remote controller working!

also continue fix attempt on sheepit not starting

remote_worker_attach.ps1

@@ -88,7 +88,16 @@ try {
             continue
         }
 
-        if ($input.Trim().ToLower() -eq 'detach') {
+        $normalized = $input.Trim()
+        if ($normalized.StartsWith(':')) {
+            $normalized = $normalized.TrimStart(':').Trim()
+        }
+
+        if ($normalized.Length -eq 0) {
+            continue
+        }
+
+        if ($normalized.ToLowerInvariant() -eq 'detach') {
             break
         }
 
@@ -97,9 +106,9 @@ try {
 }
 finally {
     if ($logJob) {
-        Stop-Job -Job $logJob -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+        Stop-Job -Job $logJob -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
         Receive-Job -Job $logJob -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Out-Null
-        Remove-Job -Job $logJob -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+        Remove-Job -Job $logJob -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
     }
 
     Write-Host "Detached from worker $WorkerName." -ForegroundColor Cyan

remote_worker_controller.ps1

@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@ param(
     [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
     [string]$WorkerType,
 
-    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
     [string]$PayloadBase64,
 
+    [string]$PayloadBase64Path,
+
 [string]$DataRoot = (Join-Path ([Environment]::GetFolderPath('LocalApplicationData')) 'UnifiedWorkers'),
 
     [int]$MaxRestarts = 5,
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ param(
 )
 
 $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
+[System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Runspace]::DefaultRunspace = $Host.Runspace
 
 # region Path setup
 $workerRoot = Join-Path -Path $DataRoot -ChildPath $WorkerType
@@ -33,11 +35,121 @@ $commandPath = Join-Path -Path $stateRoot -ChildPath 'commands.txt'
 $payloadPath = Join-Path -Path $stateRoot -ChildPath "payload.ps1"
 # endregion
 
-# region Helpers
+# region Logging
+$logStream = [System.IO.FileStream]::new(
+    $logPath,
+    [System.IO.FileMode]::Append,
+    [System.IO.FileAccess]::Write,
+    [System.IO.FileShare]::ReadWrite
+)
+$logWriter = [System.IO.StreamWriter]::new($logStream, [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8)
+$logWriter.AutoFlush = $true
+
+# Create C# event handler class that doesn't require PowerShell runspace
+if (-not ("UnifiedWorkers.ProcessLogHandler" -as [type])) {
+    $csharpCode = @'
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.IO;
+
+namespace UnifiedWorkers
+{
+    public sealed class ProcessLogHandler
+    {
+        private readonly TextWriter _writer;
+        private readonly string _prefix;
+        private readonly object _lock = new object();
+
+        public ProcessLogHandler(TextWriter writer, string prefix)
+        {
+            _writer = writer ?? throw new ArgumentNullException("writer");
+            _prefix = prefix ?? throw new ArgumentNullException("prefix");
+        }
+
+        public void OnDataReceived(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
+        {
+            if (e == null || string.IsNullOrEmpty(e.Data))
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            lock (_lock)
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    var timestamp = DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("u");
+                    _writer.WriteLine(string.Format("[{0} {1}] {2}", _prefix, timestamp, e.Data));
+                    _writer.Flush();
+                }
+                catch
+                {
+                    // Ignore write errors to prevent cascading failures
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+'@
+    Add-Type -TypeDefinition $csharpCode -ErrorAction Stop
+}
+
+function Write-LogLine {
+    param(
+        [string]$Prefix,
+        [string]$Message
+    )
+
+    if (-not $logWriter) { return }
+    $timestamp = (Get-Date).ToString('u')
+    $logWriter.WriteLine("[$Prefix $timestamp] $Message")
+}
+
 function Write-ControllerLog {
     param([string]$Message)
+    Write-LogLine -Prefix 'CTRL' -Message $Message
+}
+
+function Write-FatalLog {
+    param([string]$Message)
+
+    try {
+        Write-ControllerLog $Message
+    }
+    catch {
         $timestamp = (Get-Date).ToString('u')
-    Add-Content -Path $logPath -Value "[CTRL $timestamp] $Message" -Encoding UTF8
+        $fallback = "[CTRL $timestamp] $Message"
+        try {
+            [System.IO.File]::AppendAllText($logPath, $fallback + [Environment]::NewLine, [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8)
+        }
+        catch {
+            # last resort: write to host
+            Write-Error $fallback
+        }
+    }
+}
+# endregion
+
+# region Helpers
+
+function Resolve-PayloadBase64 {
+    if ($PayloadBase64) {
+        return $PayloadBase64.Trim()
+    }
+
+    if ($PayloadBase64Path) {
+        if (-not (Test-Path $PayloadBase64Path)) {
+            throw "Payload file '$PayloadBase64Path' not found."
+        }
+
+        $content = Get-Content -Path $PayloadBase64Path -Raw
+        if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($content)) {
+            throw "Payload file '$PayloadBase64Path' is empty."
+        }
+        
+        return $content.Trim()
+    }
+
+    throw "No payload data provided to controller."
 }
 
