fix: resolve PyInstaller frozen binary runtime errors

Three issues caused the binary to crash on startup:

1. STATIC_DIR used Path(__file__).parent which points inside the PyInstaller
   temp extraction dir, not where --add-data places files. Fixed to use
   sys._MEIPASS / <package> / static when frozen in both manager/main.py
   and connector_tester/main.py.

2. app_registry._find_project_root() returned Path(sys.executable).parent
   when frozen, but --onefile binaries have no apps/ dir next to them.
   Fixed to use sys._MEIPASS where the bundled pyproject.toml files live.

3. uvicorn.run() was passed a module-string ('ai_utilities_manager.main:app')
   which fails inside a frozen binary. Fixed to pass the app object directly
   in both the manager and connector-tester.

Also bundle apps/connector-tester/pyproject.toml in build.py so that
discover_apps() can read it from _MEIPASS at runtime.

Author: latalkdesk

apps/connector-tester/src/connector_tester/main.py

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import sys
 import uvicorn
 from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
 from fastapi.responses import FileResponse
@@ -14,7 +15,11 @@
     version="0.1.0",
 )
 
-STATIC_DIR = Path(__file__).parent / "static"
+# When frozen by PyInstaller the static files are under sys._MEIPASS.
+if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
+    STATIC_DIR = Path(sys._MEIPASS) / "connector_tester" / "static"
+else:
+    STATIC_DIR = Path(__file__).parent / "static"
 
 
 # ── API routes ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -64,7 +69,8 @@ async def serve_index():
 
 
 def run():
-    uvicorn.run("connector_tester.main:app", host="0.0.0.0", port=8001, reload=False)
+    # Pass the app object directly so this works inside a PyInstaller bundle.
+    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=8001, reload=False)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":

build.py

@@ -72,9 +72,13 @@ def build():
         # Add paths for workspace packages
         "--paths", str(MANAGER_SRC.parent),
         "--paths", str(CONNECTOR_SRC.parent),
-        # Bundle static assets
+        # Bundle static assets – destination paths match what the code expects
+        # under sys._MEIPASS at runtime.
         "--add-data", f"{manager_static}{chr(58)}ai_utilities_manager/static",
         "--add-data", f"{connector_static}{chr(58)}connector_tester/static",
+        # Bundle workspace pyproject.toml files so discover_apps() can read
+        # them from sys._MEIPASS/apps/<app-id>/pyproject.toml when frozen.
+        "--add-data", f"{ROOT / 'apps' / 'connector-tester' / 'pyproject.toml'}{chr(58)}apps/connector-tester",
     ]
 
     # macOS: target ARM64

manager/pyproject.toml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "ai-utilities-manager"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.1.1"
 description = "AI Utilities Manager - Directory manager for AI-powered developer tools"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.13"

manager/src/ai_utilities_manager/app_registry.py

@@ -70,12 +70,22 @@ def to_dict(self) -> dict:
 
 
 def _find_project_root() -> Path:
-    """Find the ai-utilities project root by traversing up from this file."""
-    # When running as a PyInstaller executable, look relative to the executable
+    """Find the ai-utilities project root by traversing up from this file.
+
+    When running as a frozen PyInstaller binary, the bundled data files
+    (including apps/*/pyproject.toml) are extracted into sys._MEIPASS, so we
+    use that as the root – the apps/ directory will be present there.
+
+    When running from source we walk up from __file__ until we hit the directory
+    that contains the apps/ folder.
+    """
     if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
-        return Path(sys.executable).parent
+        # sys._MEIPASS is the temp directory where PyInstaller unpacks the bundle.
+        # We bundle apps/connector-tester/pyproject.toml → apps/connector-tester/
+        # so apps/ is present directly under _MEIPASS.
+        return Path(sys._MEIPASS)
 
