install fails on npm 12+ due to allow-remote=none

[jasonatwell]

As of npm 12, allow-remote defaults to none. 0 1 Not sure of the proper solution here, but at least warn the user that you will be doing npm install --allow-remote and maybe link to some documentation explaining the risks?

[felipecsl]

Some test results on npm 12.0.1 / Node 26.5.0 that may help decide the fix.

Why it fails: prime-agent's own package.json resolves three dependencies from a non-registry host:

@earendil-works/pi-agent-core -> https://pub-.../releases/v0.7.0/prime-agent-core-0.7.0.tgz
@earendil-works/pi-ai         -> .../prime-agent-ai-0.7.0.tgz
@earendil-works/pi-tui        -> .../prime-agent-tui-0.7.0.tgz

allow-remote=root does not work. I packed a stand-in package with the same URL dependency and installed it with each value:

none -> npm error EALLOWREMOTE  Fetching packages of type "remote" have been disabled
root -> npm error EALLOWREMOTE  Fetching non-root packages of type "remote" have been disabled
all  -> added 106 packages

install.sh runs npm install -g <local tarball>, so prime-agent is a dependency edge and its URL deps are non-root. Only all works, so the lever is scope, not value.

A less permissive workaround than ~/.npmrc. npm reads npm_config_* from the environment and the installer's npm install -g inherits it, so the grant can be limited to the single install:

env npm_config_allow_remote=all sh install.sh

Verified with the user config neutralized: with the env var the install resolves; without it, EALLOWREMOTE. This avoids a permanent global allow-remote = all.

Second npm 12 setting hits this too: allow-scripts. prime-agent has "postinstall": "node postinstall.cjs", which prepares uv and the IPython runtime. On a machine with an allow-scripts policy that does not list it, npm blocks that postinstall with only a warning, the install "succeeds", and the agent later fails at first tool call with uv is required to set up the Python kernel. That failure mode is confusing because nothing errors at install time.

Note allow-scripts matches resolved identity, not the self-reported name. For a local-tarball global install, name-only entries do not match:

--allow-scripts=scripttest              -> blocked
--allow-scripts=file:/path/to.tgz       -> blocked
--allow-scripts=scripttest@1.0.0        -> script ran

So the pinned form is needed:

env npm_config_allow_remote=all npm_config_allow_scripts=prime-agent@0.7.0 sh install.sh

Suggestions: publishing the three @earendil-works/* packages to the registry would remove the allow-remote problem entirely, since tarballs sharing the registry hostname still install under the default. Short of that, the installer could detect npm >= 12, explain that it needs allow-remote for the release tarballs, and ask for confirmation before it re-runs with the scoped env var, rather than leaving the user to set a global ~/.npmrc value. It would also help to check after install whether the postinstall actually ran and warn if it was blocked.

[ayushnangia]

Related npm-drift fixes for #738/#749 are up in the PR just linked; this issue is the same family but I've deliberately left it out of that PR — the right shape (version-gated --allow-remote on the npm install -g line in install.sh, or an upfront warning) needs verification against a real npm 12 (allow-remote=none default per the June changelog), which I can't do from npm 11.13 without guessing at flag semantics. If someone on npm 12 can confirm whether the local-tarball install itself or its registry dependency resolution triggers the gate, the install.sh change is a three-liner.

[d4not]

Confirmed on Linux with the current official installer and the current stable release.

• Prime Agent: v0.7.0
• Node.js: v26.5.1
• npm: 12.0.2
• Default npm config: allow-remote = none

The installer verifies and downloads prime-agent-0.7.0.tgz, then runs npm install -g without an allow-remote override. Its published package.json contains non-root URL dependencies, for example:

@earendil-works/pi-agent-core@
https://pub-728493de92a943e2a9b2d17b4719f318.r2.dev/releases/v0.7.0/prime-agent-core-0.7.0.tgz

npm 12 then exits with:

npm error code EALLOWREMOTE
npm error Fetching packages of type "remote" have been disabled

Temporary workaround (scoped to the installer process, so it does not change ~/.npmrc):

curl -fsSL https://app.primeintellect.ai/prime-agent/install.sh | npm_config_allow_remote=all sh

allow-remote=root is insufficient because the blocked tarballs are transitive dependencies of prime-agent, not root dependencies. The installer should pass --allow-remote=all (or an equivalent scoped config) to its npm install -g invocation, or replace the remote tarball dependencies.

[ayushnangia]

@d4not thank you — that's exactly the verification this needed. Folded into #773 (commit 00d8d19): the installer now scopes npm_config_allow_remote=all to its own npm install -g invocations (env-scoped, no ~/.npmrc changes), gated to npm ≥ 12 so older versions see no unknown-config warnings. Two things deliberately left for maintainers, noted in the PR: the npm self-update step has the same exposure, and the deeper fix is publishing without transitive URL deps — a release-pipeline call.

[smwbev]

Confirmed on the self-update path, which #773 deliberately left open.

• Prime Agent: 0.7.1 -> 0.7.2
• Node.js: v26.5.0
• npm: 12.0.1
• macOS (Apple Silicon), global npm install with prefix /opt/homebrew

prime-agent update builds npm --prefix /opt/homebrew install -g <release tarball URL> and exits:

npm error code EALLOWREMOTE
npm error Fetching packages of type "remote" have been disabled
npm error Refusing to fetch "https://pub-728493de92a943e2a9b2d17b4719f318.r2.dev/releases/v0.7.2/prime-agent-0.7.2.tgz"
Error: npm --prefix /opt/homebrew install -g https://... exited with code 1

npm_config_allow_remote=all prime-agent update completes the 0.7.1 -> 0.7.2 update. The same A/B holds for the published artifact in a throwaway prefix, so the gate is the config and not the artifact:

$ npm --prefix "$tmp" install -g --dry-run https://pub-.../releases/v0.7.2/prime-agent-0.7.2.tgz
npm error code EALLOWREMOTE

$ npm_config_allow_remote=all npm --prefix "$tmp" install -g --dry-run https://pub-.../releases/v0.7.2/prime-agent-0.7.2.tgz
(resolves)

#1272 scopes that grant to the self-update install step, and only when the update spec is a direct package artifact: registry specs keep the npm 12 default, ~/.npmrc is untouched, and the follow-up uninstall step does not get it. No file overlap with #773.

Two things it does not address, both noted in the PR: npm 12 also blocks the postinstall that prepares uv and the IPython runtime unless allow-scripts covers it (the allow-scripts finding above), and publishing without transitive URL dependencies remains the deeper fix.

[kevinjosethomas]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to report this! Since open sourcing Prime Agent, we’ve received far more Issues than we can reliably triage and maintain. Rather than leave a large backlog that we cannot meaningfully work through, we’re closing the current Issue queue and moving to a discussion-first process.

We have established new contribution guidelines to help us continue iterating on Prime Agent and better manage contributions from the community. Going forward, GitHub Issues will be our maintainer work queue rather than the initial place for public reports and requests. Bug reports, feature requests, questions, and other feedback should begin in GitHub Discussions. Please read the full process documented in our contribution guidelines. Security vulnerabilities should continue to be reported privately according to our security policy.

While we’re closing this backlog, we’re still reviewing it at a high level to identify recurring bugs, useful ideas, and important problems that we should address ourselves. Thanks again for the time you put into this!