fix: prefer $HOME over os.homedir() for path resolution

os.homedir() reads from /etc/passwd which can return a stale path
after a Linux user rename (usermod -l). Prefer the $HOME environment
variable which reflects the current session.

Closes #82

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

packages/clawdhub/src/cli/clawdbotConfig.test.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { mkdir, mkdtemp, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
 import { join, resolve } from 'node:path'
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { resolveHome } from '../homedir.js'
 import { resolveClawdbotDefaultWorkspace, resolveClawdbotSkillRoots } from './clawdbotConfig.js'
 
 const originalEnv = { ...process.env }
@@ -177,6 +178,31 @@ describe('resolveClawdbotSkillRoots', () => {
     expect(labels[resolve(openclawStateDir, 'skills')]).toBe('OpenClaw: Shared skills')
   })
 
+  it('uses $HOME over os.homedir() for tilde expansion', async () => {
+    const base = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'clawhub-home-override-'))
+    const customHome = join(base, 'custom-home')
+    const stateDir = join(base, 'state')
+    const configPath = join(base, 'clawdbot.json')
+    const openclawStateDir = join(base, 'openclaw-state')
+
+    process.env.HOME = customHome
+    process.env.CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR = stateDir
+    process.env.CLAWDBOT_CONFIG_PATH = configPath
+    process.env.OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR = openclawStateDir
+    process.env.OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH = join(openclawStateDir, 'openclaw.json')
+
+    const config = `{
+      agents: {
+        defaults: { workspace: "~/my-workspace" },
+      },
+    }`
+    await writeFile(configPath, config, 'utf8')
+
+    const workspace = await resolveClawdbotDefaultWorkspace()
+    expect(workspace).toBe(resolve(customHome, 'my-workspace'))
+    expect(resolveHome()).toBe(customHome)
+  })
+
   it('supports OpenClaw configuration files', async () => {
     const base = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'clawhub-openclaw-'))
     const stateDir = join(base, 'openclaw-state')

packages/clawdhub/src/cli/clawdbotConfig.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
-import { homedir } from 'node:os'
 import { basename, join, resolve } from 'node:path'
 import JSON5 from 'json5'
+import { resolveHome } from '../homedir.js'
 
 type ClawdbotConfig = {
   agent?: { workspace?: string }
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ export async function resolveClawdbotDefaultWorkspace(): Promise<string | null>
 function resolveClawdbotStateDir() {
   const override = process.env.CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR?.trim()
   if (override) return resolveUserPath(override)
-  return join(homedir(), '.clawdbot')
+  return join(resolveHome(), '.clawdbot')
 }
 
 function resolveClawdbotConfigPath() {
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ function resolveClawdbotConfigPath() {
 function resolveOpenclawStateDir() {
   const override = process.env.OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR?.trim()
   if (override) return resolveUserPath(override)
-  return join(homedir(), '.openclaw')
+  return join(resolveHome(), '.openclaw')
 }
 
 function resolveOpenclawConfigPath() {
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ function resolveUserPath(input: string) {
   const trimmed = input.trim()
   if (!trimmed) return ''
   if (trimmed.startsWith('~')) {
-    return resolve(trimmed.replace(/^~(?=$|[\\/])/, homedir()))
+    return resolve(trimmed.replace(/^~(?=$|[\\/])/, resolveHome()))
   }
   return resolve(trimmed)
 }

packages/clawdhub/src/cli/commands/syncHelpers.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { createHash } from 'node:crypto'
 import { realpath } from 'node:fs/promises'
-import { homedir } from 'node:os'
 import { resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { resolveHome } from '../../homedir.js'
 import { isCancel, multiselect } from '@clack/prompts'
 import semver from 'semver'
 import { apiRequest, downloadZip } from '../../http.js'
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ export function printSection(title: string, body?: string) {
 }
 
 function abbreviatePath(value: string) {
-  const home = homedir()
+  const home = resolveHome()
   if (value.startsWith(home)) return `~${value.slice(home.length)}`
   return value
 }
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ function rootTelemetryId(value: string) {
 }
 
 function formatRootLabel(value: string) {
-  const home = homedir()
+  const home = resolveHome()
   if (value === home) return '~'
 
   const normalized = value.replaceAll('\\', '/')

packages/clawdhub/src/cli/scanSkills.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { readdir, stat } from 'node:fs/promises'
-import { homedir } from 'node:os'
 import { basename, join, resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { resolveHome } from '../homedir.js'
 import { sanitizeSlug, titleCase } from './slug.js'
 
 export type SkillFolder = {
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ export async function findSkillFolders(root: string): Promise<SkillFolder[]> {
 }
 
 export function getFallbackSkillRoots(workdir: string) {
-  const home = homedir()
+  const home = resolveHome()
   const roots = [
     // adjacent repo installs
     resolve(workdir, '..', 'clawdis', 'skills'),

packages/clawdhub/src/config.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { existsSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { chmod, mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
-import { homedir } from 'node:os'
 import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { resolveHome } from './homedir.js'
 import { type GlobalConfig, GlobalConfigSchema, parseArk } from './schema/index.js'
 
 /**
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export function getGlobalConfigPath() {
     process.env.CLAWHUB_CONFIG_PATH?.trim() ?? process.env.CLAWDHUB_CONFIG_PATH?.trim()
   if (override) return resolve(override)
 
-  const home = homedir()
+  const home = resolveHome()
 
   if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
     return resolveConfigPath(join(home, 'Library', 'Application Support'))

packages/clawdhub/src/homedir.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { homedir } from 'node:os'
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the user's home directory, preferring environment variables over
+ * os.homedir(). On Linux, os.homedir() reads from /etc/passwd which can
+ * return a stale path after a user rename (usermod -l). The $HOME env var
+ * is set by the login process and reflects the current session.
+ */
+export function resolveHome(): string {
+  if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+    return process.env.USERPROFILE?.trim() || process.env.HOME?.trim() || homedir()
+  }
+  return process.env.HOME?.trim() || homedir()
+}