Wait for CLI stderr on stdio disconnect

When stdio startup fails quickly, wait briefly for the stderr reader before formatting the connection-lost exception so CLI argument errors are reported deterministically.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: stephentoub

dotnet/src/Client.cs

@@ -232,14 +232,14 @@ async Task<Connection> StartCoreAsync(CancellationToken ct)
             {
                 // External server (TCP)
                 _actualPort = _optionsPort;
-                result = ConnectToServerAsync(null, _optionsHost, _optionsPort, null, ct);
+                result = ConnectToServerAsync(null, _optionsHost, _optionsPort, null, null, ct);
             }
             else
             {
                 // Child process (stdio or TCP)
-                var (cliProcess, portOrNull, stderrBuffer) = await StartCliServerAsync(_options, _effectiveConnectionToken, _logger, ct);
+                var (cliProcess, portOrNull, stderrBuffer, stderrReader) = await StartCliServerAsync(_options, _effectiveConnectionToken, _logger, ct);
                 _actualPort = portOrNull;
-                result = ConnectToServerAsync(cliProcess, portOrNull is null ? null : "localhost", portOrNull, stderrBuffer, ct);
+                result = ConnectToServerAsync(cliProcess, portOrNull is null ? null : "localhost", portOrNull, stderrBuffer, stderrReader, ct);
             }
 
             var connection = await result;
@@ -1076,21 +1076,19 @@ internal static async Task InvokeRpcAsync(JsonRpc rpc, string method, object?[]?
     }
 
     internal static async Task<T> InvokeRpcAsync<T>(JsonRpc rpc, string method, object?[]? args, StringBuilder? stderrBuffer, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        return await InvokeRpcAsync<T>(rpc, method, args, stderrBuffer, stderrReader: null, cancellationToken);
+    }
+
+    internal static async Task<T> InvokeRpcAsync<T>(JsonRpc rpc, string method, object?[]? args, StringBuilder? stderrBuffer, Task? stderrReader, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
         try
         {
             return await rpc.InvokeAsync<T>(method, args, cancellationToken);
         }
         catch (ConnectionLostException ex)
         {
-            string? stderrOutput = null;
-            if (stderrBuffer is not null)
-            {
-                lock (stderrBuffer)
-                {
-                    stderrOutput = stderrBuffer.ToString().Trim();
-                }
-            }
+            var stderrOutput = await GetStderrOutputAsync(stderrBuffer, stderrReader);
 
             if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(stderrOutput))
             {
@@ -1111,13 +1109,34 @@ private static string FormatCliExitedMessage(string message, string stderrOutput
             : $"{message}\nstderr: {stderrOutput}";
     }
 
-    private static IOException CreateCliExitedException(string message, StringBuilder stderrBuffer)
+    private static async Task<string?> GetStderrOutputAsync(StringBuilder? stderrBuffer, Task? stderrReader)
+    {
+        if (stderrBuffer is null)
+        {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        var stderrOutput = ReadStderrBuffer(stderrBuffer);
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(stderrOutput) && stderrReader is not null)
+        {
+            await Task.WhenAny(stderrReader, Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(250)));
+            stderrOutput = ReadStderrBuffer(stderrBuffer);
+        }
+
+        return string.IsNullOrEmpty(stderrOutput) ? null : stderrOutput;
+    }
+
+    private static string ReadStderrBuffer(StringBuilder stderrBuffer)
     {
-        string stderrOutput;
         lock (stderrBuffer)
         {
-            stderrOutput = stderrBuffer.ToString().Trim();
+            return stderrBuffer.ToString().Trim();
         }
+    }
+
+    private static IOException CreateCliExitedException(string message, StringBuilder stderrBuffer)
+    {
+        var stderrOutput = ReadStderrBuffer(stderrBuffer);
 
