fix(smolmachines): bridge host SIGWINCH into the VM PTY (issue #82)
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`smolvm 0.8.0 machine exec -t` allocates an in-VM PTY but never
forwards the host terminal's window size — the PTY starts at
`0 0` and host resizes (tmux pane resize, terminal window
resize) go unnoticed, so the claude TUI inside a smolmachines
bottle renders for whatever tiny box it last saw and ignores
operator resizes. `docker exec -it` propagates window-size
changes automatically; smolvm doesn't.

Workaround: a small Python wrapper
(`backend/smolmachines/pty_resize.py`) that interposes between
the operator's terminal and `smolvm machine exec`. It spawns
smolvm as a child, traps host SIGWINCH, and on every resize
(plus once at startup) runs a side-channel
`smolvm machine exec --name <M> -- sh -c 'for f in /dev/pts/*;
do stty -F $f cols X rows Y; done'`. The kernel delivers
SIGWINCH to the in-VM foreground process group when the slave
PTY's size changes, so claude picks up the new dimensions
without extra signalling.

`SmolmachinesBottle.claude_argv` prepends
`[sys.executable, -m, claude_bottle.backend.smolmachines.
pty_resize, <machine>, --, ...]` to the existing smolvm argv
in TTY mode. Non-TTY mode (provisioning shell-outs) skips the
wrapper — no PTY to resize.

The wrapper survives the dashboard's
`_build_resume_argv_with_fallback` shell-wrap because the
split-at-`claude` token still finds the right position — the
wrapper's prefix wraps the entire smolvm-exec framing.

Tests:
- `test_smolmachines_pty_resize.py` (new): argv parsing, the
  side-channel command shape (cols/rows / for-loop over
  /dev/pts/*), and `_read_winsize`'s fallback across
  stdin/stdout/stderr including the smolvm-allocated-PTY-
  reports-`0 0` ironic case.
- `test_smolmachines_bottle.py`: updated TTY-mode assertions
  to unwrap the pty_resize prefix; added `TestClaudeArgvNoTTY`
  to lock the non-TTY skip.

636 unit tests pass.

Removable when smolvm grows native SIGWINCH forwarding.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
2026-05-27 20:15:11 -04:00
parent a3a9ec065e
commit 3fb305f654
4 changed files with 306 additions and 19 deletions
+51 -18
View File
@@ -5,10 +5,15 @@ directly (it spawns claude inside a tmux pane rather than as a
child of the current process), so the argv shape is the
non-trivial part. `exec_claude` is a thin wrapper around the same
builder + `subprocess.run`; we lock the shape here.
The TTY-mode argv is wrapped in the pty_resize helper (issue #82
workaround); we assert both the wrapper presence and the wrapped
smolvm argv shape. Non-TTY mode skips the wrapper.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import sys
import unittest
from claude_bottle.backend.smolmachines.bottle import SmolmachinesBottle
@@ -22,9 +27,30 @@ def _bottle(prompt_path: str | None = None, **env: str) -> SmolmachinesBottle:
)
class TestClaudeArgv(unittest.TestCase):
def test_minimal_argv_no_prompt(self):
def _unwrap(argv: list[str]) -> list[str]:
"""Strip the pty_resize wrapper from the front of a TTY-mode
argv, return the inner smolvm argv. Mirrors what the kernel
sees inside the wrapper's `subprocess.Popen`."""
idx = argv.index("--")
return argv[idx + 1:]
class TestClaudeArgvWrapped(unittest.TestCase):
"""TTY-mode argv: pty_resize wrapper + inner smolvm exec."""
def test_pty_resize_wrapper_prefix(self):
argv = _bottle().claude_argv([])
self.assertEqual(
[
sys.executable, "-m",
"claude_bottle.backend.smolmachines.pty_resize",
"claude-bottle-dev-abc", "--",
],
argv[:5],
)
def test_minimal_inner_argv_no_prompt(self):
argv = _unwrap(_bottle().claude_argv([]))
self.assertEqual(
[
"smolvm", "machine", "exec", "--name",
@@ -40,19 +66,19 @@ class TestClaudeArgv(unittest.TestCase):
)
def test_appends_passed_args_after_claude(self):
argv = _bottle().claude_argv(
argv = _unwrap(_bottle().claude_argv(
["--dangerously-skip-permissions", "--continue"],
)
# The claude tail is at the end of the argv, after the
# `runuser -u node --` switch.
))
self.assertEqual(
["claude", "--dangerously-skip-permissions", "--continue"],
argv[argv.index("claude"):],
)
def test_appends_prompt_file_flag_when_set(self):
argv = _bottle("/home/node/.claude-bottle-prompt.txt").claude_argv(
["--dangerously-skip-permissions"],
argv = _unwrap(
_bottle("/home/node/.claude-bottle-prompt.txt").claude_argv(
["--dangerously-skip-permissions"],
)
)
self.assertEqual(
[
@@ -72,20 +98,12 @@ class TestClaudeArgv(unittest.TestCase):
argv = _bottle("").claude_argv(["--continue"])
self.assertNotIn("--append-system-prompt-file", argv)
def test_tty_false_drops_it_flags(self):
argv = _bottle().claude_argv([], tty=False)
self.assertNotIn("-i", argv)
self.assertNotIn("-t", argv)
def test_guest_env_forwarded_as_e_flags(self):
argv = _bottle(
argv = _unwrap(_bottle(
None,
HTTPS_PROXY="http://127.0.0.1:1234",
NO_PROXY="localhost",
).claude_argv([])
# `-e K=V` pairs land before the `--`. Order isn't
# guaranteed across dict iterations on older Pythons, but
# both must appear.
).claude_argv([]))
self.assertIn("-e", argv)
self.assertIn("HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:1234", argv)
self.assertIn("NO_PROXY=localhost", argv)
@@ -103,5 +121,20 @@ class TestClaudeArgv(unittest.TestCase):
)
class TestClaudeArgvNoTTY(unittest.TestCase):
"""`tty=False` paths skip the pty_resize wrapper — there's no
PTY whose SIGWINCH we'd need to bridge."""
def test_no_wrapper_when_tty_false(self):
argv = _bottle().claude_argv([], tty=False)
self.assertEqual("smolvm", argv[0])
self.assertNotIn("pty_resize", " ".join(argv))
def test_tty_false_drops_it_flags(self):
argv = _bottle().claude_argv([], tty=False)
self.assertNotIn("-i", argv)
self.assertNotIn("-t", argv)
if __name__ == "__main__":
unittest.main()