paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

Installed CLI smoke check reported

Error message

Installed CLI smoke check reported ${reportedVersion || "no version"}; expected ${expectedVersion}.

What it means

Post-install version verification: running the installed CLI's entrypoint did not report the version that was resolved and installed, so the payload is stale, mismatched, or corrupted relative to the requested channel.

Solutions

1. Reinstall the expected version; if it persists, check PATH shadowing by another paperclipai binary.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/src/commands/install.ts:178 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@01ad858492 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/86f262f91b685000. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/install.ts:178

export async function resolveGitHubRef(repo: string, ref: string, runCommand: CommandRunner): Promise<string> {
  const result = await runGitHubCurl(["--fail", "--silent", "--show-error", "--location", "--header", "Accept: application/vnd.github+json", "--header", "User-Agent: paperclipai-install", `https://api.github.com/repos/${repo}/commits/${encodeURIComponent(ref)}`], runCommand, { maxBuffer: 4 * 1024 * 1024 });
  let sha: unknown;
  try { sha = (JSON.parse(result.stdout) as { sha?: unknown }).sha; } catch { throw new Error(`GitHub returned an invalid response while resolving ${repo}@${ref}.`); }
  if (typeof sha !== "string" || !/^[0-9a-f]{40}$/i.test(sha)) throw new Error(`GitHub did not return a full commit SHA for ${repo}@${ref}.`);
  return sha.toLowerCase();
}

function payloadEntrypoint(payloadPath: string): string {
  return path.join(payloadPath, "node_modules", "paperclipai", "dist", "index.js");
}

export async function smokePayload(payloadPath: string, expectedVersion: string, runCommand: CommandRunner): Promise<void> {
  const entrypoint = payloadEntrypoint(payloadPath);
  if (!fs.existsSync(entrypoint)) throw new Error(`Installed package is missing its CLI entrypoint: ${entrypoint}`);
  const result = await runCommand(process.execPath, [entrypoint, "--version"], { maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024 });
  const reportedVersion = result.stdout.trim().split(/\s+/)[0];
  if (reportedVersion !== expectedVersion) {
    throw new Error(`Installed CLI smoke check reported ${reportedVersion || "no version"}; expected ${expectedVersion}.`);
  }
}

export async function installNpmPayload(
  version: string,
  runCommand: CommandRunner,
  paths = resolveInstallStorePaths(),
): Promise<{ payloadPath: string; reused: boolean }> {
  const payloadPath = payloadPathFor(paths, "npm", version);
  if (fs.existsSync(payloadPath)) {
    await smokePayload(payloadPath, version, runCommand);
    return { payloadPath, reused: true };
  }
  const sourceRoot = path.dirname(payloadPath);
  fs.mkdirSync(sourceRoot, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
  const sourceStat = fs.lstatSync(sourceRoot);
  if (!sourceStat.isDirectory() || sourceStat.isSymbolicLink()) {
    throw new Error(`Refusing to install into unsafe payload root ${sourceRoot}.`);

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