[Bug]: Desktop app does not discover agent CLIs installed through Nix

[Pape45]

Before you submit

• I searched existing issues and confirmed this is not a duplicate.
• I replaced the example text with the real behavior, reproduction steps, expected result, and version from the app's About menu or od --version.

What happened?

The packaged macOS desktop app does not discover agent CLIs installed through nix-darwin environment.systemPackages.

In a terminal, Codex, Claude Code, and Gemini resolve normally:

$ command -v codex
/run/current-system/sw/bin/codex

$ codex --version
codex-cli 0.145.0

$ command -v claude
/run/current-system/sw/bin/claude

After launching Open Design normally from Finder/Applications and rescanning Local CLI agents, Codex and Claude Code are reported as not found on PATH.

The current well-known toolchain directory list covers Homebrew, npm, mise, nvm, fnm, and other common locations, but not standard Nix profile paths such as /run/current-system/sw/bin or ~/.nix-profile/bin. A GUI-launched daemon therefore cannot see Nix-installed CLIs when launchd provides a minimal PATH.

Steps to reproduce

1. On macOS with nix-darwin, add pkgs.codex and/or pkgs.claude-code to environment.systemPackages.
2. Rebuild the Nix system.
3. Confirm command -v codex returns /run/current-system/sw/bin/codex and codex --version succeeds.
4. Install and launch the packaged Open Design desktop app normally.
5. Open Settings → Execution mode → Local CLI.
6. Click Rescan.
7. Observe that Codex CLI and Claude Code remain under “Available to install” and are reported as not found on PATH.

Expected behavior

The packaged desktop daemon should search standard Nix profile bin directories in addition to the existing well-known toolchain directories, so agent CLIs installed through nix-darwin/NixOS are detected after Rescan.

Open Design version

0.16.1

Platform

macOS (Apple Silicon)

Logs (optional)

codex -> /run/current-system/sw/bin/codex
       -> /nix/store/si9asrm0x6vi9zrqq6357p7pmpl4r8sr-codex-0.145.0/bin/codex

claude -> /run/current-system/sw/bin/claude
        -> /nix/store/w2lfla41hlhyrk9k64dk12f6gjnm7yyj-claude-code-2.1.218/bin/claude

Additional context

The detection logic is shared by the daemon executable resolver and packaged sidecar PATH builder through packages/platform/src/toolchain.ts, so fixing the shared well-known directory list should cover all Nix-installed agent CLIs rather than adding a Codex-specific exception.

[open-design-bot]

🎉 ✨ Welcome to Open Design, @Pape45!

✨ 🔥 Lit the spark.

🌱 Every contribution adds energy to the project. Thanks for showing up and helping Open Design grow.

💛 Thanks for helping Open Design grow. Keep building in the open. 🚀

🔗 Share on X (English) · 分享到 X（中文）

[lefarcen]

Hey @Pape45 — thanks for the very precise repro. The Finder/launchd vs terminal PATH detail was especially helpful.

I checked the shared resolver you pointed to: packages/platform/src/toolchain.ts is the single source consumed by both apps/daemon/src/runtimes/executables.ts and apps/packaged/src/sidecars.ts, and right now it covers Homebrew / npm / mise / nvm / fnm / cargo / pyenv-style locations but not standard Nix paths like /run/current-system/sw/bin or ~/.nix-profile/bin. So this looks like a real bug, not a local misconfiguration, and it seems to be the same class of GUI-PATH gap we previously fixed for npm-prefix installs in #442 rather than a duplicate of that issue.

I've triaged this as bug + help wanted + good first issue. A fix in the shared toolchain list, with regression coverage in packages/platform/tests/index.test.ts, should cover both daemon-side resolution and the packaged PATH builder together. If you'd like to take it, a PR would be very welcome.

[lefarcen]

This looks like a good first issue for someone new to the project.
If you'd like to take it, comment /claim below.

[Pape45]

/claim

[lefarcen]

Hey @Pape45 — thanks for picking this up. ✨
Roughly how long do you think it’ll take: a few hours, 1–3 days, about a week, or longer?

[Pape45]

A few hours — I’m working on the regression test and fix now.

[lefarcen]

Opened PR #6125 to add the standard Nix user/system bin directories to the shared toolchain resolver used by both daemon-side executable discovery and the packaged sidecar PATH builder.

Keeping this issue open until that patch lands and we can verify Finder-launched desktop sessions now detect CLIs from ~/.nix-profile/bin and /run/current-system/sw/bin.

[lefarcen]

Re-opening this issue for community contribution because linked PR #6125 has had no author activity.

The PR has been left open as draft so @Pape45 can resume later, and others may /claim this issue if they want to take it on.