Windows: install.ps1 reports success but leaves MCP server unregistered (MotW + swallowed config errors + malformed taskkill)

[seltzdesign]

Version

codebase-memory-mcp 0.8.1

Platform

Windows (x64)

Install channel

GitHub release archive / install.sh / install.ps1

Binary variant

ui

What happened, and what did you expect?

After running the documented Windows install, the binary is present at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\codebase-memory-mcp\codebase-memory-mcp.exe, but the MCP server is not registered with any agent — ~/.claude.json / ~/.claude/.mcp.json have no entry, and claude mcp list doesn't show it. No error was surfaced; the installer reported success.

Three issues found:

install.ps1 needs Unblock-File. Downloaded via Invoke-WebRequest, the script carries Mark-of-the-Web and PowerShell refuses to execute it until unblocked. The README's Windows section doesn't mention this. Suggest documenting Unblock-File .\install.ps1 (and/or -ExecutionPolicy Bypass), or shipping a signed script.

Config failures are swallowed as non-fatal. install.ps1 runs & $Dest install -y but catches/ignores failures, so it prints "Install complete" even when no agent config was written. This turns a recoverable error into a silent one. Suggest: detect that zero agents were configured and exit non-zero with a visible warning.

install subcommand runs a malformed taskkill on Windows. Every invocation prints:

ERROR: Invalid argument/option - 'eq'.
Type "TASKKILL /?" for usage.

Looks like a taskkill /FI "IMAGENAME eq ..." filter where the quoting breaks and eq is passed as a bare arg. Cosmetic in some runs, but may be what aborts auto-config in others.

Workaround that fixed it: run the binary's installer directly, bypassing install.ps1:

"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\codebase-memory-mcp\codebase-memory-mcp.exe" install -y

Reproduction

1. Download codebase-memory-mcp-ui-windows-amd64.zip from releases
2. Unpack and try to run install.ps1

Logs

Diagnostics trajectory (memory / performance / leak issues)

Project scale (if relevant)

No response

Confirmations

• I searched existing issues and this is not a duplicate.
• My reproduction uses shareable code (a dummy snippet or a public OSS repository), not proprietary code.

[DeusData]

Thanks for the detailed Windows installer report. I’ve triaged this under Windows, editor integration, and UX. The actionable pieces are clear: document or avoid the Mark-of-the-Web trap, fail visibly when zero agent configs are written, and fix the taskkill /FI quoting so installer cleanup does not emit a misleading error. The direct codebase-memory-mcp.exe install -y workaround is useful while this is open.

[ShauryaaSharma]

I've put up a fix for all three issues on my PR: #702

• MotW : README now includes an explicit Unblock-File .\install.ps1 step (plus an -ExecutionPolicy Bypass fallback note) for both the quick-install and manual-install paths.
• Swallowed config errors : replaced the try/catch in install.ps1 with a $LASTEXITCODE check after install -y; exits 1 with a visible red error if no agents were configured.
• taskkill quoting : replaced _spawnvp in cbm_exec_no_shell (Windows path) with CreateProcess backed by a proper command-line quoting helper, so IMAGENAME eq codebase-memory-mcp.exe is passed as a single token instead of three bare words.