From 031e170d3e17f2c0fb918e7ec34ebe741f245d2e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Bakaus <paul.bakaus@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:07:25 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: harden live-server liveness against pid reuse

greptile-apps[bot] repro: a helper that died without removing
server.json leaves a pid the OS can hand to an unrelated process, which
kill(pid, 0) classifies as a running server and routes repo-root helpers
onto the stale app. The liveness check now also requires the pid's
command line to look like a node process (ps-based, platform-guarded),
removing reuse by arbitrary processes; the residual node-reuse case is
covered by the multi-app warning and the --target escape hatch.

This work was produced with AI assistance (Claude Code).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Code <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 skill/scripts/live/roots.mjs | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++----
 tests/live-roots.test.mjs    | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 50 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/skill/scripts/live/roots.mjs b/skill/scripts/live/roots.mjs
index bdca69d75..7ac4ac812 100644
--- a/skill/scripts/live/roots.mjs
+++ b/skill/scripts/live/roots.mjs
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import { resolveProjectRoot } from '../context.mjs';
 
 const ROOTS_MANIFEST_VERSION = 1;
@@ -284,16 +285,32 @@ function readPointerEntries(repoRoot) {
   }
 }
 
-/** True when the app's live helper server is recorded and its pid is alive. */
+/**
+ * True when the app's live helper server is recorded and its pid is alive.
+ * A liveness signal alone misclassifies a REUSED pid (helper died without
+ * removing server.json, the OS handed the pid to something else), so the
+ * process's command line must also look like a node process; that removes
+ * reuse by arbitrary processes. A pid reused by another node process remains
+ * a residual false positive, which the multi-app warning and --target
+ * escape hatch cover.
+ */
 function hasLiveServer(appRoot) {
+  let pid;
   try {
     const info = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(appRoot, '.impeccable', 'live', 'server.json'), 'utf-8'));
     if (!info || typeof info.pid !== 'number') return false;
-    process.kill(info.pid, 0);
-    return true;
+    pid = info.pid;
+    process.kill(pid, 0);
   } catch (err) {
     // EPERM: the process exists but is not signalable by this user.
-    return err?.code === 'EPERM';
+    if (err?.code !== 'EPERM') return false;
+  }
+  if (process.platform === 'win32') return true; // no cheap portable command check
+  try {
+    const command = execFileSync('ps', ['-p', String(pid), '-o', 'command='], { encoding: 'utf-8' });
+    return /\b(node|bun|live-server)\b/.test(command);
+  } catch {
+    return false;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/live-roots.test.mjs b/tests/live-roots.test.mjs
index 4f81d4482..98c686a9e 100644
--- a/tests/live-roots.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/live-roots.test.mjs
@@ -302,3 +302,32 @@ describe('review regressions: helper --target', () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+describe('review regressions: pid reuse', () => {
+  it('does not classify a non-node process reusing the recorded pid as a live server', () => {
+    const repo = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'impeccable-roots-pidreuse-')));
+    try {
+      mkdirSync(join(repo, '.git'), { recursive: true });
+      for (const name of ['appA', 'appB']) {
+        write(repo, `${name}/vite.config.js`, 'export default {};');
+      }
+      const a = resolveRoots({ cwd: repo, targetPath: join(repo, 'appA/vite.config.js') }).manifest;
+      const b = resolveRoots({ cwd: repo, targetPath: join(repo, 'appB/vite.config.js') }).manifest;
+      writeRootsManifest(a);
+      writeRootsManifest(b); // B booted last.
+
+      // B's helper died; its pid was reused by a non-node process (launchd /
+      // init: pid 1 is alive on every unix and is never a node process).
+      write(repo, 'siteB-unused.txt', '');
+      write(repo, 'appB/.impeccable/live/server.json', JSON.stringify({ pid: 1, port: 2, token: 't' }));
+      // A holds the interrupted session the user is recovering.
+      write(repo, 'appA/.impeccable/live/sessions/aa11bb22.snapshot.json',
+        JSON.stringify({ id: 'aa11bb22', phase: 'variants_ready' }));
+
+      const resolved = resolveLiveRoots(repo);
+      assert.equal(resolved.manifest.appRoot, join(repo, 'appA'));
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(repo, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});