From 53ddacf9f6127226ab6d33cbc06e5b68f340398a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nathan Rajlich <n@n8.io>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2026 11:14:12 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Fix flaky Vercel prod e2e tests by skipping CLI update check

The e2e tests spawn a CLI subprocess for every inspect/cancel/health call.
Each subprocess performs an npm registry version check on startup, which
can hang under load and exceed the 20s spawn timeout, causing SIGTERM.

Add WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 env var support to skip the check, and
set it in the e2e test harness.
---
 .changeset/skip-update-check-env.md  | 5 +++++
 packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts | 7 +++++++
 packages/core/e2e/utils.ts           | 1 +
 3 files changed, 13 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/skip-update-check-env.md

diff --git a/.changeset/skip-update-check-env.md b/.changeset/skip-update-check-env.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d91887bb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/skip-update-check-env.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@workflow/cli": patch
+---
+
+Support `WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1` env var to skip the npm registry version check on startup
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts
index 779cec3168..9e86968149 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts
@@ -246,10 +246,17 @@ async function isCacheValid(
 /**
  * Check for updates with filesystem caching
  * Cache is valid unless the local version changes
+ *
+ * Set WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 to skip the update check entirely.
  */
 export async function checkForUpdateCached(
   currentVersion: string
 ): Promise<VersionCheckResult> {
+  if (process.env.WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK === '1') {
+    logger.debug('Skipping update check (WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1)');
+    return { currentVersion, needsUpdate: false };
+  }
+
   const cacheFile = getVersionCheckCacheFile();
 
   // Check if cache is valid
diff --git a/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts b/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts
index b4f2011fe2..62322f7b2c 100644
--- a/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ const awaitCommand = async (
         env: {
           ...process.env,
           DEBUG: '1',
+          WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK: '1',
           ...envOverrides,
         },
       });