Port: port/pr-38-fix/update-preserve-config-json

[briansumma]

Ported from upstream cytostack/openwolf. Needs review before merge.

[briansumma]

Now I have everything I need. Here's my review of PR #12:

---

PR #12 Code Review: port/pr-38-fix/update-preserve-config-json

Overview

This PR ports a fix from upstream (cytostack/openwolf). The change moves config.json out of ALWAYS_OVERWRITE (files stamped over on every openwolf update) and into USER_DATA_FILES (files never touched once they exist). The root cause described in the new block comment is real and serious: overwriting config.json resets all projects to the same default ports (18790/18791), causing all but the first daemon to crash-loop on EADDRINUSE.

The fix is directionally correct. Two issues need attention before merge.

---

Issues

⚠️ WARNING 1 — Stale inline comment (line 177)

The updateProject() function still has:

// 2. Update template files (OPENWOLF.md, config.json)

config.json is no longer in ALWAYS_OVERWRITE and is no longer updated by this loop. The comment is now actively misleading — a future reader will wonder why the loop doesn't copy config.json when the comment says it should.

Fix:

// 2. Update template files (OPENWOLF.md, reframe-frameworks.md)

---

⚠️ WARNING 2 — No "create if missing" bootstrap for config.json during update

Moving config.json to USER_DATA_FILES means the update command never touches it — not even to create it when it doesn't exist. Older projects initialized before config.json was introduced to the template will run openwolf update and still have no config.json. The daemon will then attempt to start without it.

Whether that's a hard crash depends on how the daemon reads config, but the update command already handles a similar problem for hooks (copyHookScripts creates the hooks dir and files). config.json should get the same treatment.

The block comment says "Keep it in BACKUP_FILES (via the spread below) so openwolf restore can still recover it" — that's correct — but it doesn't address the creation gap.

Fix — add a "create if missing" step after the template copy loop (around line 186):

// Seed config.json if it doesn't exist yet (never overwrite — user data)
const configDest = path.join(wolfDir, "config.json");
const configSrc = path.join(templatesDir, "config.json");
if (!fs.existsSync(configDest) && fs.existsSync(configSrc)) {
  fs.copyFileSync(configSrc, configDest);
  console.log(`    ✓ config.json seeded (first time)`);
}

---

What's Good

• The core fix is correct. config.json absolutely should not be overwritten on update. The EADDRINUSE scenario described in the comment is real.
• The block comment is excellent — it explains why, names the specific fields at risk, and describes the failure mode. Keep it.
• BACKUP_FILES spread is correct — config.json will be included in pre-update backups, so openwolf restore can recover it.
• No behavioral regression for existing projects — projects that already have config.json will have it preserved as intended.

---

Summary

#	Severity	Issue
1	⚠️ WARNING	Line 177: stale comment still names config.json as a file being updated
2	⚠️ WARNING	No "create if missing" seed for config.json on update — older projects won't get the file

Fix both before merging; neither is a blocker, but #2 will silently break daemon startup for any project that predates the config.json template addition.

[briansumma]

Autofixer skipped: merge conflicts with main detected.

[briansumma]

✅ Autofixer applied. Build and tests passed. Promoting to Ready for Review.