v13.25.1 install fails with "worker did not stop" (unknown-install-error) — no process/port actually running; v13.3.0 works fine
Author: hexxmateCreated Sep 17, 2026Updated Sep 17, 2026
Labelsbug
Bug Description
npx claude-mem install consistently fails on v13.25.1 with a worker-shutdown pre-overwrite error, even with no worker process or listening port actually present on the system. Downgrading to v13.3.0 installs cleanly with an identical environment.
Error
{
"severity": "ABORT",
"categoryId": "unknown-install-error",
"component": "worker-shutdown",
"phase": "pre-overwrite",
"cause": "The existing worker did not stop within 10 seconds.",
"remediation": "Run `npx claude-mem stop`, verify it exits, then run `npx claude-mem install` again.",
"details": null
}
Steps to reproduce
- Fresh environment, no prior claude-mem install.
- Run
npx claude-mem install, select OpenCode as IDE, Worker as runtime. - Install aborts with the above error.
npx claude-mem stopreports "claude-mem is not installed."ps aux | grep claude-mem— no matching process.- Checked for listeners on both the hardcoded port (37777) and the UID-derived port (
37700 + uid % 100) from both WSL and the Windows host (mirrored networking, so both namespaces checked) — nothing listening on either. - Full manual cleanup of every known artifact directory (
~/.claude-mem,~/.claude/plugins/cache/thedotmack,~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack,~/.claude/plugins/data/claude-mem-thedotmack,~/.config/opencode/plugins/claude-mem*,~/.npm/_npx/*/node_modules/claude-mem) — confirmed empty viafind ~ -iname '*claude-mem*'. - Re-ran install — same error, identical to a completely fresh state.
- Ran
npx [email protected] installinstead — installed successfully, no errors.
Environment
- OS: Kali Linux (WSL2 on Windows 11, mirrored networking mode)
- IDE: OpenCode
- Runtime selected: Worker
- claude-mem version tested broken: 13.25.1
- claude-mem version confirmed working: 13.3.0
Expected behavior
Install should succeed on a clean system with no running worker, or the error message/check itself should be fixed to not false-positive when nothing is actually running.
Source: thedotmack/claude-mem