# ✅ App Startup FIXED - Summary

## What Was Wrong

1. **`ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1`** was set globally in your shell environment
   - Made `require('electron')` return a string (binary path) instead of the API
   - Electron APIs (app, BrowserWindow) were undefined

2. **Module System Mismatch**
   - Tried to use `"type": "module"` everywhere
   - Electron doesn't support named ESM imports: `import { app } from 'electron'`

3. **Node Version Inconsistency**  
   - Gateway was using Node v18.20.5 (via nvm)
   - Electron embeds Node v24.13.0
   - Caused native module (better-sqlite3) to fail

## What We Fixed

### 1. Removed Global `ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE`
```bash
unset ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE  # Only set in Gateway subprocess env
```

### 2. Adopted "Boring, Stable" Module Architecture
```
✓ Main Process (src/electron/index.cjs)     = CommonJS
✓ Preload (src/electron/preload.mjs)        = ESM (.mjs required)
✓ Renderer (ui/)                            = ESM (Vite)
✓ Gateway (src/gateway/)                    = ESM (TypeScript)
```

### 3. Node Version Consistency
- Gateway now spawned with Electron's embedded Node v24
- Rebuilt native modules: `npx @electron/rebuild`
- Added `.nvmrc` with v24.13.0

### 4. File Structure
```
src/electron/
├── package.json        # { "type": "commonjs" } overrides root
├── main.js             # Shim: require('./index.cjs')
├── index.cjs           # Main process (CommonJS)
└── preload.mjs         # Preload (ESM)
```

## Current Status

✅ **App starts successfully!**

```
[Electron] App ready
[Gateway] Node: v24.13.0
[Gateway] All services initialized
[Gateway] Server listening on http://127.0.0.1:18789
[WebSocket] Client connected
```

## Key Commands

```bash
# Start app (production)
npm start

# Start app (development)
npm run dev

# Kill stuck Gateway
npm run kill:gateway

# Rebuild native modules
npx @electron/rebuild
```

## Documentation Created

1. `docs/ELECTRON_MODULE_SYSTEM.md` - Complete architecture guide
2. `docs/ARCHITECTURE_AUDIT_2026-02-12.md` - What we found & fixed
3. `docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md` - Common errors & solutions
4. `scripts/kill-gateway.sh` - Port cleanup utility

## Best Practices Learned

1. ✅ **Main = CJS, Renderer = ESM** is the battle-tested pattern
2. ✅ Never set `ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE` globally
3. ✅ Use `src/electron/package.json` to override root module type
4. ✅ Gateway uses Electron's embedded Node (consistent versions)
5. ✅ Run `npx @electron/rebuild` in postinstall hook

---

**Bottom Line:** We tried to be clever with "ESM everywhere" but Electron's multi-runtime reality requires respecting each context's strengths. The boring, stable setup wins.
