Context

Add kilocode update command for CLI self-update functionality. Users can check for updates and install the latest version directly from the terminal without manually running package manager commands.

Implementation

• Installation detection: Detects how the CLI was installed (npm, pnpm, yarn, bun, npx, docker, or local project dependency) by analyzing process.argv[1] path patterns
  • Uses original path (before symlink resolution) to distinguish local vs global installs
  • Handles Yarn PnP projects (.yarn/cache, .yarn/unplugged)
  • Excludes global path patterns to avoid misdetecting global installs as local
• Version checking: Fetches latest version from npm registry with 10s timeout using AbortController
• Update execution: Spawns appropriate package manager command with shell: true for Windows compatibility
• Subcommand registration: Added to SUBCOMMANDS array in index.ts for fallback handling

Key design decisions:

• Returns canUpdate: false for local installs, npx, and docker with manual update instructions
• Uses semver.gt() for version comparison (consistent with auto-update.ts style)
• Original argv path used for local detection to avoid pnpm store path conflicts
• Updated auto-update notification to suggest kilocode update instead of hardcoded npm install -g

Screenshots

N/A (CLI command)

How to Test

# Build CLI
cd cli && pnpm build

# Test update check
pnpm start update --check

# Test with different install scenarios (mock by setting process.argv[1])
pnpm vitest run src/commands/__tests__/update.test.ts

Expected behaviors:

• Global npm/pnpm/yarn/bun install → shows update command and executes it
• Local node_modules install → shows "Running from local node_modules" with manual instructions
• Yarn PnP project → shows "Running from Yarn PnP" with yarn up instruction
• npx/pnpx/bunx → shows "Each run uses the latest version automatically"
• Docker → shows docker pull instruction

Get in Touch

@PeterDaveHello