[claude-trace] Windows compatibility: getClaudeAbsolutePath() fails

[thomas-jimmy-chen]

Component

apps/claude-trace — src/cli.ts → getClaudeAbsolutePath()

Problem

claude-trace fails to start on Windows with two separate errors:

Error 1: which not found

'which' is not recognized as an internal or external command
❌ Claude CLI not found in PATH

Cause: Uses which claude, but Windows doesn't have which. The equivalent is where claude.

Error 2: Bash wrapper parsed as JavaScript

SyntaxError: missing ) after argument list
    at wrapSafe (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1638:18)

Cause: On Windows, where claude returns the npm global bin path (e.g. C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\claude), which is a bash shell wrapper (starts with #!/bin/sh), not a JavaScript file. When Node.js tries to execute it via spawn("node", [..., claudePath]), it fails.

The actual Node.js entry point is at:

...\npm\node_modules\@anthropic-ai\claude-code\cli.js

Suggested Fix

In getClaudeAbsolutePath():

1. Use process.platform === "win32" ? "where claude" : "which claude" for cross-platform lookup
2. Add .split(/\r?\n/)[0] since Windows where may return multiple lines
3. Add a resolveToJS() helper that detects shell wrappers (file starts with #!/ or @ECHO) and resolves to the actual @anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js entry point via the npm node_modules path

Full fix code available in the related issue: loki-zhou/claude-trace#4

Environment

• Windows 11 Enterprise 10.0.22631
• Node.js 22.x, npm global install
• Claude Code 2.1.72

[shenrf]

Ran into this exact issue on Windows 11 + Claude Code (latest npm install). Patched both problems locally:

1. which → where.exe claude (with .split(/\r?\n/)[0] for multi-line output)
2. MSYS/Git Bash path conversion (/c/Users/... → C:/Users/...)

However, even after resolving the path correctly, there's a deeper blocker: Claude Code now ships as a native PE32+ binary (claude.exe), not a Node.js script. The cli.js entry point mentioned in the suggested fix no longer exists — only cli-wrapper.cjs remains, which just spawnSyncs the native binary.

This means node --require interceptor.js <claude-path> fundamentally can't work, since there's no Node.js process to monkey-patch fetch on. This is the same root cause as #48.

PR #56 (reverse proxy approach) seems like the right direction. In the meantime, mitmproxy --mode reverse:https://api.anthropic.com with ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000 works as a workaround.