* fix(terminal): three-layer defense against watch_patterns notification spam
Background processes that stack notify_on_complete=True with watch_patterns
can flood the user with duplicate, delayed notifications — matches deliver
asynchronously via the completion queue and continue arriving minutes after
the process has exited. The docstring warning against this (PR #12113) has
proven insufficient; agents still misuse the combination.
Three layered defenses, each sufficient on its own:
1. Mutual exclusion (terminal_tool.py): When both flags are set on a
background process, drop watch_patterns with a warning. notify_on_complete
wins because 'let me know when it's done' is the more useful signal and
fires exactly once. Extracted as _resolve_notification_flag_conflict() so
the rule is testable in isolation.
2. Suppress-after-exit (process_registry.py): _check_watch_patterns() now
bails the moment session.exited is True. Post-exit chunks (buffered reads
draining after the process is gone) no longer produce notifications. This
is the fix flagged as future work in session 20260418_020302_79881c.
3. Global circuit breaker (process_registry.py): Per-session rate limits don't
catch the sibling-flood case — N concurrent processes can each stay under
8/10s and still collectively spam. New WATCH_GLOBAL_MAX_PER_WINDOW=15 cap
trips a 30-second cooldown across ALL sessions, emits a single
watch_overflow_tripped event, silently counts dropped events, and emits a
watch_overflow_released summary when the cooldown ends.
Also updates the tool schema + docstring to document the new behavior.
Tests: 8 new tests covering all three fixes (suppress-after-exit x2,
mutual-exclusion resolver x4, global breaker trip/cooldown/release x2).
All 60 tests across test_watch_patterns.py, test_notify_on_complete.py,
test_terminal_tool.py pass.
Real-world trigger: self-inflicted in session 20260425_051924 — three
concurrent hermes-sweeper review subprocesses each set watch_patterns=
['failed validation', 'errored'] AND notify_on_complete=True, then iterated
over multiple items, producing enough matches per process to defeat the
per-session cap while staying under the global cap that didn't yet exist.
* fix(terminal): aggressive 1-per-15s watch_patterns rate limit + strike-3 promotion
Per Teknium's direction, the watch_patterns rate limit is now much more
aggressive and self-healing.
## New rule — per session
- HARD cap: 1 watch-match notification per 15 seconds per process.
- Any match arriving inside the cooldown window is dropped and counts as
ONE strike for that window (many drops in the same window still = 1 strike).
- After 3 consecutive strike windows, watch_patterns is permanently disabled
for the session and the session is auto-promoted to notify_on_complete
semantics — exactly one notification when the process actually exits.
- A cooldown window that expires with zero drops resets the consecutive
strike counter — healthy cadence is forgiven.
## Schema + docstring rewritten
The tool schema description now gives the model explicit guidance:
- notify_on_complete is 'the right choice for almost every long-running task'
- watch_patterns is for RARE one-shot signals on LONG-LIVED processes
- Do NOT use watch_patterns with loops/batch jobs — error patterns fire every
iteration and will hit the strike limit fast
- Mutual exclusion is stated on both parameter descriptions
- 1/15s cooldown and 3-strike promotion are stated in the watch_patterns
description so the model sees the contract every turn
## Removed
- WATCH_MAX_PER_WINDOW (8/10s) and WATCH_OVERLOAD_KILL_SECONDS (45) — the
new 1/15s limit subsumes both; keeping them would double-count.
- _watch_window_hits / _watch_window_start / _watch_overload_since fields
on ProcessSession. Replaced by _watch_last_emit_at / _watch_cooldown_until
/ _watch_strike_candidate / _watch_consecutive_strikes.
## Kept
- Global circuit breaker across all sessions (15/10s → 30s cooldown) as a
secondary safety net for concurrent siblings. Still valuable when 20
short-lived processes each fire once — none individually violates the
per-session limit.
- Suppress-after-exit guard.
- Mutual exclusion resolver at the tool entry point.
## Tests
- 6 new tests in TestPerSessionRateLimit covering: first match delivers,
second in cooldown suppressed, multi-drop = single strike, 3 strikes
disables + promotes, clean window resets counter, suppressed count
carried to next emit.
- Global circuit breaker tests rewritten to use fresh sessions instead of
hacking removed per-window fields.
- 50/50 watch_patterns + notify_on_complete tests pass.
- 60/60 including test_terminal_tool.py pass.
* feat(config): make tool output truncation limits configurable
Port from anomalyco/opencode#23770: expose a new `tool_output` config
section so users can tune the hardcoded truncation caps that apply to
terminal output and read_file pagination.
