Windows install fails: tar misinterprets C:\ path as remote host, supermodel.exe never extracted

[jonathanpopham]

Summary

npm install -g @supermodeltools/cli fails on Windows on a clean machine (no prior install, cache empty). The postinstall script downloads the Windows zip, but tar treats the Windows path C:\Users\...\supermodel-extract-XXXXXX as a remote host spec (C: → hostname), so extraction silently produces no files. The subsequent copyFileSync then fails with ENOENT because supermodel.exe was never written to the temp dir.

Key line from the error:

tar: Cannot connect to C: resolve failed

This is GNU tar's rsh/remote-host behavior — any path with a colon before a slash is interpreted as host:path. On Windows, every absolute path hits this.

Reproduction

1. Fresh Windows machine, no prior @supermodeltools/cli install.
2. Node v22.13.1, npm 10.9.2 (nvm-noinstall).
3. Run either:

   npm install -g @supermodeltools/cli
   npm install -g @supermodeltools/cli@0.6.5
   

4. Both fail identically.

npm list @supermodeltools/cli confirms nothing was previously installed:

PS C:\Users\jonat> npm list @supermodeltools/cli
C:\Users\jonat
`-- (empty)

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 Pro for Workstations (10.0.26100)
• Shell: PowerShell; npm lifecycle invoked via C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe -c node install.js
• Node: v22.13.1
• npm: 10.9.2
• Package version attempted: latest and 0.6.5 explicitly
• Node install path: C:\Users\jonat\Downloads\nvm-noinstall\v22.13.1

Full error output

PS C:\Users\jonat> npm install -g @supermodeltools/cli@0.6.5
npm error code 1
npm error path C:\Users\jonat\Downloads\nvm-noinstall\v22.13.1\node_modules\@supermodeltools\cli
npm error command failed
npm error command C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe -c node install.js
npm error [supermodel] Downloading supermodel_Windows_amd64.zip from GitHub Releases...
npm error tar: Cannot connect to C: resolve failed
npm error node:fs:3086
npm error   binding.copyFile(
npm error           ^
npm error
npm error Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, copyfile 'C:\Users\jonat\AppData\Local\Temp\supermodel-extract-BglSzM\supermodel.exe' -> 'C:\Users\jonat\Downloads\nvm-noinstall\v22.13.1\node_modules\@supermodeltools\cli\bin\supermodel.exe'
npm error     at Object.copyFileSync (node:fs:3086:11)
npm error     at WriteStream.<anonymous> (C:\Users\jonat\Downloads\nvm-noinstall\v22.13.1\node_modules\@supermodeltools\cli\install.js:86:12)
npm error     at WriteStream.emit (node:events:524:28)
npm error     at emitCloseNT (node:internal/streams/destroy:148:10)
npm error     at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:89:21) {
npm error   errno: -4058,
npm error   code: 'ENOENT',
npm error   syscall: 'copyfile',
npm error   path: 'C:\Users\jonat\AppData\Local\Temp\supermodel-extract-BglSzM\supermodel.exe',
npm error   dest: 'C:\Users\jonat\Downloads\nvm-noinstall\v22.13.1\node_modules\@supermodeltools\cli\bin\supermodel.exe'
npm error }
npm error
npm error Node.js v22.13.1
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: C:\Users\jonat\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2026-04-15T17_21_55_563Z-debug-0.log

Probable root cause

install.js:86 is invoking tar to extract the Windows zip. On Windows, tar is being passed a path like -C C:\Users\...\supermodel-extract-XXXXXX, and GNU tar parses C: as host:path and tries to open an rsh connection. Extraction produces no file; the later copyFileSync(.../supermodel.exe, ...) then ENOENTs.

Options to fix:

• Don't shell out to tar for a .zip — use a JS zip library (adm-zip, yauzl, etc.).
• If keeping tar, pass --force-local, or cd into the directory and use a relative -C ., or use forward slashes only.
• Detect extraction failure explicitly rather than proceeding to the copy step.

Notes

• Reproduced by @jonathanpopham on 2026-04-15.
• Originally reported by user Elm.