fix(shell): prefer PowerShell 7 on Windows with tested fallbacks (#25684)

steipete · steipete · commit fa525bf21280 · 2026-02-25T01:49:33.000Z
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 - iMessage/Reasoning safety: harden iMessage echo suppression with outbound `messageId` matching (plus scoped text fallback), and enforce reasoning-payload suppression on routed outbound delivery paths to prevent hidden thinking text from being sent as user-visible channel messages. (#25897, #1649, #25757) Thanks @rmarr and @Iranb.
 - Windows/Media safety checks: align async local-file identity validation with sync-safe-open behavior by treating win32 `dev=0` stats as unknown-device fallbacks (while keeping strict dev checks when both sides are non-zero), fixing false `Local media path is not safe to read` drops for local attachments/TTS/images. (#25708, #21989, #25699, #25878) Thanks @kevinWangSheng.
+- Windows/Exec shell selection: prefer PowerShell 7 (`pwsh`) discovery (Program Files, ProgramW6432, PATH) before falling back to Windows PowerShell 5.1, fixing `&&` command chaining failures on Windows hosts with PS7 installed. (#25684, #25638) Thanks @zerone0x.
 - macOS/WebChat panel: fix rounded-corner clipping by using panel-specific visual-effect blending and matching corner masking on both effect and hosting layers. (#22458) Thanks @apethree and @agisilaos.
 - macOS/IME input: when marked text is active, treat Return as IME candidate confirmation first in both the voice overlay composer and shared chat composer to prevent accidental sends while composing CJK text. (#25178) Thanks @bottotl.
 - macOS/Voice wake routing: default forwarded voice-wake transcripts to the `webchat` channel (instead of ambiguous `last` routing) so local voice prompts stay pinned to the control chat surface unless explicitly overridden. (#25440) Thanks @chilu18.
diff --git a/src/agents/shell-utils.test.ts b/src/agents/shell-utils.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { captureEnv } from "../test-utils/env.js";
-import { getShellConfig, resolveShellFromPath } from "./shell-utils.js";
+import { getShellConfig, resolvePowerShellPath, resolveShellFromPath } from "./shell-utils.js";
 
 const isWin = process.platform === "win32";
 
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ describe("getShellConfig", () => {
   if (isWin) {
     it("uses PowerShell on Windows", () => {
       const { shell } = getShellConfig();
-      expect(shell.toLowerCase()).toContain("powershell");
+      const normalized = shell.toLowerCase();
+      expect(normalized.includes("powershell") || normalized.includes("pwsh")).toBe(true);
     });
     return;
   }
@@ -113,3 +114,96 @@ describe("resolveShellFromPath", () => {
     expect(resolveShellFromPath("bash")).toBeUndefined();
   });
 });
+
+describe("resolvePowerShellPath", () => {
+  let envSnapshot: ReturnType<typeof captureEnv>;
+  const tempDirs: string[] = [];
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    envSnapshot = captureEnv([
+      "ProgramFiles",
+      "PROGRAMFILES",
+      "ProgramW6432",
+      "SystemRoot",
+      "WINDIR",
+      "PATH",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    envSnapshot.restore();
+    for (const dir of tempDirs.splice(0)) {
+      fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("prefers PowerShell 7 in ProgramFiles", () => {
+    const base = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-pfiles-"));
+    tempDirs.push(base);
+    const pwsh7Dir = path.join(base, "PowerShell", "7");
+    fs.mkdirSync(pwsh7Dir, { recursive: true });
+    const pwsh7Path = path.join(pwsh7Dir, "pwsh.exe");
+    fs.writeFileSync(pwsh7Path, "");
+
+    process.env.ProgramFiles = base;
+    process.env.PATH = "";
+    delete process.env.ProgramW6432;
+    delete process.env.SystemRoot;
+    delete process.env.WINDIR;
+
+    expect(resolvePowerShellPath()).toBe(pwsh7Path);
+  });
+
+  it("prefers ProgramW6432 PowerShell 7 when ProgramFiles lacks pwsh", () => {
+    const programFiles = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-pfiles-"));
+    const programW6432 = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-pw6432-"));
+    tempDirs.push(programFiles, programW6432);
+    const pwsh7Dir = path.join(programW6432, "PowerShell", "7");
+    fs.mkdirSync(pwsh7Dir, { recursive: true });
+    const pwsh7Path = path.join(pwsh7Dir, "pwsh.exe");
+    fs.writeFileSync(pwsh7Path, "");
+
+    process.env.ProgramFiles = programFiles;
+    process.env.ProgramW6432 = programW6432;
+    process.env.PATH = "";
+    delete process.env.SystemRoot;
+    delete process.env.WINDIR;
+
+    expect(resolvePowerShellPath()).toBe(pwsh7Path);
+  });
+
+  it("finds pwsh on PATH when not in standard install locations", () => {
+    const programFiles = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-pfiles-"));
+    const binDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-bin-"));
+    tempDirs.push(programFiles, binDir);
+    const pwshPath = path.join(binDir, "pwsh");
+    fs.writeFileSync(pwshPath, "");
+    fs.chmodSync(pwshPath, 0o755);
+
+    process.env.ProgramFiles = programFiles;
+    process.env.PATH = binDir;
+    delete process.env.ProgramW6432;
+    delete process.env.SystemRoot;
+    delete process.env.WINDIR;
+
+    expect(resolvePowerShellPath()).toBe(pwshPath);
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to Windows PowerShell 5.1 path when pwsh is unavailable", () => {
+    const programFiles = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-pfiles-"));
+    const sysRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-sysroot-"));
+    tempDirs.push(programFiles, sysRoot);
+    const ps51Dir = path.join(sysRoot, "System32", "WindowsPowerShell", "v1.0");
+    fs.mkdirSync(ps51Dir, { recursive: true });
+    const ps51Path = path.join(ps51Dir, "powershell.exe");
+    fs.writeFileSync(ps51Path, "");
+
+    process.env.ProgramFiles = programFiles;
+    process.env.SystemRoot = sysRoot;
+    process.env.PATH = "";
+    delete process.env.ProgramW6432;
+    delete process.env.WINDIR;
+
+    expect(resolvePowerShellPath()).toBe(ps51Path);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/agents/shell-utils.ts b/src/agents/shell-utils.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,27 @@ import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 
-function resolvePowerShellPath(): string {
+export function resolvePowerShellPath(): string {
+  // Prefer PowerShell 7 when available; PS 5.1 lacks "&&" support.
+  const programFiles = process.env.ProgramFiles || process.env.PROGRAMFILES || "C:\\Program Files";
+  const pwsh7 = path.join(programFiles, "PowerShell", "7", "pwsh.exe");
+  if (fs.existsSync(pwsh7)) {
+    return pwsh7;
+  }
+
+  const programW6432 = process.env.ProgramW6432;
+  if (programW6432 && programW6432 !== programFiles) {
+    const pwsh7Alt = path.join(programW6432, "PowerShell", "7", "pwsh.exe");
+    if (fs.existsSync(pwsh7Alt)) {
+      return pwsh7Alt;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const pwshInPath = resolveShellFromPath("pwsh");
+  if (pwshInPath) {
+    return pwshInPath;
+  }
+
   const systemRoot = process.env.SystemRoot || process.env.WINDIR;
   if (systemRoot) {
     const candidate = path.join(
