build(server): make the CLI bundle loadable as a Node single-executable

[juliusmarminge]

Part 2 of 8 (stack #11411) toward shipping the t3 CLI as a self-contained executable so runtime installers never resolve or build dependencies again (#11208, #6012, #9398 are all install-time failures of that kind).

Problem

A Node single-executable (SEA) can only import built-in modules; any file-backed specifier throws at module evaluation (static) or on first use (dynamic). The server bundle keeps three native packages external (fff-node, node-pty, msgpackr-extract), and two of them were reached through ESM imports, so the executable died on startup with ERR_UNKNOWN_BUILTIN_MODULE: @ff-labs/fff-node.

Fix

• WorkspaceSearchIndex and NodePtyAdapter load their native package through createRequire, which reads the real filesystem in every runtime. The pty loader becomes a Context.Reference so the adapter test can inject a fake module (module mocks no longer intercept require).
• fff-node's exports map only declared an import condition, so require() failed with ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED; the existing pnpm patch adds a require condition.
• New build:exe script / cli.ts build-exe wraps the bundle with tsdown's exe support (Node ≥ 25.7 on the build host; the repo stays on 24) and fails if the emitted bundle still contains an ESM import of a file-backed package. findEsmImportsOfExternalPackages reads the artifact rather than trusting bundler config, the same reasoning as the existing inlined-package scan.

No distribution changes yet: dist/bin.mjs and the npm package are unchanged apart from the two loader edits.

Verification

• vp test run on NodePtyAdapter, WorkspaceSearchIndex, Manager, and scripts/lib/cli-external-packages (97 + 18 tests).
• Built dist-exe/t3 locally with Node 26.8.2 (160 MB, --version in ~720 ms vs ~990 ms for node dist/bin.mjs), ran t3 serve from a scratch T3CODE_HOME with the native tree beside it, and got 200 from / and /api/health.
• The new scanner reports ['@ff-labs/fff-node', 'node-pty'] on the pre-change bundle and [] after.

Claude Fable 5 via Claude Code.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Added support for building the server as a standalone t3 executable.
  • Added a dedicated executable build command with validation for unsupported external package imports.
  • Executable builds use a separate output directory and omit sourcemaps.
  • Improved compatibility with packaged native modules and file-backed dependencies.

• Bug Fixes

  • Improved runtime resolution of packaged application resources and native modules.
  • Improved detection and reporting of imports that cannot be bundled into standalone executables.

Update: Bun runtime branches removed

Since the server now ships as a Node single-executable and is never run under Bun, this layer also drops every Bun-specific path: BunPtyAdapter, the BunHttpServer/BunServices selection in server.ts, the bun:sqlite client selection in the persistence layer, the @effect/platform-bun and @effect/sql-sqlite-bun dependencies, and the build-only external exemption that existed to keep those imports unresolved. Each service now has one implementation.

[github-actions]

Thread transfer impact

✅ Thread transfer remains within every enforced ceiling.

ℹ️ No successful main baseline artifact is available yet. This run establishes the initial measurement.

Provider	Metric	Main baseline	This PR	Impact	PR ceiling
Codex	Total thread wire	—	13.6 KiB	—	15.1 KiB	✅
Codex	Thread snapshot wire	—	7.1 KiB	—	7.3 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket wire	—	6.5 KiB	—	7.8 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket decoded	—	57.1 KiB	—	66.4 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn messages	—	10	—	21	✅
Claude	Total thread wire	—	13.6 KiB	—	15.1 KiB	✅
Claude	Thread snapshot wire	—	7.1 KiB	—	7.3 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket wire	—	6.5 KiB	—	7.8 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket decoded	—	57.8 KiB	—	66.4 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn messages	—	9	—	21	✅

Baseline: unavailable · PR result: 8f2903f · Source CI: success

Scenario and decoded snapshot size

10 historical turns, 5 command tools per turn, 878.9 KiB retained MCP result per historical turn, and a 1.05 MiB retained result in the measured turn.

