From 581e166e8acb694e22ce00e1d2e89e8cd8b0f177 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Chris Tate <chris@ctate.dev>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 11:30:07 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] fixes

---
 cli/src/connection.rs | 12 +++++++++---
 cli/src/main.rs       | 22 ++++++++++++++++------
 2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/cli/src/connection.rs b/cli/src/connection.rs
index 9d0ef40..7a103ec 100644
--- a/cli/src/connection.rs
+++ b/cli/src/connection.rs
@@ -153,9 +153,15 @@ fn daemon_ready(session: &str) -> bool {
     }
 }
 
-pub fn ensure_daemon(session: &str, headed: bool, executable_path: Option<&str>) -> Result<(), String> {
+/// Result of ensure_daemon indicating whether a new daemon was started
+pub struct DaemonResult {
+    /// True if we connected to an existing daemon, false if we started a new one
+    pub already_running: bool,
+}
+
+pub fn ensure_daemon(session: &str, headed: bool, executable_path: Option<&str>) -> Result<DaemonResult, String> {
     if is_daemon_running(session) && daemon_ready(session) {
-        return Ok(());
+        return Ok(DaemonResult { already_running: true });
     }
 
     let exe_path = env::current_exe().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
@@ -242,7 +248,7 @@ pub fn ensure_daemon(session: &str, headed: bool, executable_path: Option<&str>)
 
     for _ in 0..50 {
         if daemon_ready(session) {
-            return Ok(());
+            return Ok(DaemonResult { already_running: false });
         }
         thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(100));
     }
diff --git a/cli/src/main.rs b/cli/src/main.rs
index 06dc06f..0413d3b 100644
--- a/cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/cli/src/main.rs
@@ -149,13 +149,23 @@ fn main() {
         }
     };
 
-    if let Err(e) = ensure_daemon(&flags.session, flags.headed, flags.executable_path.as_deref()) {
-        if flags.json {
-            println!(r#"{{"success":false,"error":"{}"}}"#, e);
-        } else {
-            eprintln!("\x1b[31m✗\x1b[0m {}", e);
+    let daemon_result = match ensure_daemon(&flags.session, flags.headed, flags.executable_path.as_deref()) {
+        Ok(result) => result,
+        Err(e) => {
+            if flags.json {
+                println!(r#"{{"success":false,"error":"{}"}}"#, e);
+            } else {
+                eprintln!("\x1b[31m✗\x1b[0m {}", e);
+            }
+            exit(1);
+        }
+    };
+
+    // Warn if executable_path was specified but daemon was already running
+    if daemon_result.already_running && flags.executable_path.is_some() {
+        if !flags.json {
+            eprintln!("\x1b[33m⚠\x1b[0m --executable-path ignored: daemon already running. Use 'agent-browser close' first to restart with new path.");
         }
-        exit(1);
     }
 
     // If --headed flag is set, send launch command first to switch to headed mode