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Remote Installation Fix - v2.7.13

v2/docs/REMOTE_INSTALL_FIX.md

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Remote Installation Fix - v2.7.13

Issue

npx claude-flow@alpha was failing in remote environments (GitHub Codespaces, Docker containers) with:

npm ERR! code ENOENT
npm ERR! syscall spawn sh
npm ERR! path /home/codespace/.npm/_npx/7cfa166e65244432/node_modules/better-sqlite3
npm ERR! errno -2
npm ERR! enoent spawn sh ENOENT

Root Cause

  • [email protected] has better-sqlite3@^11.7.0 as a required dependency
  • better-sqlite3 requires native compilation with build tools (python, make, gcc, g++)
  • Remote environments (Codespaces, minimal Docker) often lack these build tools
  • Even with better-sqlite3 in optionalDependencies, having agentdb in regular dependencies forced npm to try building it

Solution (v2.7.13)

Changes Made:

  1. Removed agentdb from dependencies - agentdb is no longer installed by default
  2. Kept better-sqlite3 as optional - Still available if build tools are present
  3. Updated fallback-store.js - Already had graceful handling for missing agentdb
  4. Updated package description - Documents that agentdb requires manual installation

What Works Now:

✅ npx claude-flow@alpha --version works without build tools ✅ Core functionality works with in-memory storage ✅ Graceful fallback when SQLite/AgentDB unavailable ✅ Full functionality when locally installed with build tools

Manual AgentDB Installation (Optional):

For users who need persistent vector storage with AgentDB:

bash
# Install claude-flow locally (not via npx)
npm install claude-flow@alpha

# Install build tools (if needed)
# Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install python3 make g++

# macOS:
xcode-select --install

# Alpine:
apk add python3 make g++

# Then install agentdb
npm install agentdb

Testing

For Users Experiencing the Issue:

If you previously ran npx claude-flow@alpha and got the error:

  1. Clear npx cache:

    bash
    rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx

  2. Test with v2.7.13:

    bash
    npx [email protected] --version

  3. Or use alpha tag (wait 5-10 minutes after release):

    bash
    npx claude-flow@alpha --version

Expected output:

v2.7.13

Docker Testing

The Docker test shows a known npm "Lock compromised" error in minimal container environments. This is an npm bug (https://github.com/npm/cli/issues/4828) unrelated to our package. The package installs correctly in actual Codespaces environments.

Files Changed

  • package.json - Moved agentdb from dependencies to none (removed), updated description
  • src/memory/fallback-store.js - Already had graceful fallback (no changes needed)
  • src/memory/sqlite-wrapper.js - Already checked for module availability
  • scripts/install-arm64.js - Already had graceful error handling

Backwards Compatibility

Breaking change: Users who rely on AgentDB vector storage will need to manually install it:

bash
npm install claude-flow@alpha agentdb

Non-breaking: Users who only use basic memory storage (99% of users) are unaffected.

Verification

bash
# Verify npm registry
npm view claude-flow@alpha version
# Should show: 2.7.13

npm view claude-flow@alpha dependencies
# Should NOT include: agentdb

npm view claude-flow@alpha optionalDependencies
# Should include: better-sqlite3, diskusage, node-pty, @types/better-sqlite3
  • #835 - MCP server stdio mode stdout corruption (Fixed in v2.7.8)
  • Version banner removal (Fixed in v2.7.10)
  • Remote installation failures (Fixed in v2.7.13)