From ee24cfb58e7b691a53e244cd39babc4cbb9a21dc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 04:45:23 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: cover Windows exe argv (#1480) (thanks @Takhoffman)

---
 CHANGELOG.md         |  1 +
 scripts/run-node.mjs |  1 +
 src/cli/argv.test.ts | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 src/cli/argv.ts      |  1 +
 4 files changed, 19 insertions(+)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 16e5acc2a7..5b35e4ca11 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 ### Fixes
 - BlueBubbles: stop typing indicator on idle/no-reply. (#1439) Thanks @Nicell.
 - Message tool: keep path/filePath as-is for send; hydrate buffers only for sendAttachment. (#1444) Thanks @hopyky.
+- CLI: handle Windows runtime exe argv and pnpm build shims more reliably. (#1480) Thanks @Takhoffman.
 - Auto-reply: only report a model switch when session state is available. (#1465) Thanks @robbyczgw-cla.
 - Control UI: resolve local avatar URLs with basePath across injection + identity RPC. (#1457) Thanks @dlauer.
 - Agents: surface concrete API error details instead of generic AI service errors.
diff --git a/scripts/run-node.mjs b/scripts/run-node.mjs
index dcb40dcbf4..d52d9beaac 100644
--- a/scripts/run-node.mjs
+++ b/scripts/run-node.mjs
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ if (!shouldBuild()) {
 } else {
   logRunner("Building TypeScript (dist is stale).");
   const pnpmArgs = ["exec", compiler, ...projectArgs];
+  // On Windows, pnpm is a .cmd shim, so use cmd.exe for reliable resolution.
   const buildCmd = process.platform === "win32" ? "cmd.exe" : "pnpm";
   const buildArgs =
     process.platform === "win32" ? ["/d", "/s", "/c", "pnpm", ...pnpmArgs] : pnpmArgs;
diff --git a/src/cli/argv.test.ts b/src/cli/argv.test.ts
index 244e722419..f74fe9adec 100644
--- a/src/cli/argv.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/argv.test.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,16 @@ describe("argv helpers", () => {
     });
     expect(nodeArgv).toEqual(["node", "clawdbot", "status"]);
 
+    const nodeExeArgv = buildParseArgv({
+      programName: "clawdbot",
+      rawArgs: ["C:\\\\Program Files\\\\nodejs\\\\Node.EXE", "clawdbot", "status"],
+    });
+    expect(nodeExeArgv).toEqual([
+      "C:\\\\Program Files\\\\nodejs\\\\Node.EXE",
+      "clawdbot",
+      "status",
+    ]);
+
     const directArgv = buildParseArgv({
       programName: "clawdbot",
       rawArgs: ["clawdbot", "status"],
@@ -89,6 +99,12 @@ describe("argv helpers", () => {
       rawArgs: ["bun", "src/entry.ts", "status"],
     });
     expect(bunArgv).toEqual(["bun", "src/entry.ts", "status"]);
+
+    const bunExeArgv = buildParseArgv({
+      programName: "clawdbot",
+      rawArgs: ["C:\\\\bun\\\\bun.exe", "src\\\\entry.ts", "status"],
+    });
+    expect(bunExeArgv).toEqual(["C:\\\\bun\\\\bun.exe", "src\\\\entry.ts", "status"]);
   });
 
   it("builds parse argv from fallback args", () => {
diff --git a/src/cli/argv.ts b/src/cli/argv.ts
index bc7b60ac92..02b8def143 100644
--- a/src/cli/argv.ts
+++ b/src/cli/argv.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ export function buildParseArgv(params: {
         ? baseArgv.slice(1)
         : baseArgv;
   const executable = (normalizedArgv[0]?.split(/[/\\]/).pop() ?? "").toLowerCase();
+  // Normalize Windows `.exe` runtimes (node.exe/bun.exe) for runtime detection.
   const looksLikeNode =
     normalizedArgv.length >= 2 &&
     (executable === "node" ||