fix(cli): detect direct run through npm bin symlinks#39
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stevenobiajulu merged 2 commits intomainfrom Apr 20, 2026
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Both email-agent-mcp and @usejunior/email-mcp declare a bin named email-agent-mcp, and the sibling @usejunior/email-mcp entry wins when npm installs the wrapper. The installed bin is a symlink to dist/cli.js, so process.argv[1] ends with "email-agent-mcp" — not "cli.js". The suffix-based isDirectRun guard returned false in that case, the module loaded without calling runCli, and the process exited 0 with no output. That reproduced as the "npx email-agent-mcp --help silently exits" bug seen downstream. Replace the suffix check with a realpath-based comparison between process.argv[1] and the compiled cli.js path. Extract the predicate as isDirectCliRun so it can be covered by tests for both the symlink and wrapper cases.
Covers the npm bin symlink direct-run fix in the same release so a published 0.1.6 restores `npx email-agent-mcp` usability end-to-end.
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This was referenced Apr 20, 2026
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Summary
npx email-agent-mcp <anything>was silently exiting 0 with no output — not just setup, even--help. Directnode .../bin/email-agent-mcp.jsalways worked, so the bug only surfaced through npm bin installs.email-agent-mcp(wrapper) and@usejunior/email-mcp(core) declare abinnamedemail-agent-mcp. When both are installed,@usejunior/email-mcpwins and~/.npm-global/bin/email-agent-mcpsymlinks todist/cli.js— not to the wrapper. That's fine except the auto-execute guard at the bottom ofcli.jswas a brittle suffix check (argv[1].endsWith('cli.js') || argv[1].endsWith('cli.ts')). Via the symlink,argv[1]ends withemail-agent-mcp, so the guard wasfalse,runClinever ran, and the module exited cleanly with no work done.realpathSync(argv[1]) === realpathSync(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))comparison, so direct execution through npm bin symlinks is detected the same as direct-path invocation. Extracted the predicate as exportedisDirectCliRunfor testability.true, wrapper-path invocation returnsfalse.0.1.6in lockstep viascripts/bump_version.mjs.Follow-up (separate PR)
Belt-and-suspenders: drop the
binfield from@usejunior/email-mcp/package.jsonentirely, since the core package isn't meant to be run directly by end users. That would prevent the two packages from fighting over the same bin name at install time and remove this class of bug at the source. Not included here to keep the fix minimal.Test plan
npm run build(all workspaces)npm run test:run -w @usejunior/email-mcp→ 137 passed~/.npm-global/bin/email-agent-mcp0.1.6to npm and verify a freshnpx email-agent-mcp --helpfrom a clean shell prints help