From a8b5bc59ec2af51f7fb21fd861ce38661f88f7fd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: blueverse-hh <horim@metalabs.company>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 23:05:17 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(browse): stop stray Windows console windows during browse

The browse daemon is launched detached (cli.ts startServer), which on Windows
gives it NO console. Console children it then spawns -- chrome-headless-shell.exe
via Playwright, `bun` skill helpers, the taskkill cleanup -- find no console to
inherit, so Windows allocates a fresh VISIBLE console window for each. Users see
stray chrome-headless-shell / bun terminal windows during browse use; some linger
for the browser's lifetime. Neither the user's default-terminal choice nor a flag
on the daemon itself fixes it: a detached process has no console regardless.

Verified on Windows 11: a child of a detached/console-less parent is visible
without windowsHide and hidden with it (windowsHide => CREATE_NO_WINDOW, which
suppresses the window even when the parent has no console).

Fix: the daemon defaults windowsHide:true for every child_process spawn
(win-console-hide.ts, imported first in server.ts so it patches the
child_process singleton before Playwright's first launch()). playwright-core
reads spawn via a live `__toESM(require("child_process")).spawn` getter at call
time, so patching the singleton covers its browser launch even though spawn
options can't be passed through chromium.launch(). gstack's own Bun.spawn skill
helpers and the detached launcher / attack-telemetry spawns set windowsHide
directly.

End-to-end: `browse goto` now starts the daemon and 4 chrome-headless-shell
processes with zero visible windows.

Adds a static-grep tripwire so the flag and import order can't regress.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 browse/src/browser-skill-commands.ts          |  2 +
 browse/src/cli.ts                             | 10 +++-
 browse/src/security.ts                        |  4 ++
 browse/src/server.ts                          |  5 ++
 browse/src/win-console-hide.ts                | 60 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../windows-hide-detached-console.test.ts     | 60 +++++++++++++++++++
 6 files changed, 140 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 browse/src/win-console-hide.ts
 create mode 100644 browse/test/windows-hide-detached-console.test.ts

diff --git a/browse/src/browser-skill-commands.ts b/browse/src/browser-skill-commands.ts
index 3c0805f5d..fc7c542f9 100644
--- a/browse/src/browser-skill-commands.ts
+++ b/browse/src/browser-skill-commands.ts
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ async function handleTest(args: string[], ctx: SkillCommandContext): Promise<str
     stdout: 'pipe',
     stderr: 'pipe',
     env: process.env,
+    windowsHide: true, // don't pop a console window on Windows (see win-console-hide.ts)
   });
   const exitCode = await proc.exited;
   const stdout = proc.stdout ? await new Response(proc.stdout).text() : '';
@@ -268,6 +269,7 @@ export async function spawnSkill(opts: SpawnSkillOptions): Promise<SpawnSkillRes
       env,
       stdout: 'pipe',
       stderr: 'pipe',
+      windowsHide: true, // don't pop a console window on Windows (see win-console-hide.ts)
     });
 
