perf: batch of low-risk fixes for hangs and unnecessary FS work

[LadyBluenotes]

Summary

Batches four low-risk, independently-scoped performance/robustness fixes identified in the TanStack Intent perf audit. Each was implemented and verified as an isolated commit.

• Bound npm registry fetch with a timeout (c2dd89c) — the staleness check's fetchNpmVersion had no timeout, so intent list and other staleness checks could hang indefinitely against a slow or unreachable registry. Now aborts via AbortSignal.timeout(5_000).
• Bound global package-manager detection with a timeout (975275b) — detectGlobalNodeModules's execFileSync call had no timeout, so it could hang indefinitely if the environment's global node_modules resolution stalled. Added GLOBAL_NODE_MODULES_COMMAND_TIMEOUT_MS and passed timeout to execFileSync.
• Early-exit skill-file check (17fb035) — getWorkspaceInfo called findSkillFiles(...).length > 0, which fully enumerates every skill file in a package just to check existence. Added hasAnySkillFile(), which returns on the first match, reducing unnecessary filesystem walks in large monorepos.
• Process-level cold-start benchmark (ec6475b) — existing benches (list/load/stale/validate) reuse a warm module graph via in-process main() calls, so none measured actual process cold start. Added benchmarks/intent/startup.bench.ts, which spawns a fresh Node process per sample (intent --help vs. an empty-node baseline) to isolate intent's own startup overhead.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes

  • Improved reliability in slow or large environments by preventing certain checks from hanging indefinitely.
  • Added time limits to registry lookups and environment detection steps so the app can continue instead of waiting forever.
  • Reduced unnecessary filesystem scanning in large workspaces, helping speed up startup and related commands.

• Tests

  • Added a benchmark to measure cold-start performance.

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Review details

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 2fb0f274-ab8d-4e7e-bf5a-06797cac391f

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 102d81b and 0e95961.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• benchmarks/intent/startup.bench.ts

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR adds bounded timeouts to npm registry staleness checks and global package-manager detection to prevent hangs, replaces workspace skill-file enumeration with an early-exit existence check, adds a startup cold-start benchmark, and includes a changeset documenting the patch.

Changes

Hang Prevention and Skill-Check Optimization

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Skill existence check optimization packages/intent/src/shared/utils.ts, packages/intent/src/setup/workspace-patterns.ts	Adds exported hasAnySkillFile helper doing an early-exit recursive search for SKILL.md, replacing findSkillFiles(...).length > 0 usage in workspace skill detection.
Timeout bounds for network and subprocess calls packages/intent/src/staleness/check.ts, packages/intent/src/shared/utils.ts	Adds a 5s AbortSignal.timeout to the npm registry fetch in fetchNpmVersion, and a timeout option to execFileSync calls used for global node_modules detection.
Benchmark and changelog benchmarks/intent/startup.bench.ts, .changeset/nine-pigs-laugh.md	Adds a Vitest cold-start benchmark comparing an empty Node process to intent --help, and a changeset describing the patch.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~12 minutes

Suggested reviewers: KevinVandy, schiller-manuel

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title is concise and accurately summarizes the PR’s main focus on performance fixes for hangs and filesystem work.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description clearly covers the four changes and their motivation, but it omits the template’s checklist and release impact sections.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch perf/quick-wins-batch

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☁️ Nx Cloud last updated this comment at 2026-07-02 01:46:44 UTC

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View your CI Pipeline Execution ↗ for commit 102d81b

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☁️ Nx Cloud last updated this comment at 2026-07-02 01:12:13 UTC

[pkg-pr-new]

Open in StackBlitz

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/TanStack/intent/@tanstack/intent@187

commit: 0e95961

[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents

Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

Inline comments:
In `@benchmarks/intent/startup.bench.ts`:
- Around line 14-21: The runNode helper currently calls spawnSync without any
timeout, so a hung CLI process can block the benchmark indefinitely. Update the
spawnSync invocation in runNode to pass a reasonable timeout and keep the
existing failure path in place so the benchmark fails fast on regressions. Use
the runNode symbol to locate the helper and ensure the timeout applies to all
benchmarked CLI launches.

🪄 Autofix (Beta)

Fix all unresolved CodeRabbit comments on this PR:

• Push a commit to this branch (recommended)
• Create a new PR with the fixes

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 06544825-3dc1-4311-9926-721627e81f12

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between b7920e9 and 102d81b.

📒 Files selected for processing (5)

• .changeset/nine-pigs-laugh.md
• benchmarks/intent/startup.bench.ts
• packages/intent/src/setup/workspace-patterns.ts
• packages/intent/src/shared/utils.ts
• packages/intent/src/staleness/check.ts