fix shims for extensions on windows

ui/desktop/src/main.ts

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import { startGoosed } from './goosed';
 import { getBinaryPath } from './utils/binaryPath';
 import { loadShellEnv } from './utils/loadEnv';
 import log from './utils/logger';
+import { ensureWinShims } from './utils/winShims';
 import { addRecentDir, loadRecentDirs } from './utils/recentDirs';
 import {
   createEnvironmentMenu,
@@ -1313,6 +1314,9 @@ const registerGlobalHotkey = (accelerator: string) => {
 };
 
 app.whenReady().then(async () => {
+  // Ensure Windows shims are available before any MCP processes are spawned
+  await ensureWinShims();
+
   // Register update IPC handlers once (but don't setup auto-updater yet)
   registerUpdateIpcHandlers();
 

ui/desktop/src/utils/binaryPath.ts

@@ -22,15 +22,20 @@ export const getBinaryPath = (app: Electron.App, binaryName: string): string =>
     throw new Error(`Invalid binary name: ${binaryName}`);
   }
 
-  const isWindows = process.platform === 'win32';
+  // On Windows, rely on PATH we just patched in ensureWinShims for command-line tools
+  // but use explicit resources/bin path for goosed.exe
+  if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+    // For goosed.exe, always use the explicit resources/bin path
+    if (binaryName === 'goosed') {
+      return path.join(process.resourcesPath, 'bin', 'goosed.exe');
+    }
+    // For other binaries (uvx, npx), rely on PATH we just patched
+    return binaryName;
+  }
 
+  // For non-Windows platforms, use the original logic
   const possiblePaths: string[] = [];
-  if (isWindows) {
-    addPaths(isWindows, possiblePaths, `${binaryName}.exe`, app);
-    addPaths(isWindows, possiblePaths, `${binaryName}.cmd`, app);
-  } else {
-    addPaths(isWindows, possiblePaths, binaryName, app);
-  }
+  addPaths(false, possiblePaths, binaryName, app);
 
   for (const binPath of possiblePaths) {
     try {

ui/desktop/src/utils/winShims.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import { spawn } from 'child_process';
+import log from './logger';
+
+/**
+ * Ensures Windows shims are available in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Goose\bin
+ * This allows the bundled executables to be found via PATH regardless of where Goose is installed
+ */
+export async function ensureWinShims(): Promise<void> {
+  if (process.platform !== 'win32') return;
+
+  const srcDir = path.join(process.resourcesPath, 'bin'); // existing dir
+  const tgtDir = path.join(
+    process.env.LOCALAPPDATA ?? path.join(os.homedir(), 'AppData', 'Local'),
+    'Goose',
+    'bin'
+  );
+
+  try {
+    await fs.promises.mkdir(tgtDir, { recursive: true });
+
+    // Only copy the command-line tools, NOT goosed.exe (which should always be used locally)
+    const shims = ['uvx.exe', 'npx.cmd', 'install-node.cmd'];
+
+    await Promise.all(
+      shims.map(async (shim) => {
+        const src = path.join(srcDir, shim);
+        const dst = path.join(tgtDir, shim);
+        try {
+          // Check if source file exists before attempting to copy
+          await fs.promises.access(src);
+          await fs.promises.copyFile(src, dst); // overwrites with newer build
+          log.info(`Copied Windows shim: ${shim} to ${dst}`);
+        } catch (e) {
+          log.error(`Failed to copy shim ${shim}`, e);
+        }
+      })
+    );
+
+    // Prepend to PATH **for this process & all children**.
+    // Make sure our bin directory is at the VERY BEGINNING of PATH
+    const currentPath = process.env.PATH ?? '';
+    if (!currentPath.toLowerCase().includes(tgtDir.toLowerCase())) {
+      process.env.PATH = `${tgtDir}${path.delimiter}${currentPath}`;
+      log.info(`Added ${tgtDir} to PATH for current process`);
+    } else {
+      // If it's already in PATH, make sure it's at the beginning
+      const pathParts = currentPath.split(path.delimiter);
+      const binDirIndex = pathParts.findIndex((p) => p.toLowerCase() === tgtDir.toLowerCase());
+
+      if (binDirIndex > 0) {
+        // Remove it from its current position and add to beginning
+        pathParts.splice(binDirIndex, 1);
+        process.env.PATH = `${tgtDir}${path.delimiter}${pathParts.join(path.delimiter)}`;
+        log.info(`Moved ${tgtDir} to beginning of PATH for current process`);
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Optional: Persist PATH for user's external PowerShell/CMD sessions
+    await persistPathForUser(tgtDir);
+  } catch (error) {
+    log.error('Failed to ensure Windows shims:', error);
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Optionally persist the Goose bin directory to the user's PATH environment variable
+ * This allows users to run uvx, npx, goosed from external PowerShell/CMD sessions
+ */
+async function persistPathForUser(binDir: string): Promise<void> {
+  try {
+    const psScript = `
+      $bin = "${binDir.replace(/\\/g, '\\\\')}"
+      if (-not ($Env:Path -split ';' | Where-Object { $_ -ieq $bin })) {
+        # Add to beginning of PATH for priority
+        setx PATH "$bin;$Env:Path" >$null
+        Write-Host "Added Goose bin directory to beginning of user PATH"
+      } else {
+        # If already in PATH, ensure it's at the beginning
+        $pathParts = $Env:Path -split ';'
+        $binIndex = 0
+        for ($i = 0; $i -lt $pathParts.Count; $i++) {
+          if ($pathParts[$i] -ieq $bin) {
+            $binIndex = $i
+            break
+          }
+        }
+
+        if ($binIndex -gt 0) {
+          # Remove from current position and add to beginning
+          $pathParts = @($pathParts[$binIndex]) + @($pathParts | Where-Object { $_ -ine $bin })
+          $newPath = $pathParts -join ';'
+          setx PATH $newPath >$null
+          Write-Host "Moved Goose bin directory to beginning of user PATH"
+        } else {
+          Write-Host "Goose bin directory already at beginning of user PATH"
+        }
+      }
+    `;
+
+    spawn('powershell', ['-NoProfile', '-NonInteractive', '-Command', psScript], {
+      windowsHide: true,
+      shell: false,
+    });
+
+    log.info('Attempted to persist Goose bin directory to user PATH');
+  } catch (error) {
+    log.warn('Failed to persist PATH for user (non-critical):', error);
+  }
+}