         return new IOException(FormatCliExitedMessage(message, stderrOutput));
     }
@@ -1171,15 +1190,15 @@ private async Task VerifyProtocolVersionAsync(Connection connection, Cancellatio
         try
         {
             var connectResponse = await InvokeRpcAsync<ConnectResult>(
-                connection.Rpc, "connect", [new ConnectRequest { Token = _effectiveConnectionToken }], connection.StderrBuffer, cancellationToken);
+                connection.Rpc, "connect", [new ConnectRequest { Token = _effectiveConnectionToken }], connection.StderrBuffer, connection.StderrReader, cancellationToken);
             serverVersion = (int)connectResponse.ProtocolVersion;
         }
         catch (IOException ex) when (ex.InnerException is RemoteRpcException remoteEx && IsUnsupportedConnectMethod(remoteEx))
         {
             // Legacy server without `connect`; fall back to `ping`. A token, if any,
             // is silently dropped — the legacy server can't enforce one.
             var pingResponse = await InvokeRpcAsync<PingResponse>(
-                connection.Rpc, "ping", [new PingRequest()], connection.StderrBuffer, cancellationToken);
+                connection.Rpc, "ping", [new PingRequest()], connection.StderrBuffer, connection.StderrReader, cancellationToken);
             serverVersion = pingResponse.ProtocolVersion;
         }
 
@@ -1208,7 +1227,7 @@ private static bool IsUnsupportedConnectMethod(RemoteRpcException ex)
             || string.Equals(ex.Message, "Unhandled method connect", StringComparison.Ordinal);
     }
 
-    private static async Task<(Process Process, int? DetectedLocalhostTcpPort, StringBuilder StderrBuffer)> StartCliServerAsync(CopilotClientOptions options, string? connectionToken, ILogger logger, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    private static async Task<(Process Process, int? DetectedLocalhostTcpPort, StringBuilder StderrBuffer, Task StderrReader)> StartCliServerAsync(CopilotClientOptions options, string? connectionToken, ILogger logger, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
         // Use explicit path, COPILOT_CLI_PATH env var (from options.Environment or process env), or bundled CLI - no PATH fallback
         var envCliPath = options.Environment is not null && options.Environment.TryGetValue("COPILOT_CLI_PATH", out var envValue) ? envValue
@@ -1356,7 +1375,7 @@ private static bool IsUnsupportedConnectMethod(RemoteRpcException ex)
             }
         }
 
-        return (cliProcess, detectedLocalhostTcpPort, stderrBuffer);
+        return (cliProcess, detectedLocalhostTcpPort, stderrBuffer, stderrReader);
     }
 
     private static string? GetBundledCliPath(out string searchedPath)
@@ -1400,7 +1419,7 @@ private static (string FileName, IEnumerable<string> Args) ResolveCliCommand(str
         return (cliPath, args);
     }
 
-    private async Task<Connection> ConnectToServerAsync(Process? cliProcess, string? tcpHost, int? tcpPort, StringBuilder? stderrBuffer, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    private async Task<Connection> ConnectToServerAsync(Process? cliProcess, string? tcpHost, int? tcpPort, StringBuilder? stderrBuffer, Task? stderrReader, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
         Stream inputStream, outputStream;
         NetworkStream? networkStream = null;
@@ -1466,7 +1485,7 @@ private async Task<Connection> ConnectToServerAsync(Process? cliProcess, string?
 
         _serverRpc = new ServerRpc(rpc);
 
-        return new Connection(rpc, cliProcess, networkStream, stderrBuffer);
+        return new Connection(rpc, cliProcess, networkStream, stderrBuffer, stderrReader);
     }
 
     private static JsonSerializerOptions SerializerOptionsForMessageFormatter { get; } = CreateSerializerOptions();
@@ -1681,12 +1700,14 @@ private class Connection(
         JsonRpc rpc,
         Process? cliProcess, // Set if we created the child process
         NetworkStream? networkStream, // Set if using TCP
-        StringBuilder? stderrBuffer = null) // Captures stderr for error messages
+        StringBuilder? stderrBuffer = null, // Captures stderr for error messages
+        Task? stderrReader = null)
     {
         public Process? CliProcess => cliProcess;
         public JsonRpc Rpc => rpc;
         public NetworkStream? NetworkStream => networkStream;
         public StringBuilder? StderrBuffer => stderrBuffer;
+        public Task? StderrReader => stderrReader;
     }
 
     private static class ProcessArgumentEscaper