From 9cc81d5e47a45ec7bd489dbda2c47b17f09c17a7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nitay Rabinovich <nitayrabi@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 13 May 2026 20:49:31 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] quote systemd service environment

---
 docs/past-failures.md              |  6 ++++++
 install-amesh-node.sh              | 24 +++++++++++++++++++-----
 scripts/test-install-amesh-node.sh |  8 +++++++-
 3 files changed, 32 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/past-failures.md b/docs/past-failures.md
index 15debb0..0eefd8b 100644
--- a/docs/past-failures.md
+++ b/docs/past-failures.md
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@
 - Cause: detection treated executable presence as enough, while OpenClaw's ACPX target needs `openclaw acp` to run as a clean stdio ACP server from the daemon environment.
 - Mitigation: OpenClaw detection now probes every `openclaw` executable directory on `PATH` with ACPX `sessions ensure`, persists the first PATH ordering that initializes successfully, and omits OpenClaw if none can start ACP. A regression test covers a broken wrapper before a working executable.
 
+## 2026-05-13: Installer service PATH could be truncated by spaces
+
+- Symptom: a node installed successfully, but the user service could later run with a truncated `PATH` when the shell PATH contained entries with spaces such as WSL-mounted `Program Files` directories.
+- Cause: the installer wrote raw `Environment=PATH=...` lines into the systemd unit. systemd splits unquoted environment assignments on whitespace.
+- Mitigation: the installer now quotes and escapes systemd `Environment` values, and the stdin installer test covers a PATH entry containing spaces.
+
 ## 2026-05-12: Installer rejected valid Node 24 runtimes
 
 - Symptom: remote bootstrap failed early with `could not determine Node.js major version` even though `node -v` reported `v24.13.1`.
diff --git a/install-amesh-node.sh b/install-amesh-node.sh
index 34d8880..261dc2f 100644
--- a/install-amesh-node.sh
+++ b/install-amesh-node.sh
@@ -174,6 +174,16 @@ require_node_major() {
   fi
 }
 
+systemd_escape_env_value() {
+  printf '%s' "$1" | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g; s/"/\\"/g'
+}
+
+write_systemd_env() {
+  key="$1"
+  value="$2"
+  printf 'Environment="%s=%s"\n' "$key" "$(systemd_escape_env_value "$value")"
+}
+
 main() {
   need_cmd curl
   need_cmd uname
@@ -268,7 +278,8 @@ main() {
     fail "REGISTRATION_TOKEN is required for first-time registration"
   fi
 
-  cat >"$SERVICE_PATH" <<EOF
+  {
+    cat <<EOF
 [Unit]
 Description=amesh remote node daemon
 After=network-online.target
@@ -276,16 +287,19 @@ Wants=network-online.target
 
 [Service]
 Type=simple
-Environment=AMESH_ACPX_PATH=$ACPX_BIN
-Environment=AMESH_NODE_VERSION=$tag
-Environment=PATH=$PATH
-ExecStart=$binary_path run --state $STATE_PATH
+EOF
+    write_systemd_env "AMESH_ACPX_PATH" "$ACPX_BIN"
+    write_systemd_env "AMESH_NODE_VERSION" "$tag"
+    write_systemd_env "PATH" "$PATH"
+    printf 'ExecStart=%q run --state %q\n' "$binary_path" "$STATE_PATH"
+    cat <<EOF
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=5
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=default.target
 EOF
+  } >"$SERVICE_PATH"
 
   if command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     systemctl --user daemon-reload
diff --git a/scripts/test-install-amesh-node.sh b/scripts/test-install-amesh-node.sh
index cf3f8d3..08bfeed 100644
--- a/scripts/test-install-amesh-node.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-install-amesh-node.sh
@@ -138,12 +138,14 @@ EOF
 chmod +x "$stdin_stub_dir/node"
 
 stdin_env_dir="$tmp_dir/stdin-env"
+stdin_space_dir="$tmp_dir/stdin path with spaces"
 mkdir -p "$stdin_env_dir"
+mkdir -p "$stdin_space_dir"
 printf '{}\n' >"$stdin_env_dir/agents.json"
 printf '{}\n' >"$stdin_env_dir/node-state.json"
 
 stdin_log="$tmp_dir/stdin.log"
-if ! PATH="$stdin_stub_dir:$PATH" \
+if ! PATH="$stdin_stub_dir:$stdin_space_dir:$PATH" \
   AMESH_VERSION_TAG='test-tag' \
   INSTALL_DIR="$stdin_env_dir/bin" \
   AMESH_HOME="$stdin_env_dir/home" \
@@ -160,3 +162,7 @@ if ! PATH="$stdin_stub_dir:$PATH" \
   cat "$stdin_log" >&2
   exit 1
 fi
+
+assert_contains 'Environment="AMESH_ACPX_PATH=' "$stdin_env_dir/amesh-node.service"
+assert_contains 'Environment="AMESH_NODE_VERSION=test-tag"' "$stdin_env_dir/amesh-node.service"
+assert_contains "$stdin_space_dir" "$stdin_env_dir/amesh-node.service"