--localstorage-file error at startup

[acoliver]

What happened?

Warning: --localstorage-file was provided without a valid path
at Object.get (node:internal/webstorage:32:25)
at getIsReloadAndProfileSupported (/Users/acoliver/projects/llxprt/branch-2/llxprt-code/node_modules/react-devtools-core/dist/backend.js:4579:18)
at Module.connectToDevTools (/Users/acoliver/projects/llxprt/branch-2/llxprt-code/node_modules/react-devtools-core/dist/backend.js:18017:72)
at file:///Users/acoliver/projects/llxprt/branch-2/llxprt-code/node_modules/ink/build/devtools.js:10:10
at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:413:25)
at async onImport.tracePromise.proto (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:654:26)
at async file:///Users/acoliver/projects/llxprt/branch-2/llxprt-code/node_modules/ink/build/reconciler.js:13:9

What did you expect to happen?

not display this error, it isn't fatal but it didn't happen in 0.7.0 -- something changed since the release

Client information

About LLxprt Code

CLI Version 0.7.0
Git Commit 6a0710a
Model gemini:gemini-2.5-pro
Provider gemini
Sandbox no sandbox
OS darwin
Auth Method provider

Login information

No response

Anything else we need to know?

No response

[acoliver]

@CodeRabbit look into this.

[coderabbitai]

🔗 Similar Issues

Possible Duplicates

• --localstorage-file error #941

Related Issues

• blew the buffer with subagents #601
• Kimi k2 tool call error #101
• canceling tool calls on codex still throws an error on the next prompt #855

👤 Suggested Assignees

• acoliver

---

Enable issue planning

_{To enable issue planning, add the following to your .coderabbit.yaml:}

issue_enrichment:
  planning:
    enabled: true

_{You can then request a plan by commenting @coderabbitai plan on any issue.}

🧪 Issue enrichment is currently in open beta.

You can configure auto-planning by selecting labels in the issue_enrichment configuration.

To disable automatic issue enrichment, add the following to your .coderabbit.yaml:

issue_enrichment:
  auto_enrich:
    enabled: false

💬 Have feedback or questions? Drop into our discord!

[coderabbitai]

Tip

For best results, initiate chat on the files or code changes.

🧩 Analysis chain

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
# Search for references to localstorage-file in the codebase
echo "=== Searching for localstorage-file references ==="
rg -i "localstorage.?file" -n -C3

echo -e "\n=== Searching for React DevTools configuration ==="
rg -i "react.?devtools|connectToDevTools" -n -C3 --type=ts --type=js

echo -e "\n=== Searching for Ink devtools configuration ==="
rg -i "ink.*devtools|devtools.*ink" -n -C3 --type=ts --type=js

echo -e "\n=== Finding package.json files to check dependencies ==="
fd "package.json" -x cat {}

Length of output: 24778

---

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
# Look for the start script and main entry points
echo "=== Checking scripts/start.js ==="
cat scripts/start.js 2>/dev/null || echo "File not found"

echo -e "\n=== Searching for NODE_OPTIONS and environment variable usage ==="
rg -i "NODE_OPTIONS|--localstorage" -n -C2

echo -e "\n=== Searching for Ink initialization and render calls ==="
rg -i "render\(|from ['\"]ink['\"]" -n -C3 --type=ts

echo -e "\n=== Looking for main entry points ==="
cat packages/cli/src/index.ts 2>/dev/null | head -50

echo -e "\n=== Checking for devtools configuration ==="
rg -i "devtools|debug.*mode" -n -C2 --type=ts --type=js -g '!node_modules' -g '!dist' | head -100

Length of output: 297309

---

@acoliver Thanks — I dug in. Here’s what I found and how to fix/unblock.

What’s happening

• The warning is emitted when React DevTools (pulled in via Ink’s devtools) touches localStorage in Node. Node then checks the CLI flag --localstorage-file. If that flag is present without a path, it prints: “Warning: --localstorage-file was provided without a valid path”.
• Our repo doesn’t set this flag anywhere. The most likely cause is an environment-level NODE_OPTIONS containing a stray --localstorage-file, which our launcher forwards into the child process. In 0.7.0 the devtools path likely didn’t access localStorage, so the warning stayed hidden; the new devtools integration surfaces it.

Quick checks on your machine
Please run these and paste results back:

• echo "$NODE_OPTIONS"
• node -p "process.execArgv"

If you see --localstorage-file (with no =/path), that’s the culprit.

Immediate local workarounds
Pick one:

1. Provide a valid localstorage file (persists webstorage, silent):
   export NODE_OPTIONS="${NODE_OPTIONS/--localstorage-file/} --localstorage-file=$HOME/.llxprt/localstorage.json"
   mkdir -p "$(dirname "$HOME/.llxprt/localstorage.json")" && : > "$HOME/.llxprt/localstorage.json"

2. Temporarily disable React DevTools when running the CLI (prevents the access that triggers the warning):
   INK_DEVTOOLS=0 npm run start

   or:

   INK_DEVTOOLS=false npm run start

3. Strip the dangling flag for this session:
   export NODE_OPTIONS="$(printf '%s\n' "$NODE_OPTIONS" | sed -E 's/(^| )--localstorage-file( |$)/ /g')"

Proposed repo-side guard (non-invasive, dev-only)
We can make startup resilient so this never surfaces for folks with a misconfigured env:

• In scripts/start.js, before spawning the child:
  • If NODE_OPTIONS contains a bare --localstorage-file, either:
    • remove it, or
    • rewrite it to a safe temp path, e.g. $TMPDIR/llxprt-localstorage.json.
• Optional: allow disabling devtools via an env flag LLXPRT_DISABLE_DEVTOOLS=1, which we map to INK_DEVTOOLS=0 for the child process.

I can draft a minimal patch for scripts/start.js that:

• Detects a dangling --localstorage-file and rewrites it to a temp file.
• Honors LLXPRT_DISABLE_DEVTOOLS=1 by setting INK_DEVTOOLS=0 for the spawned process.

Would you like me to prep that patch? If yes, I’ll generate the diff and validation steps.