Fix white screen caused by ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE in renderer processes

Setting ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 on the main process env caused Electron's
renderer processes to start as Node.js instead of rendering the UI,
resulting in a blank white screen.

Replace with ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM=1 flag that signals the backend to
inject ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 only into specific child process envs
(agentRunner query calls), never the main process.

Bump version to 0.2.7.

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: zoidbergclawd

backend/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "elisa-backend",
-  "version": "0.2.6",
+  "version": "0.2.7",
   "private": true,
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",

backend/src/services/agentRunner.test.ts

@@ -185,11 +185,11 @@ describe('AgentRunner', () => {
     expect(result.summary).toBe('No output');
   });
 
-  it('uses Electron shim when ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE is set (no system node)', async () => {
+  it('uses Electron shim when ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM is set (no system node)', async () => {
     const origPath = process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH;
-    const origShim = process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
+    const origShim = process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM;
     process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH = '/fake/resources';
-    process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE = '1';
+    process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM = '1';
     try {
       mockQuery.mockReturnValue(asyncIterable(makeResultMessage()) as any);
 
@@ -209,16 +209,16 @@ describe('AgentRunner', () => {
     } finally {
       if (origPath === undefined) delete process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH;
       else process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH = origPath;
-      if (origShim === undefined) delete process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
-      else process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE = origShim;
+      if (origShim === undefined) delete process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM;
+      else process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM = origShim;
     }
   });
 
   it('uses system node when available (no executable override)', async () => {
     const origPath = process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH;
-    const origShim = process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
+    const origShim = process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM;
     process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH = '/fake/resources';
-    delete process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
+    delete process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM;
     try {
       mockQuery.mockReturnValue(asyncIterable(makeResultMessage()) as any);
 
@@ -238,8 +238,8 @@ describe('AgentRunner', () => {
     } finally {
       if (origPath === undefined) delete process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH;
       else process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH = origPath;
-      if (origShim === undefined) delete process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
-      else process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE = origShim;
+      if (origShim === undefined) delete process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM;
+      else process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM = origShim;
     }
   });
 

backend/src/services/agentRunner.ts

@@ -177,16 +177,17 @@ export class AgentRunner {
     allowedTools?: string[],
   ): Promise<AgentResult> {
     // In Electron production, capture stderr for diagnostics.
-    // When no system Node.js is available (ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE is set by
-    // electron/main.ts), use the Electron binary itself as the runtime.
-    // When system node exists, let the SDK use it (preserves npm/npx).
+    // When no system Node.js is available (ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM is set by
+    // electron/main.ts), use the Electron binary with ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1.
+    // ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE must NOT be set on the main process (breaks renderers);
+    // it's injected only into child process environments here.
     const isElectronProd = !!process.env.ELISA_RESOURCES_PATH;
-    const useElectronShim = isElectronProd && process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE === '1';
+    const useNodeShim = isElectronProd && process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM === '1';
     const stderrChunks: string[] = [];
     const electronExecConfig = isElectronProd
       ? {
-          ...(useElectronShim
-            ? { executable: process.execPath, env: { ...process.env } }
+          ...(useNodeShim
+            ? { executable: process.execPath, env: { ...process.env, ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE: '1' } }
             : {}),
           stderr: (data: string) => { stderrChunks.push(data); },
         }

electron/main.ts

@@ -227,9 +227,12 @@ async function startBackend(): Promise<void> {
         try { fs.linkSync(process.execPath, shimNodeExe); }
         catch { fs.copyFileSync(process.execPath, shimNodeExe); }
         process.env.PATH = `${process.env.PATH};${nodeShimDir}`;
-        // ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE makes the Electron binary act as Node.js.
-        // Only set when using the shim; system node doesn't need it.
-        process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE = '1';
+        // Signal the backend that the node shim is active. The backend
+        // will inject ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 into specific child process
+        // environments (agentRunner, testRunner) rather than setting it
+        // globally -- setting it globally would break Electron's renderer
+        // processes (white screen).
+        process.env.ELISA_USE_NODE_SHIM = '1';
         console.log('[main] Using Electron node.exe shim (no system node found)');
       } catch (err) {
         console.error('[main] Failed to create node.exe shim:', err);

frontend/package.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "frontend",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "0.2.6",
+  "version": "0.2.7",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "elisa",
-  "version": "0.2.6",
+  "version": "0.2.7",
   "private": true,
   "license": "MIT",
   "author": "Elisa",