[eric] build: bundle npm with node so packaged apps can install custom deps (fixes imported backend apps not starting)

backend/apps/outputs/view_builder_templates.py

@@ -23,18 +23,17 @@ def p_resolve_npm() -> list[str] | None:
     node_path = os.environ.get("OPENSWARM_NODE_PATH")
     if node_path and os.path.exists(node_path):
         node_dir = os.path.dirname(node_path)
+        # Prefer invoking npm-cli.js through our bundled node so this doesn't depend on a system node for the shim's shebang. Second entry is the canonical Mac-dist layout (lib/node_modules/npm); first is the Windows layout (node_modules/npm beside node.exe).
+        for cli in (
+            os.path.join(node_dir, "node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js"),
+            os.path.join(os.path.dirname(node_dir), "lib", "node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js"),
+        ):
+            if os.path.exists(cli):
+                return [node_path, cli]
         for shim in ("npm.cmd", "npm"):
             cand = os.path.join(node_dir, shim)
             if os.path.exists(cand):
                 return [cand]
-        # node.exe with no sibling npm: invoke npm-cli.js directly via node.
-        for rel in (
-            os.path.join("node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js"),
-            os.path.join(node_dir, "node_modules", "npm", "bin", "npm-cli.js"),
-        ):
-            cli = rel if os.path.isabs(rel) else os.path.join(node_dir, rel)
-            if os.path.exists(cli):
-                return [node_path, cli]
     for name in ("npm.cmd", "npm") if sys.platform == "win32" else ("npm",):
         found = shutil.which(name)
         if found:

scripts/build-app-win.ps1

@@ -322,11 +322,13 @@ try {
     Write-Host "[3b] Downloading $NodeUrl..."
     Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $NodeUrl -OutFile $NodeZip -UseBasicParsing
     Expand-Archive -Path $NodeZip -DestinationPath $NodeExtract -Force
-    # Ship just node.exe — npm/npx are unused at runtime (router + MCP
-    # bundles are pre-built). Saves ~70 MB from the installer.
-    $SrcNode = Join-Path $NodeExtract "node-$NodeVersion-win-x64\node.exe"
+    $SrcRoot = Join-Path $NodeExtract "node-$NodeVersion-win-x64"
+    $SrcNode = Join-Path $SrcRoot 'node.exe'
     if (-not (Test-Path $SrcNode)) { throw "node.exe not found at $SrcNode after extract" }
     Copy-Item -Force $SrcNode (Join-Path $NodeStageDir 'node.exe')
+    # Bundle npm too so packaged apps with custom deps can `npm install` them. npm.cmd + node_modules\npm sit next to node.exe in the win dist; p_resolve_npm finds node_dir\npm.cmd.
+    Copy-Item -Force (Join-Path $SrcRoot 'npm.cmd') (Join-Path $NodeStageDir 'npm.cmd')
+    Copy-Item -Recurse -Force (Join-Path $SrcRoot 'node_modules') (Join-Path $NodeStageDir 'node_modules')
     $Size = (Get-Item (Join-Path $NodeStageDir 'node.exe')).Length / 1MB
     Write-Host ("[3b] Node {0} (x64) staged ({1:N1} MB)" -f $NodeVersion, $Size)
 } finally {

scripts/build-app.sh

@@ -330,11 +330,18 @@ download_node_for_arch() {
     local tmp; tmp=$(mktemp -d)
     curl -fsSL --progress-bar -o "$tmp/node.tar.gz" "$url"
     tar xzf "$tmp/node.tar.gz" -C "$tmp"
-    # Ship just the `node` binary. We don't need npm/npx/corepack at runtime —
-    # all router + MCP code is pre-bundled. ~50 MB per arch -> ~25 MB after
-    # gzip/dmg compression.
     cp "$tmp/node-${NODE_VERSION}-darwin-${arch}/bin/node" "$out_dir/bin/node"
     chmod +x "$out_dir/bin/node"
+    # Bundle npm too so packaged apps with custom deps can `npm install` them (the bare node can't).
+    mkdir -p "$out_dir/lib/node_modules"
+    cp -R "$tmp/node-${NODE_VERSION}-darwin-${arch}/lib/node_modules/npm" "$out_dir/lib/node_modules/npm"
+    # An explicit wrapper, not the dist's bin/npm symlink (packaging may not preserve symlinks): always runs our bundled node + npm-cli.js, no PATH/system-node reliance. run.sh picks it up as $NODE_DIR/npm.
+    cat > "$out_dir/bin/npm" <<'NPMSH'
+#!/bin/sh
+here="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+exec "$here/node" "$here/../lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js" "$@"
+NPMSH
+    chmod +x "$out_dir/bin/npm"
     rm -rf "$tmp"
     echo "[3b] Node $NODE_VERSION ($arch) staged ($(du -h "$out_dir/bin/node" | cut -f1))"
 }