[Bug][Windows]: GUI npm update reports restart failure just before fallback becomes healthy #720

Client or integration

OpenCodex dashboard

Area

Service lifecycle

Summary

During a GUI npm update with restart enabled, a non-elevated Windows Task Scheduler service refresh can fail with the expected WINDOWS_SCHTASKS_CREATE_ACCESS_DENIED marker and correctly fall back to a direct proxy start.

In the reproduced run, the fallback needed slightly more than the fixed 15-second readiness deadline. The update job ended at 09:55:28.828 with proxy restart never became healthy, while the target-version proxy became healthy around 09:55:29.

The package update had succeeded and the replacement proxy was running, so this was a false terminal failure. The first 15-second miss also entered the redundant explicit-restart path, including two 30-second busy-port waits and another service-install attempt.

Expected: accept a target-version/new-PID replacement that becomes healthy within a realistic bounded Windows cold-start window, while still warning that the scheduler registration was not refreshed.

Reproduction

1. Install OpenCodex through npm and install the Windows Task Scheduler service.
2. Run the proxy non-elevated.
3. From the dashboard, update 2.7.42 to 2.7.43 with restart enabled.
4. Let schtasks /create /tn opencodex-proxy /xml ... /f return access denied.
5. Observe the intended direct fallback start.
6. On a sufficiently slow cold start, observe the update job fail at the 15-second readiness deadline immediately before /healthz becomes healthy.

This is timing-dependent. In the reproduced run, the fallback process was created around 09:55:14, the job failed at 09:55:28.828, and the listener became healthy around 09:55:29.

The current arrival deadline is 15 seconds followed by a 15-second stability window. A bounded regression could keep the replacement unhealthy until virtual time 15.25s, then expose a changed PID and the target version, and assert success without entering the explicit-restart path. A final identity probe at the deadline would also close the narrow boundary race.

Version

2.7.42 → 2.7.43 (v2.7.43, commit d1f544bbc22d25b9b2bd3c8e776fb8e3242b4ed5)

Operating system

Windows 11 Pro 25H2, build 26200.8894, x64

Provider and model

Not provider-specific

Logs or error output

Reinstalling the background service with the updated files...
WindowsSchtasksError: Windows access denied while running Task Scheduler.
OCX_ERROR_CODE=WINDOWS_SCHTASKS_CREATE_ACCESS_DENIED
opencodex: service refresh failed — starting the proxy directly instead.
Proxy starting on port 10100.
Update installed. Restarting proxy...
npm self-update did not leave a healthy proxy; performing explicit restart...
Port 10100 still busy after 30s; refusing to hop — reinstall may fail until the port is free.
Service reinstall failed (exit 1); falling back to a direct proxy start.
Port 10100 still busy after 30s (reclaim could not free the socket); not starting on another port.
error: proxy restart never became healthy on 127.0.0.1:10100

Screenshots and supporting files

This appears to be a narrow follow-up to #515. It is distinct from #591/#698, whose locale-independent access-denied marker worked correctly in this reproduction.

Relevant readiness/restart code:

• opencodex/src/update/job.ts

  Lines 25 to 34 in d1f544b

  	const RELEASE_NOTES_URL = "https://github.com/lidge-jun/opencodex/releases/latest";
  	const UPDATE_JOB_FILENAME = "update-job.json";
  	const UPDATE_TIMEOUT_MS = 180_000;
  	const RESTART_TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000;
  	const RESTART_HEALTH_TIMEOUT_MS = 15_000;
  	const RESTART_STABILITY_WINDOW_MS = 15_000;
  	/** Legacy active records did not persist a worker PID, so age is their only safe recovery signal. */
  	export const UPDATE_JOB_LEGACY_STALE_MS = 10 * 60_000;
  	/** How long update restart waits for the captured port to become bindable after stop. */
  	export const RESTART_PORT_RECLAIM_MS = 30_000;

