fix(cli-apps): lighten npm install + friendly timeout to avoid service restart

README.md

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ One Render web service running nanobot's `gateway` and its bundled WebUI. You ch
 
 This is not a free deploy. Expect:
 
-- **Render Starter plan** — ~$7/mo for the web service.
+- **Render Starter plan** — ~$7/mo for the web service. Runs the core experience well; resource-intensive tasks (npm-based CLI Apps, image rendering) may need a larger plan — see the note under [Deploy](#deploy).
 - **1 GB persistent disk** — ~$0.25/mo for sessions and memory.
 - **Anthropic API usage** — billed separately by Anthropic based on your agent's LLM calls.
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ This is not a free deploy. Expect:
 5. The WebUI shows an access prompt — paste the same `NANOBOT_WEB_TOKEN` to sign in. It's stored only in your browser.
 6. Send a message. You're talking to your agent.
 
-**Note:** If you hit an error like `No space left on device` after performing a resource-intensive dask, upgrade your persistent disk size to 5 GB or larger in the **Disk** page in your Render dashboard.
+**Note:** The Starter plan comfortably runs the core experience — chat, web search/fetch, and persistent memory. Resource-intensive actions, such as installing npm-based CLI Apps or generating/rendering images, can briefly overwhelm the small instance: it may trigger a ~15s restart before recovering, or fail with `No space left on device`. To run these reliably, upgrade to a larger plan (e.g. **Standard**, 2 GB) under **Settings → Instance Type**, and/or increase your persistent disk to 5 GB or larger on the **Disk** page, in your Render dashboard.
 
 ## Environment variables
 

nanobot/apps/cli/service.py

@@ -857,10 +857,15 @@ def _npm_argv(self, app: dict[str, Any], action: str) -> list[str]:
         package = str(app.get("npm_package") or "")
         if not package:
             raise CliAppError("registry entry has no npm_package")
+        # Lightweight flags flatten npm's CPU/network burst so a global install
+        # doesn't starve a small instance's health check into a restart:
+        # --no-audit/--no-fund skip an extra audit pass; --maxsockets caps
+        # concurrent connections. Uninstall doesn't need them.
+        light = ["--no-audit", "--no-fund", "--maxsockets", "4"]
         if action == "install":
-            return [npm, "install", "-g", package]
+            return [npm, "install", "-g", package, *light]
         if action == "update":
-            return [npm, "install", "-g", package + "@latest"]
+            return [npm, "install", "-g", package + "@latest", *light]
         return [npm, "uninstall", "-g", package]
 
     def _cleanup_stale_npm_install(self, app: dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
@@ -944,12 +949,21 @@ def _argv_for_action(
     def _run_argv(self, argv: list[str], *, timeout: int) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
         command = subprocess.list2cmdline(argv)
         logger.info("CLI Apps: running {}", command)
-        result = subprocess.run(
-            argv,
-            capture_output=True,
-            text=True,
-            timeout=timeout,
-        )
+        try:
+            result = subprocess.run(
+                argv,
+                capture_output=True,
+                text=True,
+                timeout=timeout,
+            )
+        except subprocess.TimeoutExpired as exc:
+            logger.warning("CLI Apps: command timed out after {}s: {}", timeout, command)
+            raise CliAppError(
+                f"Timed out after {timeout}s. CLI-app installs are resource-intensive and "
+                "can overwhelm a small instance. Upgrade your Render instance to a larger "
+                "plan and try again. See the README.",
+                status=503,
+            ) from exc
         logger.info("CLI Apps: command exited with code {}: {}", result.returncode, command)
         output = (result.stderr or result.stdout or "").strip()
         if output:

tests/cli_apps/test_service.py

@@ -451,7 +451,16 @@ def fake_run(argv: list[str], *, timeout: int) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[st
         nonlocal install_attempts
         if argv == [npm, "root", "-g"]:
             return subprocess.CompletedProcess(argv, 0, stdout=str(global_root), stderr="")
-        if argv == [npm, "install", "-g", "hyperframes"]:
+        if argv == [
+            npm,
+            "install",
+            "-g",
+            "hyperframes",
+            "--no-audit",
+            "--no-fund",
+            "--maxsockets",
+            "4",
+        ]:
             install_attempts += 1
             if install_attempts == 1:
                 return subprocess.CompletedProcess(
@@ -954,3 +963,67 @@ def fake_run(argv: list[str], *, timeout: int) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[st
         sys.executable,
         "suno-cli",
     ]
+
+
+def test_npm_argv_install_and_update_use_lightweight_flags(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    manager = _manager(tmp_path)
+    npm = str(tmp_path / "bin" / "npm")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "nanobot.apps.cli.service.shutil.which",
+        lambda command: npm if command == "npm" else None,
+    )
+    app = {"package_manager": "npm", "npm_package": "hyperframes"}
+
+    # install/update carry lightweight flags to flatten the CPU/network burst that
+    # otherwise starves a small instance's health check.
+    assert manager._npm_argv(app, "install") == [
+        npm,
+        "install",
+        "-g",
+        "hyperframes",
+        "--no-audit",
+        "--no-fund",
+        "--maxsockets",
+        "4",
+    ]
+    assert manager._npm_argv(app, "update") == [
+        npm,
+        "install",
+        "-g",
+        "hyperframes@latest",
+        "--no-audit",
+        "--no-fund",
+        "--maxsockets",
+        "4",
+    ]
+    # uninstall stays minimal — install-only flags don't apply.
+    assert manager._npm_argv(app, "uninstall") == [npm, "uninstall", "-g", "hyperframes"]
+
+
+def test_run_argv_timeout_raises_friendly_cli_app_error(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    from nanobot.apps.cli import service as cli_service
+
+    manager = _manager(tmp_path)
+
+    def fake_run(
+        argv: list[str],
+        *,
+        capture_output: bool,
+        text: bool,
+        timeout: int,
+    ) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
+        raise subprocess.TimeoutExpired(cmd=argv, timeout=timeout)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(cli_service.subprocess, "run", fake_run)
+
+    with pytest.raises(CliAppError) as excinfo:
+        manager._run_argv(["npm", "install", "-g", "hyperframes"], timeout=5)
+
+    assert excinfo.value.status == 503
+    assert "upgrade" in excinfo.value.message.lower()