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orca/docs/reference/wsl-managed-cli.md
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OrcaWinandOrca Worker 58d1ff3b6a Provide the Orca CLI automatically in managed WSL terminals (#22761)
* Provide the Orca CLI automatically in managed WSL terminals

* Simplify managed WSL CLI provisioning

Never block a shell on CLI availability, keep the shared WSL login-shell
builder unchanged, provision from PTY env assembly only, drop the error
variable and command probing, and reuse the existing WSLENV helper.

* Scope the managed WSL CLI to WSL terminals

Provision only for WSL panes and publish the directory through
addOrcaWslInteropEnv, so daemon terminals keep inherited WSLENV entries and
non-WSL builds never see the variable. Write the bridge with a UTF-8 BOM so
Windows PowerShell 5.1 keeps non-ASCII user-data paths, give the dev bridge the
dev launcher's app-launch env, and drop the unused skill-setup wiring and
runtime capability.

* Tighten the managed WSL CLI bridge and setup

Launch the bridge child exactly like the registered bridge (no hidden
window or output relay; verified through WSL with Node and Electron), give
the dev bridge the dev launcher's NODE_OPTIONS stash, clear the guest-only
directory before starting Windows processes, collapse setup into one
function, warn once, and guard WSL env routing with tests.

* Harden managed WSL CLI quoting and inheritance

PowerShell also ends single-quoted strings at typographic quotes, so a
user-data path such as O'Brien with a curly apostrophe broke the managed
bridge. Fix the shared quotePowerShellLiteral and reuse it. Drop an inherited
ORCA_WSL_CLI_DIR on the daemon path, remove the unreachable PATH dedupe, and
cover failed setup with a stale caller value.

* Cover the managed WSL CLI in zsh and on POSIX CI

Add a live zsh case that reaches a real prompt, a POSIX test that runs the
PATH restore snippet in bash and zsh under set -u, and a null result for
unwritable user data. Say what a failed write actually costs, and document
per-spawn write logging and older-daemon behaviour.

* Keep system bashrc out of the PATH restore test

CI runners make bash -c read /etc/bash.bashrc, which fails under set -u.

---------

Co-authored-by: Orca Worker <orca-worker@localhost>
2026-09-25 21:55:21 -07:00

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Markdown

# CLI access in Orca-managed WSL shells
A WSL terminal on a Windows host gets this app's CLI (`orca-ide` packaged,
`orca-dev` in development) on its PATH with nothing installed in the guest:
`~/.local/bin`, shell profiles, and the Windows user PATH are untouched. External
WSL shells still need Settings → General registration.
1. **Host.** `buildPtyHostEnv` calls `getManagedWslCliDir` for WSL panes only. It
writes a launcher and PowerShell bridge (reusing `wsl-cli-scripts.ts`) under
`<userData>/wsl-managed-cli/<content hash>` and exports `ORCA_WSL_CLI_DIR`.
Content addressing follows `shell-wrapper-content-address.ts`: builds sharing
user data never overwrite each other, and a present file is complete because
each one lands by rename. Old directories are not collected.
2. **Crossing.** `addOrcaWslInteropEnv` adds `ORCA_WSL_CLI_DIR/p`, so both the
daemon and in-process spawn paths translate it with the distro's own mounts.
3. **Guest.** `WSL_MANAGED_CLI_PATH_RESTORE` runs after user startup files in the
bash rcfile and the local zsh first-prompt hook, which run once per Orca shell.
It leads PATH with the directory when `$ORCA_WSL_CLI_DIR/$ORCA_CLI_COMMAND` is
executable, and otherwise prints one warning. Other login shells get no CLI;
nothing blocks a shell.
The colocated launcher finds its bridge beside itself and PowerShell by Windows
path, so neither guest PATH nor the automount root matters. The bridge pins this
app's user-data directory and is written with a UTF-8 BOM so Windows PowerShell 5.1
reads non-ASCII paths correctly. It clears `ORCA_WSL_CLI_DIR`, which WSLENV maps
back to Windows, so an app the CLI starts never inherits it. In development it runs
Electron as Node on `out/cli/index.js` directly, with the environment
`buildWindowsDevLauncher` sets (`ORCA_APP_EXECUTABLE`, stashed `NODE_OPTIONS`).
Otherwise it launches its child exactly like the registered bridge.
A missing runtime (logged once) or a failed write (logged per spawn) leaves
`ORCA_WSL_CLI_DIR` unset. A terminal daemon from an older build adds no WSLENV
entry, so its WSL panes lack the CLI until the daemon restarts.
Run the opt-in end-to-end test on Windows with `ORCA_BACKGROUND_LAUNCH=1`,
`ORCA_TEST_MANAGED_WSL=1`, and optionally `ORCA_TEST_WSL_DISTRO=<distro>`. The zsh
case skips when the distro lacks `zsh` or `script`.