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fix(autostart): hide console window at logon via PowerShell wrapper #1654

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Merged
f-trycua merged 1 commit into from
May 22, 2026
Merged

fix(autostart): hide console window at logon via PowerShell wrapper #1654

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22 changes: 21 additions & 1 deletion libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/cua-driver/src/autostart.rs
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -115,6 +115,15 @@ mod platform {
/// install.ps1 surfaces any divergence; the moment install.ps1 changes
/// shape, this script needs the same edit.
///
/// **Hidden-console launch (issue #1645):** the task action wraps
/// `cua-driver.exe serve` in `powershell -WindowStyle Hidden` +
/// `Start-Process -WindowStyle Hidden`. Without this, Task Scheduler
/// allocates a new CUI console window (because `cua-driver.exe` is a
/// console-subsystem binary) that stays visible on the user's desktop
/// for the lifetime of the daemon. The PowerShell wrapper exits
/// immediately after spawning the child, leaving only `cua-driver.exe`
/// in the process tree.
///
/// **RunLevel = Highest** (since 2026-05-21): the daemon is registered to
/// run at the user's elevated/admin token rather than the filtered
/// standard-user token. This is what lets the daemon drive UWP /
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -145,7 +154,18 @@ if ($env:USERDOMAIN -and $env:USERDOMAIN -ne 'WORKGROUP' -and $env:USERDOMAIN -n
$domain = $env:COMPUTERNAME
}
$user = "$domain\$env:USERNAME"
$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute $env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE -Argument 'serve' -WorkingDirectory $env:USERPROFILE
# Use a hidden PowerShell wrapper as the task action so Windows never
# allocates a visible console window when the daemon is launched at
# logon. cua-driver.exe is a CUI (console-subsystem) binary: without
# this wrapper, Task Scheduler allocates a new console and the window
# stays on the user's desktop for the lifetime of the daemon (issue #1645).
# Start-Process -WindowStyle Hidden spawns the child fully detached;
# the powershell.exe wrapper exits immediately after, leaving only the
# cua-driver.exe daemon in the process tree.
$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
-Execute 'powershell.exe' `
-Argument "-NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -NonInteractive -Command `"Start-Process -FilePath '$env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE' -ArgumentList 'serve' -WindowStyle Hidden -WorkingDirectory '$env:USERPROFILE'`"" `
-WorkingDirectory $env:USERPROFILE
Comment on lines +165 to +168

@coderabbitai coderabbitai Bot May 22, 2026

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⚠️ Potential issue | 🔴 Critical | ⚡ Quick win

🧩 Analysis chain

🌐 Web query:

In PowerShell, are environment variables like $env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE and $env:USERPROFILE expanded inside single-quoted strings, or only in double-quoted/unquoted arguments?

💡 Result:

In PowerShell, environment variables like $env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE and $env:USERPROFILE are not expanded inside single-quoted strings [1][2]. Single-quoted strings in PowerShell are treated as verbatim strings, meaning no variable substitution or expression evaluation occurs; the content is passed exactly as written [1][2][3]. Conversely, environment variables are expanded inside double-quoted strings because these are defined as expandable strings [1][2]. Additionally, when passing arguments to commands in PowerShell, unquoted arguments are also subject to expansion and interpretation [1]. If you need to include the value of an environment variable within a single-quoted context, you must use other methods such as string concatenation (e.g., '$' + $env:USERPROFILE + '$') or the format operator (e.g., "'{0}'" -f $env:USERPROFILE) [4].

Citations:

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
FILE="libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/cua-driver/src/autostart.rs"
nl -ba "$FILE" | sed -n '140,190p'

Repository: trycua/cua

Length of output: 97

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
FILE="libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/cua-driver/src/autostart.rs"

# Print with line numbers (cat -n should exist)
cat -n "$FILE" | sed -n '150,190p'

Repository: trycua/cua

Length of output: 3108

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
rg -n "Start-Process -FilePath" libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/cua-driver/src/autostart.rs libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/cua-driver/src -S

Repository: trycua/cua

Length of output: 1020

Fix PowerShell scheduled-task quoting so $env:* expands in autostart.

In libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/cua-driver/src/autostart.rs line 167, $env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE and $env:USERPROFILE are wrapped in single quotes inside the nested Start-Process -Command, so PowerShell won’t expand them; the task will pass literal $env:* text instead of real paths.

🐛 Proposed fix 
 $action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
     -Execute 'powershell.exe' `
-    -Argument "-NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -NonInteractive -Command `"Start-Process -FilePath '$env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE' -ArgumentList 'serve' -WindowStyle Hidden -WorkingDirectory '$env:USERPROFILE'`"" `
+    -Argument "-NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -NonInteractive -Command `"Start-Process -FilePath `"$env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE`" -ArgumentList 'serve' -WindowStyle Hidden -WorkingDirectory `"$env:USERPROFILE`"`"" `
     -WorkingDirectory $env:USERPROFILE
📝 Committable suggestion

‼️ IMPORTANT
Carefully review the code before committing. Ensure that it accurately replaces the highlighted code, contains no missing lines, and has no issues with indentation. Thoroughly test & benchmark the code to ensure it meets the requirements.

Suggested change
$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
-Execute 'powershell.exe' `
-Argument "-NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -NonInteractive -Command `"Start-Process -FilePath '$env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE' -ArgumentList 'serve' -WindowStyle Hidden -WorkingDirectory '$env:USERPROFILE'`"" `
-WorkingDirectory $env:USERPROFILE
$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
-Execute 'powershell.exe' `
-Argument "-NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -NonInteractive -Command `"Start-Process -FilePath `"$env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE`" -ArgumentList 'serve' -WindowStyle Hidden -WorkingDirectory `"$env:USERPROFILE`"`"" `
-WorkingDirectory $env:USERPROFILE
🤖 Prompt for AI Agents 
Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

In `@libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/cua-driver/src/autostart.rs` around lines 165 -
168, The PowerShell snippet used to create the scheduled task wraps
$env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE and $env:USERPROFILE in single quotes so they are not
expanded; change the nested Start-Process invocation in the string (the line
building the New-ScheduledTaskAction command) to use double quotes around the
environment variables (e.g. -FilePath "$env:CUA_DRIVER_AS_EXE" and
-WorkingDirectory "$env:USERPROFILE") so PowerShell expands them at runtime, and
update the Rust string escaping accordingly so the inner double quotes are
properly escaped in the autostart code that constructs the scheduled-task
action.

$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtLogOn -User $user
$principal = New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal -UserId $user -LogonType Interactive -RunLevel Highest
$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -AllowStartIfOnBatteries -DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries -StartWhenAvailable -RestartCount 3 -RestartInterval (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 1) -ExecutionTimeLimit (New-TimeSpan -Hours 0)
Expand Down