autoUpdate: false in settings.json is ignored — CLI re-execs a cached prerelease build over the stable version installed via npm

[bikramjitk]

Summary

Once a prerelease build has been cached under ~/.copilot/pkg/<platform>/, the
CLI keeps re-execing it on every launch, even when:

• a stable version is installed via npm, and
• "autoUpdate": false is set in ~/.copilot/settings.json.

The documented setting has no effect, because the re-exec into the newer cached
build happens before settings are read. Only the COPILOT_AUTO_UPDATE=false
environment variable changes the behaviour.

The practical result: a user who tries the prerelease channel once cannot get
back to stable through any documented mechanism, and cannot tell they are still
on a prerelease unless they check --version.

Environment

• Cached prerelease build: 1.0.81-5
• Stable installed via npm: 1.0.80
• Node.js v22.21.1, Linux x64

Steps to reproduce

1. Be on a prerelease build (so it is cached under ~/.copilot/pkg/<platform>/).
2. npm install -g @github/copilot — installs the current stable release.
   Confirm node_modules/@github/copilot-<platform>/package.json reports the
   stable version.
3. Set "autoUpdate": false in ~/.copilot/settings.json.
4. Run copilot --version.

Expected: the stable version, since that is what is installed and
auto-update is disabled.

Actual: the cached prerelease version.

$ copilot --version
GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.81-5.

The env var behaves differently from the setting

Running the npm-installed platform binary directly:

$ ./copilot --version
GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.81-5.            # re-execs the cached prerelease

$ COPILOT_AUTO_UPDATE=false ./copilot --version
Package extraction took 7995ms
GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.80.              # runs the installed stable build

Same binary, same settings file, opposite results — so autoUpdate in
settings.json and COPILOT_AUTO_UPDATE are not equivalent, though
copilot update --help presents them as alternatives:

Use --no-auto-update or set COPILOT_AUTO_UPDATE=false to disable it manually.

and copilot help config documents:

autoUpdate: whether to automatically download updated CLI versions; defaults to true.

There is no documented way back to stable

copilot update stable refuses, because it only compares version ordering and
will not move backwards:

$ copilot update stable
Checking for updates...
Checking GitHub for the latest release...
No update needed, current version is 1.0.81-5, fetched latest release is v1.0.80

Since prerelease versions sort above the current stable release, anyone on
a prerelease is pinned there until a higher stable ships. Combined with the
ignored autoUpdate setting, the only working escape routes are undocumented:
set COPILOT_AUTO_UPDATE=false, or manually delete the cached build
directories.

Also, COPILOT_PKG_CACHE_HOME pointed at an empty directory did not change
resolution — the cached prerelease was still selected.

Suggested fixes

1. Make "autoUpdate": false in settings.json honoured by the re-exec path,
   or document that it does not cover it.
2. Give copilot update <channel> a way to switch channels downward
   (e.g. --allow-downgrade, or treat an explicit channel argument as
   authoritative over version ordering).
3. Surface the channel in --version output, so it is obvious when a
   prerelease is being used.

---

Found while trying to move off the prerelease channel after hitting #4533 (a
separate defect). This report is only about being unable to leave the
prerelease channel.