-    # When running from source, traverse up from this file:
+    # Running from source: traverse up from this file:
     # .../ai-utilities/manager/src/ai_utilities_manager/app_registry.py
     here = Path(__file__).resolve()
     # Go up: ai_utilities_manager -> src -> manager -> ai-utilities
@@ -148,16 +158,15 @@ def launch_app(app: AppInfo) -> bool:
             webbrowser.open(f"http://localhost:{app.port}")
             return False
 
-    # Build the command: use uv run in the app directory
+    # Build the command to launch the app subprocess
     root = _find_project_root()
-    app_dir = root / "apps" / app.id
-
-    cmd = [sys.executable, "-m", app.entry_module]
     if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
-        # Running as frozen executable – call the bundled module directly
-        cmd = [sys.executable, "-m", app.entry_module]
+        # Re-invoke the same frozen binary with a --run-app flag.
+        # The entry point (run() in main.py) handles this argument.
+        cmd = [sys.executable, "--run-app", app.id]
     else:
         # Running from source with uv
+        app_dir = root / "apps" / app.id
         cmd = ["uv", "run", "--project", str(app_dir), "python", "-m", app.entry_module]
 
     try:

manager/src/ai_utilities_manager/main.py

@@ -5,20 +5,26 @@
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import asyncio
+import sys
 import webbrowser
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import uvicorn
 from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
-from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 
 from ai_utilities_manager import app_registry, updater
 from ai_utilities_manager.config import load_config, save_config
 
-STATIC_DIR = Path(__file__).parent / "static"
+# When running as a PyInstaller --onefile binary, data files are extracted to
+# sys._MEIPASS and placed under the package-relative path used in --add-data.
+# When running from source, they live next to this file.
+if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
+    STATIC_DIR = Path(sys._MEIPASS) / "ai_utilities_manager" / "static"
+else:
+    STATIC_DIR = Path(__file__).parent / "static"
 
 # ── Lifespan ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -134,16 +140,44 @@ async def serve_index():
 # ── Entry point ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 
+def _run_sub_app(app_id: str) -> None:
+    """Launch a bundled workspace app by its ID (used when frozen).
+
+    The manager re-invokes itself with ``--run-app <app_id>`` to start a
+    workspace app in-process without needing a separate Python environment.
+    """
+    from ai_utilities_manager.app_registry import _APP_METADATA
+    meta = _APP_METADATA.get(app_id)
+    if not meta:
+        raise SystemExit(f"Unknown app id: {app_id}")
+
+    module_name = meta["entry_module"]
+    import importlib
+    mod = importlib.import_module(module_name)
+    mod.run()  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+
+
 def run():
-    """Start the AI Utilities Manager and open the browser."""
+    """Start the AI Utilities Manager (or a sub-app when --run-app is passed)."""
     import threading, time
 
+    # When the frozen binary is re-invoked with --run-app <id>, start that
+    # workspace app instead of the manager dashboard.
+    if "--run-app" in sys.argv:
+        idx = sys.argv.index("--run-app")
+        if idx + 1 < len(sys.argv):
+            _run_sub_app(sys.argv[idx + 1])
+            return
+
     def _open_browser():
         time.sleep(1.2)
         webbrowser.open("http://localhost:8000")
 
     threading.Thread(target=_open_browser, daemon=True).start()
-    uvicorn.run("ai_utilities_manager.main:app", host="0.0.0.0", port=8000, reload=False)
+    # Pass the app object directly (not as a string) so that uvicorn works
+    # correctly inside a PyInstaller frozen binary where module-string imports
+    # would fail. reload=False is required when passing the app object.
+    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=8000, reload=False)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":

manager/src/ai_utilities_manager/updater.py

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 GITHUB_REPO = "latalkdesk/ai-utilities"
 RELEASES_API = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{GITHUB_REPO}/releases/latest"
-CURRENT_VERSION = "0.1.0"
+CURRENT_VERSION = "0.1.1"
 
 # Asset name pattern for macOS ARM
 ASSET_SUFFIX_MAP = {