Native copilot.exe binary silently exits with code 1 on Windows x64, npm-loader.js never falls back to JS implementation

[Stralle]

Description

The native copilot.exe binary (both WinGet v0.0.410 and npm v0.0.412) silently exits with code 1 on Windows 11 x64, producing no stdout or stderr output. This makes the Copilot CLI completely unusable.

The npm-loader.js entrypoint unconditionally exits with the native binary's exit code (process.exit(r.status??1)), which prevents the JavaScript fallback (index.js) from ever being reached when the native binary fails.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install @github/copilot via npm (npm install -g @github/copilot) or WinGet (winget install GitHub.Copilot)
2. Run copilot --version
3. Binary exits with code 1, no output

Expected Behavior

Either:

• The native binary should work correctly, OR
• npm-loader.js should fall back to the JS implementation when the native binary fails

Actual Behavior

• copilot.exe exits with code 1, no stdout/stderr
• npm-loader.js calls process.exit(r.status??1) after spawnSync, so it exits with 1 without trying the JS fallback
• The JS implementation (node index.js) works perfectly

Workaround

In npm-loader.js, change:

process.exit(r.status??1)

to:

if(r.status===0)process.exit(0)

This allows the JS fallback via import("./index.js") to run when the native binary fails.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise 25H2 (Build 26200)
• Architecture: x64 (AMD64)
• Node.js: v25.6.1
• npm: 11.9.0
• Copilot CLI (WinGet): v0.0.410
• Copilot CLI (npm): 0.0.412
• gh CLI: 2.86.0

Additional Context

• The native binary is a valid signed PE x64 executable (signature verified)
• LoadLibraryEx succeeds on the binary (no missing DLL dependencies)
• No Windows Defender blocks, no AppLocker policies, no Zone.Identifier ADS
• No crash dumps or WER reports generated
• The binary produces zero output to both stdout and stderr
• Running from any directory, any terminal (PowerShell, cmd), with or without admin privileges — same result