[pujitha24]

What

squad doctor no longer shows the "run npm install or check dependencies" warning for the vscode-jsonrpc and copilot-sdk checks when the current directory only has an unrelated node_modules. That advice now appears only when cwd is a Squad checkout (packages/squad-cli) or has @bradygaster/squad-cli installed locally. In all other cases, the existing info-level "expected for global installs" result is returned.

Why

squad doctor treated any existing <cwd>/node_modules as a Squad development context. In a standalone install, that directory belongs to the host application. The warning told users to run npm install, which cannot repair the runtime Squad actually uses.

Closes #2367

How

The "run npm install" warning is now gated on cwd being a Squad checkout or having @bradygaster/squad-cli installed locally. Real failures (malformed exports, unpatched session.js) are unchanged.

This PR does not resolve and check the invoked installation's own runtime dependencies. That is a larger change and is left out. The only effect here is that the misleading warning is no longer shown for an unrelated node_modules.

Tests: added two tests in test/cli/doctor.test.ts.

• An unrelated node_modules gives info severity and no npm-install advice. This test fails without the change and passes with it.
• A local squad-cli install still warns.

Results from npx vitest run test/cli/doctor.test.ts after npm run build: 68 passed, 2 failed. The 2 failures (git sync hooks tests) also fail on the unmodified base and are unrelated.

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⚠️ Quick Check

• If SDK/CLI source files changed: completed the applicable Changeset step below (npx changeset add / .changeset/*.md, direct CHANGELOG.md entry for maintainers, or skip-changelog label for no user-facing changes)

PR Readiness Checklist

The PR readiness bot will validate these automatically after push.
Check each item before requesting review. See CONTRIBUTING.md for full details.

Branch & Commit

• Branch created from dev (not main)
• Branch is up to date with dev (git fetch upstream && git rebase upstream/dev)
• Verified diff contains only intended changes (git diff --cached --stat)
• PR is not in draft mode (mark ready when checks pass)
• Commit history is clean (squash fixups before review)

Build & Test

• npm run build passes
• npm test passes (all tests green)
• npm run lint passes (type check clean)
• npm run lint:eslint passes
• For migration PRs (>20 files): include test output summary in PR description

Changeset

• Changeset added via npx changeset add (if packages/squad-sdk/src/ or packages/squad-cli/src/ changed)
• Or direct CHANGELOG.md entry (maintainers only — write-protected for external contributors)
• Or skip-changelog label applied (if no user-facing changes)

Docs

N/A. This is a bug fix to warning behavior, with no new feature or module.

• README section updated (if new feature/module)
• Docs feature page (if new user-facing capability)

Exports

N/A. No new modules.

• package.json subpath exports updated (if new module)

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Breaking Changes

None

Waivers

Waived: npm test passes (all tests green), reason: the 2 failing git sync hooks tests in test/cli/doctor.test.ts also fail on the unmodified base and are unrelated to this change, approved by: pending (Lead or Quality role owner must approve in PR comments before merge)

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AI assistance: this change was drafted with Claude Code.

[github-actions]

🟡 Impact Analysis — PR #2391

Risk tier: 🟡 MEDIUM

📊 Summary

Metric	Count
Files changed	3
Files added	1
Files modified	2
Files deleted	0
Modules touched	3

🎯 Risk Factors

• 3 files changed (≤5 → LOW)
• 3 modules touched (2-4 → MEDIUM)

📦 Modules Affected

root (1 file)

• .changeset/doctor-ignores-app-node-modules.md

squad-cli (1 file)

• packages/squad-cli/src/cli/commands/doctor.ts

tests (1 file)

• test/cli/doctor.test.ts

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This report is generated automatically for every PR. See #733 for details.

[github-actions]

🛫 PR Readiness Check

ℹ️ This comment updates on each push. Last checked: commit 05ee730

PR Scope: 📦🔧 Mixed (product + infrastructure)

⚠️ 2 item(s) to address before review

Status	Check	Details
✅	Single commit	1 commit — clean history
✅	Not in draft	Ready for review
✅	Branch up to date	Up to date with dev
❌	Copilot review	No Copilot review yet — it may still be processing
✅	Changeset present	Changeset file found
✅	Scope clean	No .squad/ or docs/proposals/ files
✅	No merge conflicts	No merge conflicts
✅	Copilot threads resolved	No Copilot review threads
❌	CI passing	15 check(s) still running

Files Changed (3 files, +43 −4)

File	+/−
.changeset/doctor-ignores-app-node-modules.md	+5 −0
packages/squad-cli/src/cli/commands/doctor.ts	+12 −4
test/cli/doctor.test.ts	+26 −0

Total: +43 −4

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This check runs automatically on every push. Fix any ❌ items and push again.
See CONTRIBUTING.md and PR Requirements for details.

[Copilot]

🟢 Approval recommended

No active review issues remain for the change that limits misleading dependency warnings to Squad-related contexts.

No open issues 🎉

What changed in this PR

This PR addresses the misleading dependency advice reported in #2367 by narrowing when squad doctor recommends running npm install. It does not add inspection of the invoked installation’s runtime dependencies.

Changes:

• Limits missing-dependency warnings to Squad checkouts or directories with a local Squad CLI installation.
• Adds regression tests for unrelated application node_modules and local Squad installations.
• Includes a CLI patch changeset.

File	Description
test/​cli/​doctor.test.ts	Tests informational results for unrelated dependencies and retained warnings for local installs.
packages/​squad-cli/​src/​cli/​commands/​doctor.ts	Adds a shared Squad-context check for both dependency diagnostics.
.changeset/​doctor-ignores-app-node-modules.md	Records the warning-behavior fix for a CLI patch release.

_{Review effort: Balanced}