thedotmack--claude-mem/docs/bug-fixes/windows-spaces-issue.md

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Title: Bug: SDK Agent fails on Windows when username contains spaces

Bug Report

Summary: Claude SDK Agent fails to start on Windows when the user's path contains spaces (e.g., C:\Users\Anderson Wang\), causing PostToolUse hooks to hang indefinitely.

Severity: High - Core functionality broken

Affected Platform: Windows only

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Symptoms

PostToolUse hook displays (1/2 done) indefinitely. Worker logs show:

ERROR [SESSION] Generator failed {provider=claude, error=Claude Code process exited with code 1}
ERROR [SESSION] Generator exited unexpectedly

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Root Cause

Two issues in the Windows code path:

1. SDKAgent.ts - Returns full auto-detected path with spaces:

   C:\Users\Anderson Wang\AppData\Roaming\npm\claude.cmd
   

2. ProcessRegistry.ts - Node.js spawn() cannot directly execute .cmd files when the path contains spaces

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Proposed Fix

File 1: src/services/worker/SDKAgent.ts

On Windows, prefer claude.cmd via PATH instead of full auto-detected path:

// On Windows, prefer "claude.cmd" (via PATH) to avoid spawn issues with spaces in paths
if (process.platform === 'win32') {
  try {
    execSync('where claude.cmd', { encoding: 'utf8', windowsHide: true, stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'] });
    return 'claude.cmd'; // Let Windows resolve via PATHEXT
  } catch {
    // Fall through to generic error
  }
}

File 2: src/services/worker/ProcessRegistry.ts

Use cmd.exe /d /c wrapper for .cmd files on Windows:

const useCmdWrapper = process.platform === 'win32' && spawnOptions.command.endsWith('.cmd');

if (useCmdWrapper) {
  child = spawn('cmd.exe', ['/d', '/c', spawnOptions.command, ...spawnOptions.args], {
    cwd: spawnOptions.cwd,
    env: spawnOptions.env,
    stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
    signal: spawnOptions.signal,
    windowsHide: true
  });
}

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Why This Works

• PATHEXT Resolution: Windows searches PATH and tries each extension in PATHEXT automatically
• cmd.exe wrapper: Properly handles paths with spaces and argument passing
• Avoids shell parsing: Using direct arguments instead of shell: true prevents empty string misparsing

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Testing

Verified on Windows 11 with username containing spaces:

• PostToolUse hook completes successfully
• Observations are stored to database
• No more "process exited with code 1" errors

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Additional Notes

• Maintains backward compatibility with CLAUDE_CODE_PATH setting
• No impact on non-Windows platforms
• Related to Issue #733 (credential isolation) - separate fix