Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · Error

The update download redirected to an unexpected host.

Error message

The update download redirected to an unexpected host.

What it means

During download, prepareUpdate() follows up to 4 HTTP redirects manually. Each redirect target must be https and on one of the allowed hosts: github.com, release-assets.githubusercontent.com, or objects.githubusercontent.com. A redirect to any other protocol or hostname is rejected to prevent the update binary from being served by an attacker-controlled server.

Solutions

1. Remove any proxy, TLS-interception, or DNS override that rewrites github.com / *.githubusercontent.com redirects to a different host.
2. Test the redirect chain (curl -sIL <release url>) and confirm every Location lands on github.com, release-assets.githubusercontent.com, or objects.githubusercontent.com over https.
3. If you operate a mirror, host the asset at the exact expected release URL instead of redirecting to a third-party domain.
4. Retry the update from an unrestricted network if a security appliance is intercepting traffic.

try { await prepareUpdate(update); } catch (e) { if (/unexpected host/.test(e.message)) { /* disable proxy/TLS interception or bypass the mirror, then retry */ } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: The GitHub release URL or asset CDN responds with a 301/302/303/307/308 whose Location header points to a non-https URL or a hostname outside the allowlist (e.g. a corporate proxy, a mirror domain, or a malicious redirect injected between the client and GitHub).

Common situations: Corporate HTTPS proxies or DNS filtering appliances rewriting GitHub redirects; HTTPS interception middleboxes that re-host release assets; DNS hijacking or hosts-file overrides pointing github.com elsewhere; testing with a local mirror server that redirects to an unlisted host.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid URL" / "URL cannot be empty": fix the malformed or missing URL behind request-construction failures — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• bundle redirects may not change URL scheme
• failed to resolve latest stable release from
• release redirect did not resolve to a tag URL
• Release redirect refused
• Codewhale web is loopback-only and must bind to 127.0.0.1

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@73e0f67d83 (2026-09-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/57ce5b028760a6a5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/tui/plugins/computer-use/app/updates.mjs:93

    try { expanded=method===0?payload.length:inflateRawSync(payload,{maxOutputLength:Math.max(size,1)}).length; }
    catch { throw new Error("Invalid or oversized compressed update entry."); }
    if(expanded!==size) throw new Error("The update entry size did not match its contents.");
    position+=46+length+extra+comment;
  }
  if(position!==end) throw new Error("Invalid update archive length.");
  return count;
}

export async function prepareUpdate(update) {
  if(!update?.available) throw new Error("Check for an available update first.");
  if(!newerVersion(update.version,APP_VERSION)||update.url!==`${repository}/releases/download/v${update.version}/Codewhale-Computer-Use-${update.version}-macos-universal.zip`||!Number.isSafeInteger(update.size)||update.size<=0||update.size>limit) throw new Error("The update identity is invalid.");
  // Only GitHub's fixed release URL and its asset CDN can serve the bytes.
  let url=update.url, response;
  for(let redirects=0;redirects<4;redirects++) {
    response=await fetch(url,{redirect:"manual",signal:AbortSignal.timeout(60_000)});
    if(![301,302,303,307,308].includes(response.status)) break;
    const next=new URL(response.headers.get("location"),url);
    if(next.protocol!=="https:"||!["github.com","release-assets.githubusercontent.com","objects.githubusercontent.com"].includes(next.hostname)) throw new Error("The update download redirected to an unexpected host.");
    url=next.href;
  }
  if(!response?.ok) throw new Error("The update could not be downloaded. Your current app is unchanged.");
  const bytes=await responseBytes(response,update.size);
  if(bytes.length!==update.size||crypto.createHash("sha256").update(bytes).digest("hex")!==update.sha256) throw new Error("The update checksum did not match. Your current app is unchanged.");
  validateReleaseZip(bytes);
  const stage=fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(),"codewhale-cu-release-"));
  try {
    const archive=path.join(stage,"release.zip"); fs.writeFileSync(archive,bytes,{mode:0o600});
    const result=spawnSync("ditto",["-x","-k",archive,stage],{encoding:"utf8"});
    if(result.status!==0) throw new Error("The update could not be unpacked.");
    const bundle=path.join(stage,`${APP_NAME}.app`); verifyReleaseBundle(bundle);
    const version=spawnSync("/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy",["-c","Print :CFBundleShortVersionString",path.join(bundle,"Contents","Info.plist")],{encoding:"utf8"});
    if(version.status!==0||version.stdout.trim()!==update.version) throw new Error("The downloaded app has a different version.");
    return {stage,bundle};
  } catch(error) { fs.rmSync(stage,{recursive:true,force:true}); throw error; }
}

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