Three knobs under `tool_output`:
- max_bytes (default 50_000) — terminal stdout/stderr cap
- max_lines (default 2000) — read_file pagination cap
- max_line_length (default 2000) — per-line cap in line-numbered view
All three keep their existing hardcoded values as defaults, so behaviour
is unchanged when the section is absent. Power users on big-context
models can raise them; small-context local models can lower them.
Implementation:
- New `tools/tool_output_limits.py` reads the section with defensive
fallback (missing/invalid values → defaults, never raises).
- `tools/terminal_tool.py` MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS now comes from
get_max_bytes().
- `tools/file_operations.py` normalize_read_pagination() and
_add_line_numbers() now pull the limits at call time.
- `hermes_cli/config.py` DEFAULT_CONFIG gains the `tool_output` section
so `hermes setup` writes defaults into fresh configs.
- Docs page `user-guide/configuration.md` gains a "Tool Output
Truncation Limits" section with large-context and small-context
example configs.
Tests (18 new in tests/tools/test_tool_output_limits.py):
- Default resolution with missing / malformed / non-dict config.
- Full and partial user overrides.
- Coercion of bad values (None, negative, wrong type, str int).
- Shortcut accessors delegate correctly.
- DEFAULT_CONFIG exposes the section with the right defaults.
- Integration: normalize_read_pagination clamps to the configured
max_lines.
* feat(skills): add design-md skill for Google's DESIGN.md spec
Built-in skill under skills/creative/ that teaches the agent to author,
lint, diff, and export DESIGN.md files — Google's open-source
(Apache-2.0) format for describing a visual identity to coding agents.
Covers:
- YAML front matter + markdown body anatomy
- Full token schema (colors, typography, rounded, spacing, components)
- Canonical section order + duplicate-heading rejection
- Component property whitelist + variants-as-siblings pattern
- CLI workflow via 'npx @google/design.md' (lint/diff/export/spec)
- Lint rule reference including WCAG contrast checks
- Common YAML pitfalls (quoted hex, negative dimensions, dotted refs)
- Starter template at templates/starter.md
Package verified live on npm (@google/design.md@0.1.1).
The container_config builder in terminal_tool.py was missing
docker_forward_env and docker_env keys, causing config.yaml's
docker_forward_env setting to be silently ignored. Environment
variables listed in docker_forward_env were never injected into
Docker containers.
This fix adds both keys to the container_config dict so they are
properly passed to _create_environment().
Two related ACP approval issues:
GHSA-96vc-wcxf-jjff — ACP's _run_agent never set HERMES_INTERACTIVE
(or any other flag recognized by tools.approval), so check_all_command_guards
took the non-interactive auto-approve path and never consulted the
ACP-supplied approval callback (conn.request_permission). Dangerous
commands executed in ACP sessions without operator approval despite
the callback being installed. Fix: set HERMES_INTERACTIVE=1 around
the agent run so check_all_command_guards routes through
prompt_dangerous_approval(approval_callback=...) — the correct shape
for ACP's per-session request_permission call. HERMES_EXEC_ASK would
have routed through the gateway-queue path instead, which requires a
notify_cb registered in _gateway_notify_cbs (not applicable to ACP).
GHSA-qg5c-hvr5-hjgr — _approval_callback and _sudo_password_callback
were module-level globals in terminal_tool. Concurrent ACP sessions
running in ThreadPoolExecutor threads each installed their own callback
into the same slot, racing. Fix: store both callbacks in threading.local()
so each thread has its own slot. CLI mode (single thread) is unaffected;
gateway mode uses a separate queue-based approval path and was never
touched.
set_approval_callback is now called INSIDE _run_agent (the executor
thread) rather than before dispatching — so the TLS write lands on the
correct thread.
Tests: 5 new in tests/acp/test_approval_isolation.py covering
thread-local isolation of both callbacks and the HERMES_INTERACTIVE
callback routing. Existing tests/acp/ (159 tests) and tests/tools/
approval-related tests continue to pass.
Fixes GHSA-96vc-wcxf-jjff
Fixes GHSA-qg5c-hvr5-hjgr
Sweep ~74 redundant local imports across 21 files where the same module
was already imported at the top level. Also includes type fixes and lint
cleanups on the same branch.
bash parses `A && B &` with `&&` tighter than `&`, so it forks a subshell
for the compound and backgrounds the subshell. Inside the subshell, B
runs foreground, so the subshell waits for B. When B is a process that
doesn't naturally exit (`python3 -m http.server`, `yes > /dev/null`, a
long-running daemon), the subshell is stuck in `wait4` forever and leaks
as an orphan reparented to init.
