Fix: PM2 start for paths with spaces

[funct7]

Related issues

• Fixes Studio failing to start local server #2482

Proposed Changes

• Work around PM2 treating space-containing script paths as shell commands by linking the CLI child script to a space-free path before starting it.

Testing Instructions

• • Run studio site create from a path that includes spaces (e.g., “WP Studio.app”) and confirm the WordPress server starts.

Pre-merge Checklist

• Have you checked for TypeScript, React or other console errors?

[funct7]

I got the Studio app to run properly by applying this same change to {App}/Contents/Resources/cli/main.js.

[bcotrim]

Hey @funct7, welcome to the project and thanks for your first contribution! 🎉

Great find on the PM2 space-handling issue. Your analysis seems correct and PM2 incorrectly treats paths with spaces as shell commands.

Your fix looks good, but I'd suggest another approach: we already patch PM2 for type fixes (cli/patches/pm2+6.0.14.patch), so we can fix the root cause directly in lib/Common.js with a one-line change:

  // Line 726 - add fs.existsSync check:
  if (app.script && app.script.indexOf(' ') > -1 && cst.IS_WINDOWS === false && !fs.existsSync(app.script)) {

This way:

• We fix PM2's bug at the source instead of working around it
• No need for symlinks/copies at runtime
• Any future scripts are automatically covered

Let me know if you'd like to update the PR with this approach or if you'd prefer I take it from here. Either way, thanks for tracking this down! 🙏

[funct7]

@bcotrim It's probably best if you took over since you seem to know a lot more about the code base.
Let me know how to hand it over to you--close the PR, or change the assignee, etc.

[bcotrim]

Thanks for handing this over! I've pushed a commit that replaces the symlink approach with a PM2 patch.

The patch adds a fs.existsSync() check to PM2's Common.js so it only wraps paths in bash -c when the file doesn't exist (preserving the original shell command feature while fixing the spaced-path bug).

Tested manually by building the CLI, copying to /private/tmp/Studio Test App/ (path with spaces), and verifying site creation works. 🎉

[funct7]

Looks good. Let me know if there's anything to be done on my part.

[ivan-ottinger]

The fix looks good and works as expected. 👍🏼 Here's the behavior before / after:

Before:

CleanShot.2026-01-29.at.13.23.04.mp4

After:

CleanShot.2026-01-29.at.13.16.46.mp4