[Bug]: Desktop app crashes on launch — Cannot find module 'simple-git' (git-review IPC dep not bundled)

[kroehrs]

What happened

After an in-app desktop update to current main, the Hermes desktop app fails to launch with a fatal uncaught exception:

Uncaught Exception:
Error: Cannot find module 'simple-git'
Require stack:
- .../Hermes.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar/electron/git-review-ops.cjs
- .../Hermes.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar/electron/main.cjs
    at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1483:15)
    ...
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:153:16)

electron/main.cjs require()s electron/git-review-ops.cjs at module load, and that file does require('simple-git') at the top level, so the missing module is fatal at startup — the app never comes up.

Root cause

simple-git (added with the git worktree/review IPC feature) is declared in apps/desktop/package.json, but npm workspace dedup hoists it into the repo-root node_modules, out of reach of electron-builder's file collector:

• build.files in apps/desktop/package.json is an explicit allow-list (dist, assets, electron, public, package.json) — the packaged app.asar ships no node_modules at all.
• The only runtime dep currently bundled is node-pty, hand-staged by scripts/stage-native-deps.cjs + a process.resourcesPath fallback in main.cjs. simple-git got no equivalent staging and no fallback, so it ships nowhere.

ElectronAsarIntegrity (Info.plist) pins a SHA256 of app.asar, so patching the bundle in place is not viable — the dependency has to be staged at build time.

Steps to reproduce

1. Build/package the desktop app from current main (e.g. via the in-app update / hermes desktop --build-only).
2. Launch the packaged Hermes.app.
3. App dies immediately with Cannot find module 'simple-git'.

Environment

• Hermes desktop main (reproduced at commit 208f0d7c3)
• macOS arm64 (packaging path is platform-independent — same hoisting issue on Windows/Linux)

Suggested fix

Mirror the existing node-pty handling: have scripts/stage-native-deps.cjs resolve simple-git's full dependency closure and stage it into build/native-deps/node_modules/ (shipped via the existing extraResources entry), and add a process.resourcesPath require fallback in git-review-ops.cjs. PR incoming.

[PhanAnh-V]

Additional Windows reproduction from Phan's install:

Environment:

• Windows 10/11 host, Hermes installed under C:\Users\hoang\AppData\Local\hermes\hermes-agent
• Desktop packaged path: apps\desktop\release\win-unpacked\Hermes.exe
• Current checkout: 208f0d7c3bbb (working tree dirty because of local hotfix)

Observed fatal dialog on launch:

A JavaScript error occurred in the main process
Uncaught Exception:
Error: Cannot find module 'simple-git'
Require stack:
- C:\Users\hoang\AppData\Local\hermes\hermes-agent\apps\desktop\release\win-unpacked\resources\app.asar\electron\git-review-ops.cjs
- C:\Users\hoang\AppData\Local\hermes\hermes-agent\apps\desktop\release\win-unpacked\resources\app.asar\electron\main.cjs

Local verification:

apps/desktop/node_modules/simple-git: missing
repo-root node_modules/simple-git: present
release/win-unpacked/resources/app.asar: contains electron/git-review-ops.cjs, but no node_modules/simple-git

I tested a local workaround on Windows:

• git-review-ops.cjs catches require('simple-git') failure and falls back to process.resourcesPath/native-deps/vendor/simple-git.
• stage-native-deps.cjs stages simple-git, @simple-git/args-pathspec, and @simple-git/argv-parser under build/native-deps/vendor/....
• npm run build and npm run builder -- --dir succeeded.
• The rebuilt release/win-unpacked/resources/app.asar has the patched git-review-ops.cjs and release/win-unpacked/resources/native-deps/vendor/... contains the staged packages.
• node smoke test with process.resourcesPath pointed at the packaged resources loaded electron/git-review-ops.cjs successfully and reported 15 exports.

Note: staging under build/native-deps/node_modules/... did not show up in release/win-unpacked/resources in this Windows build; staging under build/native-deps/vendor/... did.

