fix(connect): suggest a serve command that matches how you ran connect

[t3dotgg]

Problem

npx t3@nightly connect ends with:

Next
Start the server with t3 serve to make this machine reachable.

Copy/pasting that fails on any machine without a global t3 install — which is exactly the machine that just ran connect through npx. Same story for bunx and pnpm dlx.

Solution

Detect how the CLI was launched from its entry path (npx / pnpm dlx / bunx caches each have a distinctive layout) and re-derive the channel from the running version, then render the suggestion to match:

• npx t3@nightly connect → Start the server with `npx t3@nightly serve`
• bunx t3 connect → Start the server with `bunx t3 serve`
• t3 connect (global install / repo checkout) → Start the server with `t3 serve`

Detection is best-effort and fails closed to plain t3 serve. The suggestion is only shown when the user did not opt into the background service — that path keeps its existing "Background service ready" copy. Applies to both t3 connect and t3 connect link.

---

Change made by Claude Fable 5 via Claude Code.

---

Note

Low Risk
CLI messaging and small pure helpers with unit tests; no auth, networking, or persistence changes.

Overview
Connect success copy no longer hardcodes t3 serve. It now suggests a copy-pasteable command that mirrors how the user launched the CLI (npx, pnpm dlx, bunx, or plain t3), including t3@nightly when the running build is nightly.

New invocation.ts helpers infer the package runner from the process entry path, derive the package spec from package.json version, and resolveCliCommand wires that into Effect via host process args. connect link and the main connect flow use it; the background-service success path still shows the existing message and returns early without a serve hint.

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit 43f87e8. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure here.}

Note

Fix connect CLI to suggest a serve command matching the actual invocation context

• Adds resolveCliCommand in invocation.ts, an Effect-based helper that detects the package runner (npx, pnpm dlx, bunx) and build channel (nightly vs stable) from the process entry path and formats a matching CLI suggestion.
• Updates connectLinkCommand and connectCommand in connect.ts to use resolveCliCommand instead of the hardcoded string 't3 serve' in their success/next-step messages.
• Adds unit tests in invocation.test.ts covering runner detection, package spec selection, and command formatting across runners and versions.

^{Macroscope summarized 43f87e8.}

[coderabbitai]

Important

Review skipped

Auto reviews are disabled on this repository. Please check the settings in the CodeRabbit UI or the .coderabbit.yaml file in this repository. To trigger a single review, invoke the @coderabbitai review command.

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Repository UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: b6392f90-85ee-4971-8ce3-9f6dc2a46a94

You can disable this status message by setting the reviews.review_status to false in the CodeRabbit configuration file.

Use the checkbox below for a quick retry:

• 🔍 Trigger review

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}

[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes using high effort and found 2 potential issues.

^{❌ Bugbot Autofix is OFF. To automatically fix reported issues with cloud agents, enable autofix in the Cursor dashboard.}

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit 4ecb6fc. Configure here.}

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Approved 43f87e8

This PR adds pure utility functions to format CLI command suggestions matching the user's invocation method (npx, bunx, pnpm dlx). Changes only affect displayed help text, are well-tested, and have no runtime behavior impact beyond UX messaging.

^{You can customize Macroscope's approvability policy. Learn more.}