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bug: install.sh ignores XDG_CONFIG_HOME for the local gateway config

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#4,042 2 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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@fede-kamel is already working on this.

Since Oct 1, 2026.

  • #4043 by @efegokdemir — closed without merging
  • #4063 by @fede-kamel — open

Assessment

Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
88/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
shell
Domain
devops

Research direction

Start in install.sh by inspecting the readiness check and cleanup paths that currently use the local gateway configuration directory. Run mise run test:install-sh, covering unset, empty, set, and set-with-spaces XDG_CONFIG_HOME values. Done means the installer and CLI use the same directory, the listed reinstall scenarios exit 0, and the acceptance checks pass.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

area:cli os:linux os:macos state:validated
User Story

As someone whose shell exports XDG_CONFIG_HOME,
I want install.sh to use the same config directory as the openshell CLI,
so that installing and reinstalling OpenShell just work.

Problem Statement

The CLI keeps each gateway's entry and client certificates under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/openshell when that variable is set. The installer always uses ~/.config/openshell instead, in two places:

  • The readiness check, which connects to the gateway with the client certificates it expects to find there.
  • The cleanup that removes an old openshell entry before adding it again.

With the variable set, the installer and the CLI look in different directories.

Impact / Why This Matters

With XDG_CONFIG_HOME pointing somewhere other than ~/.config:

  • On macOS, the install fails whenever ~/.config/openshell has no client certificates for the gateway, or has old ones. The installer waits 30s and exits 1.
  • On macOS and Linux, running the installer a second time exits 1 with "Gateway 'openshell' already exists". When the gateway is already registered, the installer removes the entry and adds it again. But it removes it from ~/.config/openshell, and the CLI's entry is under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/openshell. That entry is still there, so adding it again fails.

The gateway itself keeps running in both cases. On Linux the first run works only because the gateway service also writes a copy of its client certificates to ~/.config/openshell when it starts, so the readiness check happens to find current ones there.

The workarounds don't really work. Unsetting XDG_CONFIG_HOME just for the install puts the gateway entry under ~/.config, so the CLI in your normal shell can't find it afterwards. Running openshell gateway remove openshell before a reinstall avoids the "already exists" error, but not the certificate check on macOS. And nothing in the installer's output mentions the variable.

Acceptance Criteria

With XDG_CONFIG_HOME set and XDG_STATE_HOME unset:

  • The installer exits 0 when ~/.config/openshell has no client certificates for the gateway, and when it has old ones.
  • After the install, openshell status in the same shell shows the gateway.
  • Running the installer a second time exits 0.

In general:

  • With XDG_CONFIG_HOME unset or empty, the installer keeps using ~/.config/openshell.
  • mise run test:install-sh covers unset, empty, set, and set-with-spaces values.

With both XDG_CONFIG_HOME and XDG_STATE_HOME set, the Linux install fails for a different reason, that maybe is not as important, and not described in this issue.

Reproduction Steps
  1. export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$(mktemp -d)", and make sure ~/.config/openshell/gateways/openshell doesn't exist.
  2. Run curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/main/install.sh | sh.
  3. On macOS it waits 30s, prints mTLS client bundle is not ready under ~/.config/..., and exits 1. On Linux it succeeds.
  4. Run it again. Both platforms stop with Gateway 'openshell' already exists.
Environment
  • OpenShell 0.1.2, installer from main at 9cb72baa2. The installer code involved is the same on current main.
  • macOS 26.2 arm64, Homebrew 7.0.7, run as the logged-in user
  • Ubuntu 26.04 x86_64, deb package, run as root, Docker 29.1.3
Logs
# macOS, no certificates under ~/.config
mTLS client bundle is not ready under ~/.config/openshell/gateways/openshell/mtls
openshell: error: local gateway listener did not become reachable at https://localhost:17670/ within 30s

# macOS, old certificates under ~/.config
curl: (60) SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate

# macOS and Linux, second run
openshell: local gateway already exists; removing and re-adding it...
Error:   × Gateway 'openshell' already exists.
Dominant language
Rust
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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