 function Write-Metadata {
@@ -82,24 +194,37 @@ function Get-PendingCommands {
 }
 # endregion
 
-# record initial state before launching worker
-Write-Metadata -Status 'initializing' -WorkerPid $null -ControllerPid $PID -Restarts 0
-
 try {
+    # record initial state before launching worker
+    Write-Metadata -Status 'initializing' -WorkerPid $null -ControllerPid $PID -Restarts 0
+
+    $resolvedPayloadBase64 = Resolve-PayloadBase64
+    $PayloadBase64 = $resolvedPayloadBase64
+
+    try {
         # Write payload script to disk
-    $payloadBytes = [Convert]::FromBase64String($PayloadBase64)
-    [IO.File]::WriteAllBytes($payloadPath, $payloadBytes)
-    Write-ControllerLog "Payload written to $payloadPath"
-}
-catch {
-    Write-Error "Unable to write payload: $($_.Exception.Message)"
-    exit 1
-}
+        # The payload is base64-encoded UTF-16 (Unicode), so decode it properly
+        Write-ControllerLog "Decoding payload base64 (length: $($resolvedPayloadBase64.Length))"
+        $payloadBytes = [Convert]::FromBase64String($resolvedPayloadBase64)
+        Write-ControllerLog "Decoded payload to $($payloadBytes.Length) bytes"
         
-$restartCount = 0
-$controllerPid = $PID
+        # Convert UTF-16 bytes back to string, then write as UTF-8 (PowerShell's preferred encoding)
+        $payloadText = [Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetString($payloadBytes)
+        [IO.File]::WriteAllText($payloadPath, $payloadText, [Text.Encoding]::UTF8)
+        Write-ControllerLog "Payload written to $payloadPath ($($payloadText.Length) characters)"
+    }
+    catch {
+        Write-FatalLog "Unable to write payload: $($_.Exception.Message)"
+        if ($_.Exception.InnerException) {
+            Write-FatalLog "Inner exception: $($_.Exception.InnerException.Message)"
+        }
+        throw
+    }
 
-while ($restartCount -le $MaxRestarts) {
+    $restartCount = 0
+    $controllerPid = $PID
+
+    while ($restartCount -le $MaxRestarts) {
         try {
             # Initialize worker process
             $psi = [System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo]::new()
@@ -128,23 +253,11 @@ while ($restartCount -le $MaxRestarts) {
             Write-ControllerLog "Worker process started with PID $($workerProcess.Id)"
             Write-Metadata -Status 'running' -WorkerPid $workerProcess.Id -ControllerPid $controllerPid -Restarts $restartCount
 
-        $logWriter = [System.IO.StreamWriter]::new($logPath, $true, [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8)
-        $logWriter.AutoFlush = $true
+            $stdoutHandler = [UnifiedWorkers.ProcessLogHandler]::new($logWriter, 'OUT')
+            $stderrHandler = [UnifiedWorkers.ProcessLogHandler]::new($logWriter, 'ERR')
             
-        $outputHandler = [System.Diagnostics.DataReceivedEventHandler]{
-            param($s, $e)
-            if ($e.Data) {
-                $ts = (Get-Date).ToString('u')
-                $logWriter.WriteLine("[OUT $ts] $($e.Data)")
-            }
-        }
-        $errorHandler = [System.Diagnostics.DataReceivedEventHandler]{
-            param($s, $e)
-            if ($e.Data) {
-                $ts = (Get-Date).ToString('u')
-                $logWriter.WriteLine("[ERR $ts] $($e.Data)")
-            }
-        }
+            $outputHandler = [System.Diagnostics.DataReceivedEventHandler]$stdoutHandler.OnDataReceived
+            $errorHandler = [System.Diagnostics.DataReceivedEventHandler]$stderrHandler.OnDataReceived
 