Observed in production: agents running `cd X && python3 -m http.server
8000 &>/dev/null & sleep 1 && curl ...` as a "start a local server, then
verify it" one-liner. Outer bash exits cleanly; the subshell never does.
Across ~3 days of use, 8 unique stuck-terminal events and 7 leaked
bash+server pairs accumulated on the fleet, with some sessions appearing
hung from the user's perspective because the subshell's open stdout pipe
kept the terminal tool's drain thread blocked.
This is distinct from the `set +m` fix in 933fbd8f (which addressed
interactive-shell job-control waiting at exit). `set +m` doesn't help
here because `bash -c` is non-interactive and job control is already
off; the problem is the subshell's own internal wait for its foreground
B, not the outer shell's job-tracking.
The fix: walk the command shell-aware (respecting quotes, parens, brace
groups, `&>`/`>&` redirects), find `A && B &` / `A || B &` at depth 0
and rewrite the tail to `A && { B & }`. Brace groups don't fork a
subshell — they run in the current shell. `B &` inside the group is a
simple background (no subshell wait). The outer `&` is absorbed into
the group, so the compound no longer needs an explicit subshell.
`&&` error-propagation is preserved exactly: if A fails, `&&`
short-circuits and B never runs.
- Skips quoted strings, comment lines, and `(…)` subshells
- Handles `&>/dev/null`, `2>&1`, `>&2` without mistaking them for `&`
- Resets chain state at `;`, `|`, and newlines
- Tracks brace depth so already-rewritten output is idempotent
- Walks using the existing `_read_shell_token` tokenizer, matching the
pattern of `_rewrite_real_sudo_invocations`
Called once from `BaseEnvironment.execute` right after
`_prepare_command`, so it runs for every backend (local, ssh, docker,
modal, etc.) with no per-backend plumbing.
34 new tests covering rewrite cases, preservation cases, redirect
edge-cases, quoting/parens/backticks, idempotency, and empty/edge
inputs. End-to-end verified on a test VM: the exact vela-incident
command now returns in ~1.3s with no leaked bash, only the intentional
backgrounded server.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Stacking both features on the same event produces duplicate, delayed
notifications — delivery is async and continues firing after the process
exits, so matches on end-of-run markers (SUMMARY, DONE, PASS) arrive
after the agent has already polled/waited and moved on.
Updates both the terminal tool JSON schema description and the
terminal_tool() function docstring to make the split explicit:
- watch_patterns: mid-process signals only (errors, readiness markers,
intermediate steps you want to react to before the process exits)
- notify_on_complete: end-of-run completion signal
No behavioural change.
Replace the HERMES_ENABLE_NOUS_MANAGED_TOOLS env-var feature flag with
subscription-based detection. The Tool Gateway is now available to any
paid Nous subscriber without needing a hidden env var.
Core changes:
- managed_nous_tools_enabled() checks get_nous_auth_status() +
check_nous_free_tier() instead of an env var
- New use_gateway config flag per tool section (web, tts, browser,
image_gen) records explicit user opt-in and overrides direct API
keys at runtime
- New prefers_gateway(section) shared helper in tool_backend_helpers.py
used by all 4 tool runtimes (web, tts, image gen, browser)
UX flow:
- hermes model: after Nous login/model selection, shows a curses
prompt listing all gateway-eligible tools with current status.
User chooses to enable all, enable only unconfigured tools, or skip.
Defaults to Enable for new users, Skip when direct keys exist.
- hermes tools: provider selection now manages use_gateway flag —
selecting Nous Subscription sets it, selecting any other provider
clears it
- hermes status: renamed section to Nous Tool Gateway, added
free-tier upgrade nudge for logged-in free users
- curses_radiolist: new description parameter for multi-line context
that survives the screen clear
Runtime behavior:
- Each tool runtime (web_tools, tts_tool, image_generation_tool,
browser_use) checks prefers_gateway() before falling back to
direct env-var credentials
- get_nous_subscription_features() respects use_gateway flags,
suppressing direct credential detection when the user opted in
Removed:
- HERMES_ENABLE_NOUS_MANAGED_TOOLS env var and all references
- apply_nous_provider_defaults() silent TTS auto-set
- get_nous_subscription_explainer_lines() static text
- Override env var warnings (use_gateway handles this properly now)
- Populate watcher_* routing fields for watch-only processes (not just
notify_on_complete), so watch-pattern events carry direct metadata
instead of relying solely on session_key parsing fallback
- Extract _parse_session_key() helper to dedupe session key parsing
at two call sites in gateway/run.py
- Add negative test proving cross-thread leakage doesn't happen
- Add edge-case tests for _build_process_event_source returning None
(empty evt, invalid platform, short session_key)
- Add unit tests for _parse_session_key helper
The terminal and execute_code tool schemas unconditionally mentioned
'cloud sandboxes' in their descriptions sent to the model. This caused
agents running on local backends to believe they were in a sandboxed
environment, refusing networking tasks and other operations. Worse,
agents sometimes saved this false belief to persistent memory, making
it persist across sessions.
