fix(coding-agent): allow the self-update tarball install on npm 12

[smwbev]

Problem

prime-agent update cannot update an npm-managed install on npm 12:

Updating prime-agent with npm --prefix /opt/homebrew install -g https://pub-728493de92a943e2a9b2d17b4719f318.r2.dev/releases/v0.7.2/prime-agent-0.7.2.tgz...
npm error code EALLOWREMOTE
npm error Fetching packages of type "remote" have been disabled
npm error Refusing to fetch "https://pub-728493de92a943e2a9b2d17b4719f318.r2.dev/releases/v0.7.2/prime-agent-0.7.2.tgz"
Error: npm --prefix /opt/homebrew install -g https://... exited with code 1

Reproduced on macOS (Apple Silicon), Node v26.5.0, npm 12.0.1, global npm install with prefix /opt/homebrew, updating 0.7.1 -> 0.7.2.

npm 12 defaults allow-remote to none. The self-update installs the release artifact by URL, which is a remote fetch, and the released package declares further tarball URLs (@earendil-works/pi-agent-core, pi-ai, pi-tui), which npm classifies as non-root — so root is not enough either, matching what @felipecsl measured in #741.

Change

• SelfUpdateCommandStep carries an optional env, merged over the current environment when that step runs.
• The npm branch of getSelfUpdateCommandForMethod sets npm_config_allow_remote=all on the install step, and only when isDirectPackageArtifactSpec(updateSpec) holds. Registry specs keep the stricter npm 12 default, and the follow-up uninstall step never gets the grant.
• runSelfUpdate passes the step environment to spawn; steps without env keep inheriting process.env unchanged.

The grant is scoped to the one process that needs it. Nothing is written to the user's ~/.npmrc, which is the same approach #773 took for the installer.

isDirectPackageArtifactSpec rather than an npm version gate: the predicate already distinguishes the case that needs the config (a release artifact fetched by URL or path) from the case that must not get it (a registry spec), and it is the same condition that already decides the install/uninstall ordering. A version gate would grant allow-remote to registry updates as well on npm 12, which is strictly weaker; on npm < 12 the extra environment variable is ignored, so gating on the version buys nothing.

pnpm, yarn and bun install remote tarballs without an equivalent opt-in — pnpm's nearest setting, blockExoticSubdeps, is off by default and is not an env-scoped grant — so their branches are unchanged.

The step environment is rendered into display, so the "Updating ..." line and the copy-paste fallback describe the command that actually runs instead of one that fails without the assignment. The assignment is rendered in POSIX form; on Windows it reads as a description rather than a paste-ready line.

Verification

• npm run check clean.
• New regression test packages/coding-agent/test/suite/regressions/741-npm-self-update-allow-remote.test.ts; it fails on main and passes with this change. Existing test/config.test.ts expectations updated for the new field.
• Real npm 12.0.1 check against the published 0.7.2 artifact, in a throwaway prefix:

$ npm --prefix "$tmp" install -g --dry-run https://pub-...r2.dev/releases/v0.7.2/prime-agent-0.7.2.tgz
npm error code EALLOWREMOTE

$ npm_config_allow_remote=all npm --prefix "$tmp" install -g --dry-run https://pub-...r2.dev/releases/v0.7.2/prime-agent-0.7.2.tgz
(resolves)

The spawn wiring itself is covered only by that manual run; the test asserts the command that runSelfUpdate receives.

Scope

Complementary to #773, which fixes the same npm 12 default on the install.sh side; there is no file overlap with it. Its author noted in #741 that the self-update path was deliberately left out, which is what this PR closes.

Two things stay out of scope:

• npm 12 also blocks the postinstall that prepares uv and the IPython runtime unless allow-scripts covers it (reported by @felipecsl in install fails on npm 12+ due to allow-remote=none #741). That is a separate default with a different trade-off, so it is not silently granted here.
• The deeper fix is publishing without transitive URL dependencies, which is a release-pipeline call for maintainers.

Refs #741 — deliberately not Fixes, since the issue also covers the installer surface handled in #773.

Note

Fix prime-agent update failing with EALLOWREMOTE on npm 12 when installing from a tarball URL

• Adds an optional env field to SelfUpdateCommandStep and passes per-step environment overrides to child processes in runSelfUpdate.
• When the npm update spec is a direct artifact (tarball URL or local file), the install step now runs with npm_config_allow_remote=all; registry-based updates and the uninstall step are unaffected.
• The displayed command string now includes the env var prefix so logs and copy-paste output reflect the actual executed command.
• Adds a regression test suite in 741-npm-self-update-allow-remote.test.ts covering tarball, local file, registry, and stepped uninstall cases.

^{Macroscope summarized 3855bc5.}

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[kevinjosethomas]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to contribute to Prime Agent! Since open sourcing the project, we’ve received far more pull requests than we can responsibly review and validate. Prime Agent runs directly on users’ machines, so we need to be deliberate about which changes we accept and how they are reviewed. Rather than leave a large backlog that we cannot meaningfully work through, we’re closing the current PR queue and moving to a discussion-first contribution process.

We have established new contribution guidelines to help us continue iterating on Prime Agent and better manage contributions from the community. Going forward, we won’t review unsolicited pull requests. Instead, please start with a GitHub Discussion. We’ll identify recurring bugs and feature requests, create Issues for work we want to pursue, and invite pull requests from maintainers or vouched contributors when implementation is ready. Please read the full process documented in our contribution guidelines.

While we’re closing this backlog, we’re still reviewing it at a high level to identify recurring bugs, useful ideas, and important problems that we should address ourselves. Thanks again for the time you put into this!