             $workerProcess.add_OutputDataReceived($outputHandler)
             $workerProcess.add_ErrorDataReceived($errorHandler)
@@ -194,8 +307,24 @@ while ($restartCount -le $MaxRestarts) {
 
         Write-ControllerLog "Restarting worker in $RestartDelaySeconds seconds (attempt $restartCount of $MaxRestarts)."
         Start-Sleep -Seconds $RestartDelaySeconds
+    }
+
+    Write-Metadata -Status 'inactive' -WorkerPid $null -ControllerPid $controllerPid -Restarts $restartCount
+    Write-ControllerLog "Controller exiting."
+}
+catch {
+    Write-FatalLog "Fatal controller error: $($_.Exception.Message)"
+    if ($_.ScriptStackTrace) {
+        Write-FatalLog "Stack: $($_.ScriptStackTrace)"
+    }
+    throw
+}
+finally {
+    if ($logWriter) {
+        $logWriter.Dispose()
+    }
+    if ($logStream) {
+        $logStream.Dispose()
+    }
 }
 
-Write-Metadata -Status 'inactive' -WorkerPid $null -ControllerPid $controllerPid -Restarts $restartCount
-Write-ControllerLog "Controller exiting."
-

unified_sheepit_launcher.ps1

@@ -402,8 +402,11 @@ New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path `$logsRoot -Force | Out-Null
 New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path `$stateRoot -Force | Out-Null
 `$logPath = Join-Path `$logsRoot 'worker.log'
 `$commandPath = Join-Path `$stateRoot 'commands.txt'
+`$payloadPath = Join-Path `$stateRoot 'payload.ps1'
+`$payloadBase64Path = Join-Path `$stateRoot 'payload.b64'
 if (-not (Test-Path `$logPath)) { New-Item -Path `$logPath -ItemType File -Force | Out-Null }
 if (-not (Test-Path `$commandPath)) { New-Item -Path `$commandPath -ItemType File -Force | Out-Null }
+[IO.File]::WriteAllText(`$payloadBase64Path, `$payloadBase64, [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8)
 `$metaPath = Join-Path `$instanceRoot 'state\worker-info.json'
 `$controllerPath = Join-Path `$dataRoot 'controller.ps1'
 
@@ -437,7 +440,7 @@ if (`$shouldStart) {
         LastExitCode  = `$null
         LogPath       = `$logPath
         CommandPath   = `$commandPath
-        PayloadPath   = `$null
+        PayloadPath   = `$payloadPath
         UpdatedAtUtc  = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime()
     } | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5
     `$initialMeta | Set-Content -Path `$metaPath -Encoding UTF8
@@ -455,7 +458,7 @@ if (`$shouldStart) {
         '-File',"`$controllerPath",
         '-WorkerName',"`$workerName",
         '-WorkerType',"`$workerType",
-        '-PayloadBase64',"`$payloadBase64"
+        '-PayloadBase64Path',"`$payloadBase64Path"
     )
 
     Start-Process -FilePath `$psExe -ArgumentList `$controllerArgs -WindowStyle Hidden | Out-Null
@@ -767,7 +770,11 @@ while ($true) {
     Write-Host "5. Quit all workers" -ForegroundColor Yellow
     Write-Host "6. Exit" -ForegroundColor Yellow
 
-    $choice = Read-Host "Select option (1-3)"
+    $choice = Read-Host "Select option (1-6)"
+
+    if ($choice -eq '6') {
+        break
+    }
 
     switch ($choice) {
         '1' { Select-SheepItWorker }
@@ -775,7 +782,6 @@ while ($true) {
         '3' { Send-SheepItCommandAll -CommandText 'pause' }
         '4' { Send-SheepItCommandAll -CommandText 'resume' }
         '5' { Send-SheepItCommandAll -CommandText 'quit' }
-        '6' { break }
         default {
             Write-Host "Invalid selection." -ForegroundColor Red
             Start-Sleep -Seconds 1