fix(cli): deadline-based service wait, no new dependency, honest URL

Address review and policy: drop the open dependency (platform opener
via execFile - the lockfile is CI-owned and e2e installs frozen), count
probe time against the readiness deadline, and announce the URL only
when onboarding configured the default config path the supervisor
actually reads - otherwise say which path the service reads and point
at service status.

cli/package.json

@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@
     "dotenv": "^17.4.2",
     "commander": "^13.1.0",
     "embedded-postgres": "^18.1.0-beta.16",
-    "open": "^11.0.1",
     "picocolors": "^1.1.1"
   },
   "devDependencies": {

cli/src/__tests__/onboard-service.test.ts

@@ -165,10 +165,12 @@ describe("shouldOfferForegroundStart", () => {
 
 describe("announceServiceReady", () => {
   function readyDeps(overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
+    let clock = 0;
     return {
       probeHealth: vi.fn(async () => true),
       openBrowser: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
       sleep: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
+      now: vi.fn(() => { clock += 10; return clock; }),
       info: vi.fn(),
       success: vi.fn(),
       warn: vi.fn(),
@@ -188,11 +190,22 @@ describe("announceServiceReady", () => {
   it("polls until the service becomes healthy", async () => {
     const probeHealth = vi.fn(async () => false).mockResolvedValueOnce(false).mockResolvedValueOnce(false).mockResolvedValue(true);
     const deps = readyDeps({ probeHealth });
-    const ready = await announceServiceReady({ baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:3100", interactive: true, timeoutMs: 50, pollIntervalMs: 10 }, deps);
+    const ready = await announceServiceReady({ baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:3100", interactive: true, timeoutMs: 100, pollIntervalMs: 10 }, deps);
     expect(ready).toBe(true);
     expect(probeHealth).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
   });
 
+  it("counts probe time against the deadline instead of only sleeps", async () => {
+    let clock = 0;
+    const deps = readyDeps({
+      probeHealth: vi.fn(async () => { clock += 2_000; return false; }),
+      now: vi.fn(() => clock),
+    });
+    const ready = await announceServiceReady({ baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:3100", interactive: true, timeoutMs: 6_000, pollIntervalMs: 1_000 }, deps);
+    expect(ready).toBe(false);
+    expect(deps.probeHealth).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
+  });
+
   it("prints the URL instead of opening a browser on non-interactive runs", async () => {
     const deps = readyDeps();
     await announceServiceReady({ baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:3100", interactive: false }, deps);
@@ -209,7 +222,7 @@ describe("announceServiceReady", () => {
 
   it("warns with service diagnostics when the service never answers", async () => {
     const deps = readyDeps({ probeHealth: vi.fn(async () => false) });
-    const ready = await announceServiceReady({ baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:3100", interactive: true, timeoutMs: 30, pollIntervalMs: 10 }, deps);
+    const ready = await announceServiceReady({ baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:3100", interactive: true, timeoutMs: 25, pollIntervalMs: 10 }, deps);
     expect(ready).toBe(false);
     expect(deps.openBrowser).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     const warned = (deps.warn as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mock.calls[0]?.[0] as string;

cli/src/commands/onboard.ts

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ import {
   resolveDefaultBackupDir,
   resolveDefaultEmbeddedPostgresDir,
   resolveDefaultLogsDir,
+  resolveDefaultConfigPath,
   resolvePaperclipInstanceId,
 } from "../config/home.js";
 import { bootstrapCeoInvite } from "./auth-bootstrap-ceo.js";
@@ -129,6 +130,23 @@ function resolvePathFromEnv(rawValue: string | undefined): string | null {
   return path.resolve(expandHomePrefix(rawValue.trim()));
 }
 
