Fix tmux.createSession env vars not reaching launch command process#191
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`lib/tmux.js:createSession` was calling `tmux set-environment` AFTER `tmux new-session -d -s <name> <command>`, so the spawned launch command inherited the parent's process env without the supplemented values. `set-environment` only affects subsequently-spawned children — the launch command itself was already running. Net effect: every `~/.tangleclaw/engines/<id>.json` `launch.env` silently did nothing for the launched process. Surfaced via Aider override → LiteLLM smoke test: OPENAI_API_KEY never reached the spawned aider process, producing `litellm.AuthenticationError: OpenAIException - The api_key client option must be set either by passing api_key to the client or by setting the OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable`. Fix: use `tmux new-session -e KEY=VALUE` flags (tmux ≥ 2.8) so env is set at session-creation BEFORE the initial command spawns. Each `-e VALUE` is wrapped via `_escapeArg` so shell metacharacters survive intact. Post-create `set-environment` loop removed (redundant once `-e` is in place). +2 regression tests in test/tmux.test.js — launch command actually inherits the env vars; tricky values survive escaping. 2226/2226 tests pass (+2 from 2224). Fixes #190.
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This was referenced May 21, 2026
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Eats its own dogfood: invokes the new `lib/wrap-steps/version-bump.js` handler (shipped in PR #202 a few hours ago) programmatically against this repo, then flushes the two staged writes via the same `commit._flushStagedWrites` the V2 wrap pipeline would use. Handler output: - oldVersion: 3.16.2 - newVersion: 3.17.0 - bumpLevel: minor (subsections: Changed, Fixed, Added) - detail: 3.16.2 → 3.17.0 (minor) Highlights of this release (full notes in CHANGELOG.md): - **#139 Methodology-aware single-button session wrap (series closed).** 12 chunks across the May 14–19 window. `wrapV2: true` is now the default. Full server-side pipeline (`pr-check` → `critic-check` → `version-bump` → `ai-content` × 3 → `priming-roll` → `commit`) replaces the legacy NL-prompt-via-tmux flow. ADR 0002 is the durable home. - **Open-queue #2 (PR #200): prawduct ai-content prompts populated.** Three placeholder steps (`changelog-update` / `learnings-capture` / `memory-update`) gain real prompts. V2 wraps now produce CHANGELOG entries / `learnings.md` entries / MEMORY.md session blocks instead of three SKIPPED rows. - **Open-queue #3 (PR #202): real version-bump handler.** The handler that cut THIS release. Last #139-era no-op stub replaced. - **PR #191: tmux env-ordering hotfix.** Engine `launch.env` now reaches the spawned engine process (was silently dropped pre-fix). Surfaced via Aider / LiteLLM `OPENAI_API_KEY` integration. - **#168 CHANGELOG structural-invariants test.** Pinned post-PR #166 regression class. CHANGELOG `[Unreleased]` heading retained at the top with an empty body (per the handler's promote contract) so the next session has somewhere to accumulate entries. Banner emoji NOT auto-injected — to be added manually as `> 🚀` (this is a feature release, not a bug-fix) in a follow-on commit or release-notes edit per the project's banner convention. The UTC-vs-local-date bug in the version-bump handler (surfaced cutting this release: handler stamped 2026-05-23 in UTC; manually patched to 2026-05-22 to match the local-zoned convention used by every prior CHANGELOG entry) is filed as #205. Future releases pick up the fix when that lands.
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Summary
lib/tmux.js:createSessionwas runningtmux set-environmentAFTER spawning the launch command, so engine overrides withlaunch.env(e.g.~/.tangleclaw/engines/aider.jsonsettingOPENAI_API_KEYfor LiteLLM routing) silently delivered nothing to the spawned process.tmux new-session -e KEY=VALUE(tmux ≥ 2.8) so env is set at session-create time BEFORE the initial command spawns.test/tmux.test.js— file had zero coverage foroptions.envbefore.Fixes #190.
Already deployed locally
The fix is live on this host — TC server was restarted via
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/com.tangleclaw.serverwith the patchedlib/tmux.jsalready on disk so the Monad-1 ↔ LiteLLM smoke test could re-run without waiting for merge. PR captures the change in git history.Independent corroboration
Monad-1 session diagnosed the same root cause from their side without seeing this patch — their hypothesis was tmux server/session env caching, with the proposed fix being "
-eper-session at spawn time, instead of relying on the tmux server's inherited env." That's exactly what shipped here. Two independent bisections converging on the same patch is a good signal the diagnosis is right.Test plan
node --test 'test/tmux.test.js'— 43/43 pass including new env-injection regression pinsnode --test 'test/*.test.js'— 2226/2226 pass (was 2224 at end of Chunk 10; +2)[Unreleased]boundary preservedaider --versioncomes up, trivial prompt routes through LiteLLM, non-zero spend row taggedmodel=qwen2.5-coder-32b-fp16lands in/spend/logs.Blast radius
Any
launch.envin an engine override file was silently no-op. In TC's current world only the Aider override exercises this path, but the bug would have re-bitten every future env-keyed engine integration. Fix is a one-line ordering change in tmux session construction; risk surface is the env-string escaping (covered by the metacharacter regression test).