• Codex decoded thread snapshot: 113.9 KiB
• Claude decoded thread snapshot: 114.6 KiB

Updated in place by a trusted workflow. PR artifacts are strictly validated and never executed.

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Not approved

Macroscope's review found this PR not approvable — This change introduces a Node single-executable build path while rewiring existing HTTP, PTY, SQLite, and platform-service behavior from runtime-selected Bun/Node implementations to Node-only implementations. It also adds static-analysis suppression directives and changes native dependency loading and packaging, giving the PR a broader blast radius than a self-contained build tweak.

Notes:

• Diff unchanged. Approvability was decided on eligibility alone.

No code changes detected at 8f2903f. Prior analysis still applies.

^{You can add or adjust custom eligibility rules. Learn more.}

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The server adds a build:exe workflow. Executable builds use dedicated output settings, validate bundle imports, and load native packages through CommonJS resolution. Server runtime integrations now use Node implementations.

Suggested reviewers: t3dotgg

Changes

Node runtime migration

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Node runtime migration apps/server/src/server.ts, apps/server/src/persistence/*, apps/server/src/terminal/BunPtyAdapter.*, apps/server/package.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml	The server uses Node HTTP, PTY, and SQLite implementations. Bun-specific adapters, dependencies, and tests are removed. SQLite error handling uses Node-specific behavior.
Native module resolution apps/server/src/terminal/NodePtyAdapter.*, apps/server/src/workspace/WorkspaceSearchIndex.ts, patches/*	Native modules load through CommonJS resolution. NodePtyAdapter exposes an injectable loader. Tests provide loader services.
Executable build configuration apps/server/vite.config.ts, .gitignore, apps/server/package.json	Executable mode writes to dist-exe, disables sourcemaps, configures the t3 executable, ignores generated output, and exposes the build script.
Build command and bundle validation apps/server/scripts/*, scripts/lib/cli-external-packages.*	The CLI builds the executable, scans static and dynamic imports, reports unsupported external packages, and tests the scanner behavior.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 4 (Complex) | ~45 minutes

Change: Feature

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Developer
  participant ServerCLI
  participant Vite
  participant BundleScanner
  Developer->>ServerCLI: run build:exe
  ServerCLI->>Vite: run executable packaging
  Vite-->>ServerCLI: produce dist-exe/bin.mjs
  ServerCLI->>BundleScanner: scan bundle imports
  BundleScanner-->>ServerCLI: return external package specifiers
  ServerCLI-->>Developer: report success or executable import error

Loading

Merge Risk: 🟡 Moderate · up to 9b11f

The executable build gate may still reject valid bundles or miss unsupported external imports. Resolve the scanner parsing concern before merging the executable packaging workflow.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	Docstring coverage is 80.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 5 functions across 11 files. (1 skipped: 1 …
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly identifies the main change: making the server CLI bundle loadable as a Node single-executable.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description clearly explains the problem, implementation, Bun runtime changes, and verification. It does not include the template's Checklist section, but the required change and rationale are suf…

✨ Finishing Touches 💡 1

🛠️ Fix failing CI checks 💡

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📝 Generate docstrings

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Inline comments:
In `@scripts/lib/cli-external-packages.ts`:
- Line 123: Update the static module-specifier scanning around staticImport to
also detect side-effect imports and re-exports, including import "package" and
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Ensure file-backed packages referenced by any static form are handled, and add
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Inline comments:
In `@scripts/lib/cli-external-packages.ts`:
- Line 128: Update the dynamicImport detection pattern to recognize valid
dynamic import expressions with an optional second options argument, including
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regression fixture covering an options-bearing file-backed external import and
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In `@scripts/lib/cli-external-packages.ts`:
- Around line 129-133: Replace the regular-expression import scanning around the
module-pattern definitions and dynamicImport with a JavaScript module lexer or
parser that recognizes actual static and dynamic imports while ignoring
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