     let timedOut = false;
diff --git a/browse/src/cli.ts b/browse/src/cli.ts
index 59327b792..acfabd7fc 100644
--- a/browse/src/cli.ts
+++ b/browse/src/cli.ts
@@ -319,11 +319,19 @@ async function startServer(extraEnv?: Record<string, string>): Promise<ServerSta
     // when the CLI exits, the server dies with it. Use Node's child_process.spawn
     // with { detached: true } instead, which is the gold standard for Windows
     // process independence. Credit: PR #191 by @fqueiro.
+    //
+    // windowsHide: true is required alongside detached. Without it the detached
+    // daemon allocates a console, and on Windows 11 with "Default terminal
+    // application = Windows Terminal" that console is handed off to a visible
+    // Windows Terminal window/tab that lingers for the daemon's whole lifetime.
+    // windowsHide maps to CREATE_NO_WINDOW, which suppresses both the console
+    // and the terminal handoff. The daemon already uses stdio:'ignore', so it
+    // never needs a console.
     const extraEnvStr = JSON.stringify({ BROWSE_STATE_FILE: config.stateFile, BROWSE_PARENT_PID: parentPid, ...(extraEnv || {}) });
     const launcherCode =
       `const{spawn}=require('child_process');` +
       `spawn(process.execPath,[${JSON.stringify(NODE_SERVER_SCRIPT)}],` +
-      `{detached:true,stdio:['ignore','ignore','ignore'],env:Object.assign({},process.env,` +
+      `{detached:true,windowsHide:true,stdio:['ignore','ignore','ignore'],env:Object.assign({},process.env,` +
       `${extraEnvStr})}).unref()`;
     Bun.spawnSync(['node', '-e', launcherCode], { stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', 'ignore'] });
   } else {
diff --git a/browse/src/security.ts b/browse/src/security.ts
index d0e403971..89095abf3 100644
--- a/browse/src/security.ts
+++ b/browse/src/security.ts
@@ -494,6 +494,10 @@ function reportAttemptTelemetry(record: AttemptRecord): void {
     const child = spawn(result.cmd, result.cmdArgs, {
       stdio: 'ignore',
       detached: true,
+      // windowsHide (CREATE_NO_WINDOW) keeps this fire-and-forget reporter from
+      // popping a console window on Windows 11 when the default terminal is
+      // Windows Terminal. No-op on macOS/Linux. See cli.ts startServer().
+      windowsHide: true,
     });
     // unref so this subprocess doesn't hold the event loop open
     child.unref();
diff --git a/browse/src/server.ts b/browse/src/server.ts
index 301781acc..143c459db 100644
--- a/browse/src/server.ts
+++ b/browse/src/server.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@
  *   Port:       random 10000-60000 (or BROWSE_PORT env for debug override)
  */
 