+async function announceInstalledService(options: { configPath: string; baseUrl: string }): Promise<void> {
+  const serviceConfigPath = resolveDefaultConfigPath(resolvePaperclipInstanceId());
+  if (path.resolve(options.configPath) === path.resolve(serviceConfigPath)) {
+    await announceServiceReady({
+      baseUrl: options.baseUrl,
+      interactive: Boolean(process.stdin.isTTY && process.stdout.isTTY),
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+  p.log.info(
+    [
+      `The background service reads ${serviceConfigPath}, not ${options.configPath}.`,
+      `Check ${pc.cyan("paperclipai service status")} for the served address.`,
+    ].join("\n"),
+  );
+}
+
 function describeServerBinding(server: Pick<PaperclipConfig["server"], "bind" | "customBindHost" | "host" | "port">): string {
   const bind = server.bind ?? inferBindModeFromHost(server.host);
   const detail =
@@ -459,9 +477,9 @@ export async function onboard(opts: OnboardOptions): Promise<void> {
     printManagedInstallHint();
     const serviceInstalled = await handleOnboardService(opts);
     if (serviceInstalled) {
-      await announceServiceReady({
+      await announceInstalledService({
+        configPath,
         baseUrl: buildLocalBaseUrl(existingConfig.server.host, existingConfig.server.port),
-        interactive: Boolean(process.stdin.isTTY && process.stdout.isTTY),
       });
     }
 
@@ -731,9 +749,9 @@ export async function onboard(opts: OnboardOptions): Promise<void> {
 
   const serviceInstalled = await handleOnboardService(opts);
   if (serviceInstalled) {
-    await announceServiceReady({
+    await announceInstalledService({
+      configPath,
       baseUrl: buildLocalBaseUrl(server.host, server.port),
-      interactive: Boolean(process.stdin.isTTY && process.stdout.isTTY),
     });
   }
 

cli/src/onboard-service.ts

@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ export type ServiceReadyDependencies = {
   probeHealth: (healthUrl: string) => Promise<boolean>;
   openBrowser: (url: string) => Promise<void>;
   sleep: (ms: number) => Promise<void>;
+  now: () => number;
   info: (message: string) => void;
   success: (message: string) => void;
   warn: (message: string) => void;
@@ -185,11 +186,18 @@ const defaultServiceReadyDependencies: ServiceReadyDependencies = {
       return false;
     }
   },
+  // The platform opener keeps this dependency-free; a failure only means the
+  // caller prints the address instead.
   openBrowser: async (url) => {
-    const mod = await import("open");
-    await mod.default(url);
+    const { execFile } = await import("node:child_process");
+    const command = process.platform === "darwin" ? "open" : process.platform === "win32" ? "cmd" : "xdg-open";
+    const args = process.platform === "win32" ? ["/c", "start", "", url] : [url];
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+      execFile(command, args, (error) => (error ? reject(error) : resolve()));
+    });
   },
   sleep: (ms) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms)),
+  now: () => Date.now(),
   info: (message) => p.log.message(pc.dim(message)),
   success: (message) => p.log.success(message),
   warn: (message) => p.log.warn(message),
@@ -208,8 +216,10 @@ export async function announceServiceReady(
   const pollIntervalMs = options.pollIntervalMs ?? 1_000;
   const healthUrl = `${options.baseUrl}/api/health`;
   deps.info(`Waiting for the server at ${options.baseUrl} ...`);
-  const attempts = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(timeoutMs / pollIntervalMs));
-  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < attempts; attempt += 1) {
+  // Probe time counts against the deadline: a slow probe must not stretch
+  // the configured timeout.
+  const deadline = deps.now() + timeoutMs;
+  for (;;) {
     if (await deps.probeHealth(healthUrl)) {
       deps.success(`Paperclip is running at ${options.baseUrl}`);
       if (options.interactive) {
@@ -223,6 +233,7 @@ export async function announceServiceReady(
       deps.info(`Open ${options.baseUrl} in your browser to get started.`);
       return true;
     }
+    if (deps.now() >= deadline) break;
     await deps.sleep(pollIntervalMs);
   }
   deps.warn(

pnpm-lock.yaml

@@ -109,9 +109,6 @@ importers:
       embedded-postgres:
         specifier: ^18.1.0-beta.16
         version: 18.1.0-beta.16(patch_hash=55uhvnotpqyiy37rn3pqpukhei)
-      open:
-        specifier: ^11.0.1
-        version: 11.0.1
       picocolors:
         specifier: ^1.1.1
         version: 1.1.1