the child env. Edge cases:

- Zero skills installed → no PATH change (guarded by
`skillBinDirs.length > 0`).
- Duplicate bin dirs already on PATH → deduped; no pollution on re-runs.
- Windows `Path` casing → falls back correctly when merged env uses
`Path` instead of `PATH`.
- Skill dir without `bin/` subdir → joined path simply won't resolve;
harmless.

No behavioral change for pi_local agents that don't use skill-provided
commands.

## Model Used

- Claude, `claude-opus-4-7` (1M context), extended thinking enabled,
tool use enabled. Walked pi-local/cursor-local/claude-local and
adapter-utils to isolate the gap, wrote the inlined fix, and ran
typecheck/build/test locally.

## Checklist

- [x] Thinking path from project context to this change
- [x] Model used specified
- [x] Checked ROADMAP.md — no overlap
- [x] Tests run locally, passing
- [x] Tests added — new case in
`server/src/__tests__/pi-local-execute.test.ts`; verified it fails when
the fix is reverted
- [ ] UI screenshots — N/A (backend adapter change)
- [x] Docs updated — N/A (internal adapter, no user-facing docs)
- [x] Risks documented
- [x] Will address reviewer comments before merge
2026-04-23 10:15:10 -05:00
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