[Bug]: Homebrew metadata can hide Codex update when T3 marks installed version unsupported

[cornishandy]

Before submitting

• I searched existing issues and did not find this failure mode.
• I included a reproducible before/after sequence.

Area

apps/server provider maintenance; apps/desktop provider update UI

Steps to reproduce

1. Install Codex through the Homebrew cask. Leave the local Homebrew metadata at Codex 0.155.1 while the Homebrew cask has published 0.157.1.
2. Open T3 Code nightly 0.0.43-nightly.20260926.2282, which requires Codex >=0.156.0. Keep Settings → General → Provider update checks enabled.
3. In Settings → Providers, refresh provider status.

Expected behavior

When the installed provider is below T3's supported range and a compatible Homebrew release exists, T3 should offer a working update path or explain that Homebrew metadata needs refreshing. The user should not be left with an unsupported provider and no update action.

Actual behavior

T3 showed: Codex 0.155.1 is unsupported. This provider version is outside the supported range for this T3 Code release. Use >=0.156.0. The Codex provider was authenticated, but no provider Update action appeared. brew info --cask codex also reported only 0.155.1.

Running brew update changed brew info --cask codex to 0.155.1 → 0.157.1. After Refresh provider status, T3 immediately showed Update Available: Codex v0.157.1. Its Update button successfully upgraded Codex to 0.157.1; a subsequent provider refresh showed both Codex instances authenticated without the unsupported warning.

Suspected cause

T3's Homebrew maintenance path derives the latest available version from local brew info --json=v2 data (source). That data can remain stale until brew update runs. T3's provider refresh did not refresh Homebrew metadata or surface a hint about this dependency in this case.

A possible fix is to refresh Homebrew metadata when an installed provider is below T3's minimum supported version, or show a targeted Run brew update / refresh Homebrew metadata instruction before concluding that no update is available. This need not run brew update on every routine status poll.

Impact

An existing Codex installation can become unsupported by a T3 release while T3's in-app updater offers no recovery action, even though Homebrew has a compatible version. Users may conclude Codex support was removed.

Environment

• T3 Code 0.0.43-nightly.20260926.2282
• macOS 27.2, Apple Silicon
• Codex Homebrew cask 0.155.1 → 0.157.1
• Provider binary path: codex

Related

• [Bug]: Homebrew-installed Codex/Claude flagged outdated against npm latest, brew upgrade cannot clear it #7730 concerned the opposite mismatch: npm was newer than Homebrew and T3 offered an update that Homebrew could not deliver. This report is about Homebrew's local metadata being stale after the cask has published, leaving an unsupported provider with no in-app update offer.
• [Bug]: Codex cant update #8051 and [Bug]: Codex Update Always Failing #2765 report update execution failures on Windows; here the update execution succeeded once the offer appeared.

[juliusmarminge]

Confirmed on current main. Not a duplicate of #7730, #8051, or #2765.

Homebrew-managed Codex is compared to local brew info --json=v2, not npm. That is intentional (#9325, fixing #7730): brew upgrade can only install what the local tap already knows, and casks trail npm by hours. brew info does not refresh taps, so a published cask still looks current until brew update.

For 0.0.43, Codex >=0.156.0 is supported and 0.149.0–0.155.x is unsupported (apps/server/src/provider/model-manifest.json). There is no concrete recommendedVersion, only recommendedRange: ">=0.156.0", so Settings never offers Install vX. Update now appears only when the advisory is behind_latest and that latest version is itself supported.

With local metadata still at 0.155.1:

• The installed version and brew info’s latest are equal, so the advisory is current, not behind_latest.
• That same 0.155.1 is unsupported, so the version popover also drops brew upgrade --cask codex.
• The banner is “Codex 0.155.1 is unsupported” plus “This provider version is outside the supported range for this T3 Code release. Use >=0.156.0.”

Nothing is left to run. The public Homebrew cask API currently lists codex 0.157.1, which is inside >=0.156.0 and matches what showed up after brew update. Refresh provider status sends refreshModels: true, which re-runs brew info, so that refresh can see the new cask immediately. A normal status poll keeps the previous Homebrew result for up to an hour.

Workaround: brew update, then Settings → Providers → Refresh provider status, then Update.

A fix should not compare Homebrew installs to npm latest again, and should not offer Update now while brew info still says the cask is current — that upgrade does nothing. When the installed version is outside the supported range and Homebrew’s reported latest is not a newer supported version, say that local Homebrew metadata may be stale and to run brew update, then refresh. A one-shot metadata refresh in that case is reasonable; it should not run on every provider poll.