Fix PowerShell worktree terminal cwd

[mattemusacchio]

Summary

Fix Windows PowerShell terminal launches so Orca restores the selected worktree cwd after user profiles load.

Root cause: Orca already passes the worktree path as the PTY cwd, but a user's PowerShell profile can run Set-Location and move the interactive shell elsewhere before Codex, Claude, OpenCode, or a plain terminal prompt starts. The PowerShell bootstrap now re-applies the validated cwd with Set-Location -LiteralPath ... after profile loading and before startup commands are delivered.

Screenshots

No visual change.

Testing

• pnpm lint
  • Fails on current main with an unrelated switch-exhaustiveness error in src/renderer/src/components/settings/SourceControlActionRepoOverrideNote.tsx:35:5.
  • Also ran targeted lint for the changed files: pnpm oxlint src/main/providers/windows-shell-args.ts src/main/providers/windows-shell-args.test.ts --quiet ✅
• pnpm typecheck
• pnpm test
  • Full suite has unrelated Windows/environment failures on current main (for example /bin/sh ENOENT, symlink EPERM, unrelated snapshots/fixture assertions).
  • Regression coverage for this fix passed: pnpm vitest run --config config/vitest.config.ts src/main/providers/windows-shell-args.test.ts src/main/runtime/orca-runtime-terminal-cwd.test.ts ✅
• pnpm build
• Added or updated high-quality tests that would catch regressions, or explained why tests were not needed

Manual validation: launched Orca dev on Windows with a PowerShell profile that normally changes directory, opened a worktree terminal, and confirmed Get-Location stays in the selected worktree instead of the profile's default directory.

AI Review Report

Codex reviewed the change for the terminal startup flow and checked:

• Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core behavior: cwd restoration is appended to the encoded bootstrap after profiles load and before startup commands are embedded or delivered.
• macOS/Linux compatibility: non-Windows shells keep their existing code paths; the new helper only affects the PowerShell branch.
• WSL/Git Bash/cmd behavior: existing wsl.exe, Git Bash, and cmd.exe launch paths are unchanged.
• Path handling: cwd values are still normalized/validated before spawn; the bootstrap uses PowerShell literal quoting and -LiteralPath so spaces and apostrophes do not become globbing or injection issues.
• Agent compatibility: Codex/Claude/OpenCode-style startup commands still append after the bootstrap, so agent CLIs launch from the intended worktree cwd.
• Performance: no extra process spawn or filesystem scan is introduced; this only adds one PowerShell built-in command to startup.

No follow-up code changes were needed after review.

Security Audit

Reviewed command execution and path handling risks:

• The cwd is not user-executed text; it is encoded into the PowerShell bootstrap using existing shell-literal quoting (quoteStartupArg(..., 'powershell')).
• Set-Location -LiteralPath avoids wildcard expansion and handles special path characters safely.
• The existing validateWorkingDirectory and guarded cwd resolution remain in place before spawning the PTY.
• The change does not touch auth, secrets, network access, IPC boundaries, or dependency versions.
• Remote/SSH paths are not newly trusted; this only changes the native Windows PowerShell launch branch.

Follow-up: none known.

Notes

• This specifically fixes Windows PowerShell profiles that force a default directory such as Documents\Workspace, causing Orca worktree terminals and agent launches to start outside the selected worktree.
• X handle: @mattemusacchio

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR modifies PowerShell shell argument generation on Windows to restore the launch working directory after profile loading. A new helper, getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand, builds a literal Set-Location command appended to the existing OSC 133 bootstrap payload within getPowerShellEncodedCommand, which now accepts a cwd parameter. The call site passes nativeCwd accordingly. Corresponding tests are updated to decode the base64/UTF-16LE encoded PowerShell command and assert on decoded substrings and ordering rather than exact encoded byte matches, including verification of quoting for paths containing single quotes.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
PowerShell cwd restoration — src/main/providers/windows-shell-args.ts	Added getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand helper; updated getPowerShellEncodedCommand to accept cwd and append restore command to bootstrap; updated call site to pass nativeCwd
PowerShell cwd restoration — src/main/providers/windows-shell-args.test.ts	Removed exact-match imports; added decodePowerShellCommand helper; updated assertions across multiple tests to decode and inspect PowerShell script content and ordering

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant resolveWindowsShellLaunchArgs
  participant getPowerShellEncodedCommand
  participant getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand
  resolveWindowsShellLaunchArgs->>getPowerShellEncodedCommand: call with nativeCwd
  getPowerShellEncodedCommand->>getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand: build restore command(cwd)
  getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand-->>getPowerShellEncodedCommand: Set-Location -LiteralPath command
  getPowerShellEncodedCommand-->>resolveWindowsShellLaunchArgs: encoded bootstrap + restore command

Loading

Related PRs: None identified.

Suggested labels: windows, powershell, tests

Suggested reviewers: None identified.

Poem
A rabbit hops through PowerShell's maze,
Restoring paths through profile-loading days,
Set-Location whispers where we began,
Decoded scripts confirm the plan,
Cwd remembered, hop hop, hooray!

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly names the main change: restoring the PowerShell worktree terminal cwd.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description follows the template and includes summary, screenshots, testing, AI review, security audit, and notes.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
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.

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

---

ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Repository UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: aaafb973-b15f-483f-a3e8-200ba5275a8d

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 492bbe3 and cadc852.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• src/main/providers/windows-shell-args.test.ts
• src/main/providers/windows-shell-args.ts

[coderabbitai]

🩺 Stability & Availability | 🟡 Minor | ⚡ Quick win

Silent Set-Location failure leaves cwd unrestored with no diagnostic.

-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue means that if the worktree path is unavailable at shell-start time (e.g. deleted mid-launch), the entire fix silently no-ops and the user is left in whatever directory the profile switched to — with no signal that the restore failed. Since this is precisely the scenario the PR is meant to prevent, consider at least surfacing a warning (e.g. Write-Warning to stderr) instead of fully swallowing the error, so the failure mode is visible rather than silently regressing to the pre-fix behavior.

💡 Optional: surface a diagnostic on restore failure

 function getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand(cwd: string): string {
   return [
     '',
     '# Profiles can change location; restore the PTY cwd after profile loading.',
-    `Set-Location -LiteralPath ${quoteStartupArg(cwd, 'powershell')} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue`
+    `try { Set-Location -LiteralPath ${quoteStartupArg(cwd, 'powershell')} -ErrorAction Stop } catch { Write-Warning "Failed to restore working directory: $_" }`
   ].join('\n')
 }

📝 Committable suggestion

‼️ IMPORTANT
Carefully review the code before committing. Ensure that it accurately replaces the highlighted code, contains no missing lines, and has no issues with indentation. Thoroughly test & benchmark the code to ensure it meets the requirements.

Suggested change

	function getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand(cwd: string): string {
	return [
	'',
	'# Profiles can change location; restore the PTY cwd after profile loading.',
	`Set-Location -LiteralPath ${quoteStartupArg(cwd, 'powershell')} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue`
	].join('\n')
	}
	function getPowerShellRestoreCwdCommand(cwd: string): string {
	return [
	'',
	'# Profiles can change location; restore the PTY cwd after profile loading.',
	`try { Set-Location -LiteralPath ${quoteStartupArg(cwd, 'powershell')} -ErrorAction Stop } catch { Write-Warning "Failed to restore working directory: $_" }`
	].join('\n')
	}