+// MUST be first: patches child_process.spawn to default windowsHide on Windows
+// before Playwright (pulled in via BrowserManager below) ever launches the
+// browser, so the detached daemon's console-less children don't pop stray
+// terminal windows. No-op off Windows.
+import './win-console-hide';
 import { BrowserManager } from './browser-manager';
 import { handleReadCommand, hasOutArg } from './read-commands';
 import { handleWriteCommand } from './write-commands';
diff --git a/browse/src/win-console-hide.ts b/browse/src/win-console-hide.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e0a126670
--- /dev/null
+++ b/browse/src/win-console-hide.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/**
+ * Windows console-window suppression for the browse daemon.
+ *
+ * The daemon is launched detached (see cli.ts startServer), which on Windows
+ * means it runs with NO console. Any console child it then spawns —
+ * chrome-headless-shell.exe via Playwright, `bun` helpers, the taskkill cleanup —
+ * finds no console to inherit, so Windows allocates a fresh VISIBLE console
+ * window for it. That's the stray terminal windows users see during browse use.
+ *
+ * The fix is windowsHide (CREATE_NO_WINDOW) on the CHILD: it suppresses the
+ * window even when the parent has no console. Verified on Windows 11: a child of
+ * a detached/console-less parent is visible without windowsHide and hidden with
+ * it. Playwright does not pass windowsHide (it spawns the browser via
+ * `childProcess.spawn(...)` in playwright-core's processLauncher with no such
+ * option), and we can't pass spawn options through `chromium.launch()`. So we
+ * default windowsHide ON for every child_process spawn in this process.
+ *
+ * Why this works despite Playwright loading first: playwright-core captures
+ * child_process via `__toESM(require("child_process"))`, whose property access
+ * (`childProcess.spawn`) is a live getter that reads the underlying singleton at
+ * call time. Patching the singleton's spawn/spawnSync before the first
+ * `launch()` (i.e. during daemon startup, which is what importing this module
+ * first in server.ts guarantees) is therefore sufficient.
+ *
+ * No-op on macOS/Linux.
+ */
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
+
+if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+  // An ESM `import * as cp` namespace is read-only and can't be patched.
+  // createRequire yields the mutable, cached CJS child_process exports — the
+  // same singleton object playwright-core's require("child_process") returns.
+  const require_ = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+  const cp = require_('child_process') as Record<string, unknown>;
+
+  // Normalize spawn(cmd, options) vs spawn(cmd, args, options) and default
+  // windowsHide:true when the caller didn't set it explicitly.
+  const withHide = (args: unknown, options: unknown): [unknown, Record<string, unknown>] => {
+    let opts: Record<string, unknown>;
+    if (args && !Array.isArray(args) && typeof args === 'object') {
+      opts = args as Record<string, unknown>;
+      args = undefined;
+    } else {
+      opts = (options as Record<string, unknown>) || {};
+    }
+    if (opts.windowsHide === undefined) opts.windowsHide = true;
+    return [args, opts];
+  };
+
+  for (const name of ['spawn', 'spawnSync'] as const) {
+    const orig = cp[name] as ((...a: unknown[]) => unknown) & { __gstackHidden?: boolean };
+    if (typeof orig !== 'function' || orig.__gstackHidden) continue;
+    const patched = function (this: unknown, command: unknown, args?: unknown, options?: unknown) {
+      const [a, o] = withHide(args, options);
+      return a === undefined ? orig.call(this, command, o) : orig.call(this, command, a, o);
+    } as ((...a: unknown[]) => unknown) & { __gstackHidden?: boolean };
+    patched.__gstackHidden = true;
+    cp[name] = patched;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/browse/test/windows-hide-detached-console.test.ts b/browse/test/windows-hide-detached-console.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..358c60d05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/browse/test/windows-hide-detached-console.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+import * as path from 'path';
+
+// REGRESSION TEST for the Windows "stray terminal window" class of bug.
+//
+// The browse daemon is launched detached (cli.ts startServer), which on Windows
+// means it has NO console. Any console child it then spawns — chrome-headless-
+// shell.exe via Playwright, `bun` helpers, the taskkill cleanup — finds no
+// console to inherit, so Windows allocates a fresh VISIBLE console window for
+// it. windowsHide (CREATE_NO_WINDOW) on the CHILD suppresses that window even
+// when the parent has no console (verified on Windows 11).
+//
+// The primary fix is win-console-hide.ts: the daemon patches
+// child_process.spawn/spawnSync to default windowsHide:true, so Playwright's
+// browser launch (which we can't pass spawn options to) is covered. gstack's own
+// Bun.spawn helpers and the detached/telemetry spawns set windowsHide directly.
+//
+// Static-grep tripwire — read source, assert the invariant. Pattern mirrors
+// browse/test/terminal-agent-pid-identity.test.ts. Uses import.meta.dir, NOT
+// new URL(import.meta.url).pathname (which yields "/C:/..." -> doubled-drive
+// "C:\C:\..." on Windows).
+const SRC_DIR = path.resolve(import.meta.dir, '..', 'src');
+
+function read(file: string): string {
+  return fs.readFileSync(path.join(SRC_DIR, file), 'utf-8');
+}
+
+describe('Windows detached spawns hide the console window', () => {
+  test('1. win-console-hide.ts patches spawn and spawnSync with windowsHide', () => {
+    const m = read('win-console-hide.ts');
+    expect(m).toContain("process.platform === 'win32'");
+    expect(m).toMatch(/windowsHide\s*=\s*true/);
+    // Must patch both window-creating entry points.
+    expect(m).toMatch(/'spawn',\s*'spawnSync'/);
+  });
+
+  test('2. server.ts imports win-console-hide before BrowserManager (=> before Playwright)', () => {
+    const s = read('server.ts');
+    const hide = s.indexOf("./win-console-hide");
+    const bm = s.indexOf("./browser-manager");
+    expect(hide).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(bm).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(hide).toBeLessThan(bm); // ordering is load-bearing
+  });
+
+  test('3. browser-skill-commands.ts bun spawns set windowsHide', () => {
+    const c = read('browser-skill-commands.ts');
+    const hits = c.match(/windowsHide:\s*true/g) || [];
+    expect(hits.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
+  });
+
+  test('4. cli.ts Windows server launcher passes windowsHide alongside detached', () => {
+    expect(read('cli.ts')).toContain('detached:true,windowsHide:true,');
+  });
+
+  test('5. security.ts attack-telemetry reporter passes windowsHide alongside detached', () => {
+    expect(read('security.ts')).toMatch(/detached:\s*true,[\s\S]{0,400}?windowsHide:\s*true/);
+  });
+});