Executable broken when called with PKG_EXECPATH set to its own absolute path

[0x2b3bfa0]

What version of pkg are you using?

5.5.2

What version of Node.js are you using?

16.14.0

What operating system are you using?

Ubuntu 20.04

What CPU architecture are you using?

x86_64

What Node versions, OSs and CPU architectures are you building for?

node16-linux-x64

Describe the Bug

Calling an executable created with pkg with the PKG_EXECPATH environment variable set to the absolute path of the executable produces an error.

Expected Behavior

Setting the PKG_EXECPATH environment variable to the absolute path of the executable should not produce any error:

$ tee test.js <<< "console.log('test');"
console.log('test');
$ pkg test.js --target=node16-linux-x64 --output=test
[email protected]
$ ./test
test
$ PKG_EXECPATH=$(realpath test) ./test
test
$ PKG_EXECPATH=$(realpath test) ./test argument
test

To Reproduce

Setting the PKG_EXECPATH environment variable to the absolute path of the executable produces an error:

$ tee test.js <<< "console.log('test');"
console.log('test');
$ pkg test.js --target=node16-linux-x64 --output=test
[email protected]
$ ./test
test
$ PKG_EXECPATH=$(realpath test) ./test
pkg/prelude/bootstrap.js:1813
      if (error.code !== 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND') throw error;
                                             ^
TypeError: String.prototype.startsWith called on null or undefined
    at startsWith (<anonymous>)
    at Function.Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:849:7)
    at Function._resolveFilename (pkg/prelude/bootstrap.js:1811:44)
    at Function.Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:778:27)
    at Function.runMain (pkg/prelude/bootstrap.js:1847:12)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:17:47
$ PKG_EXECPATH=$(realpath test) ./test argument
node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:936
  throw err;
  ^
Error: Cannot find module '/path/to/current/directory/argument'
    at Function.Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:933:15)
    at Function._resolveFilename (pkg/prelude/bootstrap.js:1819:46)
    at Function.Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:778:27)
    at Function.runMain (pkg/prelude/bootstrap.js:1847:12)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:17:47 {
  code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
  requireStack: []
}

[0x2b3bfa0]

Related Issues

• Recursive spawn of pkg binary fails #376
• Can I use pkg's bundled executable file as node itself? #864
• Error: Command failed: Executing pkg cli from the child process of pkg cli getting failed. #897
• Packaged exe is not executing in a specific scenario #1241
• Spawn Child process of same application #1292

[0x2b3bfa0]

Explanation

pkg/prelude/bootstrap.js

Lines 77 to 89 in 2ef4cd9

	if (process.env.PKG_EXECPATH === EXECPATH) {
	process.argv.splice(1, 1);
	if (process.argv[1] && process.argv[1] !== '-') {
	// https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/1a96d83a223ff9f05f7d942fb84440d323f7b596/lib/internal/bootstrap/node.js#L269
	process.argv[1] = path.resolve(process.argv[1]);
	}
	} else {
	process.argv[1] = DEFAULT_ENTRYPOINT;
	}
	[, ENTRYPOINT] = process.argv;
	delete process.env.PKG_EXECPATH;

TypeError: String.prototype.startsWith called on null or undefined

• Condition at line 77 is true (executable called with PKG_EXECPATH set to its own absolute path)
• Condition at line 80 is false (executable called without arguments, or the first argument is a hyphen)
• Value of process.argv[1] remains undefined because no other assignment is being made
• Value of ENTRYPOINT becomes process.argv[1] at line 88

Error: Cannot find module '/path/to/current/directory/argument'

• Condition at line 77 is true (executable called with PKG_EXECPATH set to its own absolute path)
• Condition at line 80 is true (executable called with one or more arguments, and the first argument isn't a hyphen)
• Value of process.argv[1] becomes path.resolve(process.argv[1])¹
• Value of ENTRYPOINT becomes process.argv[1] at line 88

pkg/prelude/bootstrap.js

Line 1846 in 2ef4cd9

Module._load(ENTRYPOINT, null, true);

Value of ENTRYPOINT (either undefined or a non–existent path) is used to call the _load function, producing an error.

Footnotes

1. Namely, '/path/to/current/directory/argument' ↩

[0x2b3bfa0]

It turns out that there aren't other solutions apart from unsetting PKG_EXECPATH as proposed on #897. At least, I haven't found any.