• opencodex/src/update/job.ts

  Lines 520 to 553 in d1f544b

  	async function awaitRestartedProxyHealthy(
  	job: UpdateJobState,
  	captured: { port: number; hostname: string },
  	io: RestartIo = {},
  	): Promise<AwaitHealthyResult> {
  	const probe = io.probeProxy ?? (async (port: number, hostname?: string) => (
  	!!(await proxyIdentityAt(port, { hostname }))
  	));
  	const sleep = io.sleepMs ?? (async (ms: number) => {
  	await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
  	});
  	const now = io.now ?? (() => Date.now());
  	const port = captured.port;
  	const hostname = captured.hostname;
  	const startDeadline = now() + RESTART_HEALTH_TIMEOUT_MS;
  	while (now() < startDeadline) {
  	if (await probe(port, hostname)) {
  	updateJob(job, {}, `Proxy reported healthy on ${hostname}:${port}; confirming it stays up...`);
  	const stableUntil = now() + RESTART_STABILITY_WINDOW_MS;
  	while (now() < stableUntil) {
  	if (!(await probe(port, hostname))) {
  	updateJob(job, {}, `Proxy became unhealthy on ${hostname}:${port} during the stability window.`);
  	return { ok: false, reason: "flapped" };
  	}
  	await sleep(500);
  	}
  	updateJob(job, {}, `Proxy stayed healthy for ${Math.trunc(RESTART_STABILITY_WINDOW_MS / 1000)}s after restart.`);
  	return { ok: true };
  	}
  	await sleep(250);
  	}
  	return { ok: false, reason: "timeout" };

• opencodex/src/update/job.ts

  Lines 679 to 767 in d1f544b

  	export async function finishGuiUpdateRestart(
  	job: UpdateJobState,
  	captured: { port: number; hostname: string; oldPid?: number },
  	installer: Installer,
  	io: RestartIo = {},
  	): Promise<boolean> {
  	if (installer === "npm") {
  	const serviceInstalled = (io.serviceInstalledFn ?? isServiceInstalled)();
  	if (serviceInstalled) {
  	const already = await awaitRestartedProxyHealthy(job, captured, io);
  	if (already.ok) {
  	const identity = await (io.probeProxyIdentity ?? defaultProbeProxyIdentity)(
  	captured.port,
  	captured.hostname,
  	);
  	const evidence = npmSelfUpdateRestartEvidence(job, captured, identity);
  	if (evidence.ok) {
  	updateJob(
  	job,
  	{},
  	`Proxy already healthy on ${captured.hostname}:${captured.port} after npm self-update (${evidence.detail}); skipping redundant restart.`,
  	);
  	return true;
  	}
  	updateJob(
  	job,
  	{},
  	`npm self-update left a healthy proxy but ${evidence.reason}; performing explicit restart...`,
  	);
  	} else {
  	updateJob(job, {}, "npm self-update did not leave a healthy proxy; performing explicit restart...");
  	}
  	}
  	}
  	const restartFn = io.restartAfterUpdateFn ?? restartAfterUpdate;
  	await restartFn(job, captured, io);
  	if (installer !== "npm") {
  	// Bun/source: health alone remains enough unless a richer identity probe is supplied.
  	if (!io.probeProxyIdentity) return confirmRestartedProxy(job, captured, io);
  	}
  	return confirmNpmExplicitRestart(job, captured, io);
  	}
  	/**
  	* After an explicit npm (or identity-aware) restart, require update-correlated
  	* evidence — not merely a healthy OpenCodex listener. A no-op restart or a
  	* failed port reclaim can leave the pre-update process on the captured port;
  	* `confirmRestartedProxy` alone would treat that as success.
  	*/
  	async function confirmNpmExplicitRestart(
  	job: UpdateJobState,
  	captured: { port: number; hostname: string; oldPid?: number },
  	io: RestartIo = {},
  	): Promise<boolean> {
  	const healthy = await awaitRestartedProxyHealthy(job, captured, io);
  	if (!healthy.ok) {
  	const port = captured.port;
  	const hostname = captured.hostname;
  	const error = healthy.reason === "flapped"
  	? `proxy restart became unhealthy on ${hostname}:${port}`
  	: `proxy restart never became healthy on ${hostname}:${port}`;
  	updateJob(job, {
  	status: "failed",
  	restarted: false,
  	error,
  	}, restartFailureHint(port));
  	return false;
  	}
  	const identity = await (io.probeProxyIdentity ?? defaultProbeProxyIdentity)(
  	captured.port,
  	captured.hostname,
  	);
  	const evidence = npmSelfUpdateRestartEvidence(job, captured, identity);
  	if (!evidence.ok) {
  	updateJob(job, {
  	status: "failed",
  	restarted: false,
  	error: `proxy restart did not show update-correlated identity (${evidence.reason})`,
  	}, restartFailureHint(captured.port));
  	return false;
  	}
  	updateJob(
  	job,
  	{},
  	`Proxy restart confirmed on ${captured.hostname}:${captured.port} (${evidence.detail}).`,
  	);
  	return true;

Redacted configuration

Not configuration-dependent. The reproduction uses an npm installation and the Windows Task Scheduler service backend.

Checks

• I searched existing issues and documentation.
• I removed secrets, tokens, account details, request credentials, and personal data.