[Gurud25]

I hit this on a Windows Desktop install after updating/reinstalling with Hermes-Setup.exe.

Symptom

Hermes Desktop crashed on launch with:

Error: Cannot find module 'simple-git'
Require stack:
...\apps\desktop\release\win-unpacked\resources\app.asar\electron\git-review-ops.cjs
...\apps\desktop\release\win-unpacked\resources\app.asar\electron\main.cjs

A normal reinstall did not help because it installed the same packaged build.

What did not work

Running this in the source desktop folder did not fix the packaged app:

cd "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes\hermes-agent\apps\desktop"
npm install simple-git@3.36.0

Running npm install after cd release\win-unpacked\resources also did not reliably target that folder because npm walked up and used the workspace/package root.

Temporary workaround that fixed launch

Installing the dependency with an explicit prefix into the packaged runtime resources folder fixed the crash:

$desktop = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes\hermes-agent\apps\desktop"
$release = Get-ChildItem "$desktop\release" -Directory -Filter "win*-unpacked" | Select-Object -First 1
$resources = Join-Path $release.FullName "resources"

npm install --prefix $resources simple-git@3.36.0

Test-Path "$resources\node_modules\simple-git"
# True

After that, Hermes Desktop launched successfully.

Likely root cause

apps/desktop/electron/git-review-ops.cjs does require('simple-git'), and apps/desktop/package.json lists simple-git, but the packaged Windows app does not include resources/node_modules/simple-git (or otherwise make it resolvable from app.asar).

This looks like a Windows Desktop packaging/runtime dependency issue rather than a local config problem.

[ThaRealJozef]

i have the same issue, and tried the commands listed in the reply above and it started working again.

[eonkzar]

I'm getting this issue on MacOS, help please

[eWOOD29]

Getting this issue on Windows as well.

[brainomite]

Same here macos 26.5.1 (25F80)

[threatsurfer]

Confirming this on Windows as well, the trace in the original report is a macOS .app/Contents/Resources path, so it's the same bug cross-platform.

• Hermes desktop UI v0.18.0, Electron 40.10.2, Node 22.22.3 (bundled), Windows 11 x64 (win-unpacked build).
• Same fatal startup exception: app.asar\electron\git-review-ops.cjs → require('simple-git').
• The whole simple-git subtree is missing, not just the top-level package. After making simple-git resolvable, launch fails next on @simple-git/args-pathspec, then @simple-git/argv-parser. Full set absent from the asar: simple-git, @simple-git/args-pathspec, @simple-git/argv-parser, @kwsites/file-exists, @kwsites/promise-deferred, debug, ms. Confirmed app.asar contains zero node_modules via the bundled @electron/asar listPackage().

Windows workaround until the fix PR lands: copy those packages from the repo-root node_modules into win-unpacked\resources\node_modules\ (the first external path Electron resolves once outside the asar). Non-destructive; wiped on the next hermes update.

[ulissesflores]

Confirmed on macOS arm64 (v0.17.0, packaged via the in-app update) — same fatal startup app.asar/electron/git-review-ops.cjs → require('simple-git'), and @electron/asar listPackage() shows the asar ships zero node_modules.

One macOS-specific note on the ElectronAsarIntegrity point raised in the report: @threatsurfer's external-resolution workaround (copying the dependency closure into …/Hermes.app/Contents/Resources/node_modules/) is integrity-safe here. Because app.asar itself stays untouched, the Info.plist SHA256 pin still matches and the app launches cleanly — full Electron process tree, no integrity failure. So a local stopgap is viable on macOS too, not just a rebuild. Same 7-package closure (simple-git, @simple-git/args-pathspec, @simple-git/argv-parser, @kwsites/file-exists, @kwsites/promise-deferred, debug, ms); wiped on the next rebuild / hermes update, so it's only a bridge until the stage-native-deps.cjs staging PR lands.