fix(win): a service-mode daemon can be replaced, and the Node page can link one

Two live-reproduced bugs in Windows node start/stop, found sideloading the
0.14.0 build:

- node:start's crash-recovery step killed a service-mode daemon with
  taskkill/CTRL_BREAK, both of which fail with "Access is denied" against a
  process running under the Scheduled Task's own S4U logon session (a
  different session from the Electron app's). The daemon it was meant to
  replace just kept running, unreplaced, and schtasks /run on a task Windows
  still considered Running was then a silent no-op too. Route through
  winServiceTaskEnd() (schtasks /end) first, the way nodeServiceStop/
  nodeServiceRestart already correctly do. service-mode.ps1 also now starts
  the task right after registering it -- Register-ScheduledTask's own
  AtStartup trigger does not run it immediately, so nothing was listening
  until the next reboot.

- The Node page's Start button called node.start() with no arguments, so an
  unlinked node (a fresh install, or one whose hub-side link was lost) could
  never link on Start alone -- only create-group-page.js's own call passed
  {hubUrl, username, token}. Reproduced on a fresh non-service install signed
  in to the real hub: Start hung for ~105s and failed with "could not link",
  pointing at a "Link Node" control that lives on Settings, not the Node
  page (that message is fixed too).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

1 files changed, 50 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/packages/meshbay-hub/tests/test_transport_contracts.py b/packages/meshbay-hub/tests/test_transport_contracts.py
index ab942e4..f780073 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-hub/tests/test_transport_contracts.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-hub/tests/test_transport_contracts.py
@@ -534,3 +534,53 @@ def test_search_connects_in_one_place():
     index = code[code.index("async function fetchGroupIndex("):
                  code.index("async function fetchAllIndexes(")]
     assert "connectToGroup(" in pool and "connectToGroup(" in index
+
+
+# node:start only links an unlinked node key to the hub account when it is
+# given credentials to link it with (main.js's linkNodeKeyAndAwaitRunning on
+# Windows, the equivalent inline block on Linux -- both gate on `opts.token`).
+# create-group-page.js's own startNode() passes {hubUrl, username, token};
+# the Node page's Start button, reachable independently of that wizard,
+# passed none. Reproduced live 2026-09-14 on a fresh non-service Windows
+# install signed in to the real hub: Start on a node that had never been
+# linked (the ordinary state for anyone who has not gone through Create
+# Group yet) polled for up to 105s and failed with "could not link" --
+# cross-platform, since both mains share this same frontend call.
+NODE_PAGE = STATIC / "node-page.js"
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def node_page():
+    return NODE_PAGE.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+def test_node_page_start_button_can_link_an_unlinked_node(node_page):
+    fn = node_page[node_page.index("function NodeServicePanel("):]
+    fn = fn[:fn.index("\nfunction ") if "\nfunction " in fn else len(fn)]
+    start_call = fn[fn.index("act('start'"):]
+    start_call = start_call[:start_call.index(")}>")]
+    assert "hubUrl" in start_call and "HUB" in start_call, (
+        "the Start button must pass hubUrl (HUB) through to node:start, or "
+        "an unlinked node can never link on Start alone")
+    assert "username" in start_call and "token" in start_call, (
+        "the Start button must pass username and token through to "
+        "node:start -- linkNodeKeyAndAwaitRunning needs both to PUT the key")
+
+    assert "import { HUB" in node_page or "import {HUB" in node_page, (
+        "HUB must come from hub-client.js, the one file allowed to decide "
+        "where the hub is"
+    )
+
+
+def test_node_page_receives_the_session_it_hands_to_start():
+    """app.js is what actually has to hand token/username down; a fixed
+    node-page.js reading them off undefined props is the same bug moved up
+    one file."""
+    app_src = APP.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    marker = "route === '/node' && platform.capabilities.nodeAdmin"
+    route = app_src[app_src.index(marker):]
+    route = route[:route.index(";")]
+    assert "LazyNodePage" in route
+    assert "token=" in route and "username=" in route, (
+        "app.js renders the Node page without the session NodeServicePanel "
+        "now expects, so its Start button's opts are undefined again")