cmd update reports a network failure on a single transient registry miss #1048

Summary

cmd update (cmdc update on Windows) prints a network failure when one registry read misses, then the same command succeeds immediately. The check has no retry, and the catch hides the real error.

Transcript

Windows, Git Bash, command-code@1.84.0. No network change between the two runs.

$ cmdc update
✖ Failed to check for updates
Please check your internet connection or try again later.

$ cmdc update
✔ Up to date (1.84.0)

npm latest was 1.84.0 at the time, so the second run was a true up-to-date, not an install.

Check path (from dist/cli.mjs of 1.84.0)

buildCliUpdateCheckOutcome maps a null updateInfo to kind check-failed, spinner fail, message Failed to check for updates, detail Please check your internet connection or try again later. An up-to-date result is spinner succeed with Up to date (${currentVersion}).

updateInfo is null only when fetchVersions() returns null:

async function checkForUpdateAvailable() {
  const versions = await fetchVersions();
  if (!versions) return null;
}

async function fetchVersions() {
  try {
    const { stdout } = await execAsync(YP, {
      encoding: "utf-8",
      timeout: 5000,
      env: { ...process.env, NODE_NO_WARNINGS: "1" }
    });
    return normalizeVersionsResponse(JSON.parse(stdout));
  } catch {
    return null;
  }
}

execAsync is util.promisify(child_process.exec). YP is `npm view ${zP} versions --json` with zP = "command-code".

So the check is one npm view command-code versions --json, 5000ms, through a shell. Any timeout, non-zero exit, or non-JSON stdout becomes null. normalizeVersionsResponse also returns null when any entry is not a valid semver, so a registry warning on stdout fails the same way as a dead network.

There is no retry.

Why this is not "no internet"

• ~/.commandcode/logs/command.log records Starting async update check and never records the failure. ~/.commandcode/updates.json stores lastCheckedAt and pending only. A failed check leaves no cause.
• npm cache logs from the same evening show GET https://registry.npmjs.org/command-code returning 200 in 130-287ms.
• No proxy, VPN, or custom registry is configured. ~/.npmrc only sets prefix and allow-scripts.

Ask

1. Retry a failed registry read (3 tries, short backoff) before printing the failure.
2. Print the underlying error (timeout, DNS, HTTP status, npm exit code), not only "check your internet".
3. Write that error to the updater log.

Environment

• OS: Windows, Git Bash
• Package: command-code@1.84.0 (npm global, %APPDATA%\npm)
• Command: cmdc update