Reported by multiple users (XLion, 林泽).
The check_interval parameter on terminal_tool sent periodic output
updates to the gateway chat, but these were display-only — the agent
couldn't see or act on them. This added schema bloat and introduced
a bug where notify_on_complete=True was silently dropped when
check_interval was also set (the not-check_interval guard skipped
fast-watcher registration, and the check_interval watcher dict
was missing the notify_on_complete key).
Removing check_interval entirely:
- Eliminates the notify_on_complete interaction bug
- Reduces tool schema size (one fewer parameter for the model)
- Simplifies the watcher registration path
- notify_on_complete (agent wake-on-completion) still works
- watch_patterns (output alerting) still works
- process(action='poll') covers manual status checking
Closes#7947 (root cause eliminated rather than patched).
Background process watchers (notify_on_complete, check_interval) created
synthetic SessionSource objects without user_id/user_name. While the
internal=True bypass (1d8d4f28) prevented false pairing for agent-
generated notifications, the missing identity caused:
- Garbage entries in pairing rate limiters (discord:None, telegram:None)
- 'User None' in approval messages and logs
- No user identity available for future code paths that need it
Additionally, platform messages arriving without from_user (Telegram
service messages, channel forwards, anonymous admin actions) could still
trigger false pairing because they are not internal events.
Fix:
1. Propagate user_id/user_name through the full watcher chain:
session_context.py → gateway/run.py → terminal_tool.py →
process_registry.py (including checkpoint persistence/recovery)
2. Add None user_id guard in _handle_message() — silently drop
non-internal messages with no user identity instead of triggering
the pairing flow.
Salvaged from PRs #7664 (kagura-agent, ContextVar approach),
#6540 (MestreY0d4-Uninter, tests), and #7709 (guang384, None guard).
Closes#6341, #6485, #7643
Relates to #6516, #7392
* feat: add watch_patterns to background processes for output monitoring
Adds a new 'watch_patterns' parameter to terminal(background=true) that
lets the agent specify strings to watch for in process output. When a
matching line appears, a notification is queued and injected as a
synthetic message — triggering a new agent turn, similar to
notify_on_complete but mid-process.
Implementation:
- ProcessSession gets watch_patterns field + rate-limit state
- _check_watch_patterns() in ProcessRegistry scans new output chunks
from all three reader threads (local, PTY, env-poller)
- Rate limited: max 8 notifications per 10s window
- Sustained overload (45s) permanently disables watching for that process
- watch_queue alongside completion_queue, same consumption pattern
- CLI drains watch_queue in both idle loop and post-turn drain
- Gateway drains after agent runs via _inject_watch_notification()
- Checkpoint persistence + crash recovery includes watch_patterns
- Blocked in execute_code sandbox (like other bg params)
- 20 new tests covering matching, rate limiting, overload kill,
checkpoint persistence, schema, and handler passthrough
Usage:
terminal(
command='npm run dev',
background=true,
watch_patterns=['ERROR', 'WARN', 'listening on port']
)
* refactor: merge watch_queue into completion_queue
Unified queue with 'type' field distinguishing 'completion',
'watch_match', and 'watch_disabled' events. Extracted
_format_process_notification() in CLI and gateway to handle
all event types in a single drain loop. Removes duplication
across both CLI drain sites and the gateway.
When two gateway messages arrived concurrently, _set_session_env wrote
HERMES_SESSION_PLATFORM/CHAT_ID/CHAT_NAME/THREAD_ID into the process-global
os.environ. Because asyncio tasks share the same process, Message B would
overwrite Message A's values mid-flight, causing background-task notifications
and tool calls to route to the wrong thread/chat.
Replace os.environ with Python's contextvars.ContextVar. Each asyncio task
(and any run_in_executor thread it spawns) gets its own copy, so concurrent
messages never interfere.
Changes:
- New gateway/session_context.py with ContextVar definitions, set/clear/get
helpers, and os.environ fallback for CLI/cron/test backward compatibility
- gateway/run.py: _set_session_env returns reset tokens, _clear_session_env
accepts them for proper cleanup in finally blocks
- All tool consumers updated: cronjob_tools, send_message_tool, skills_tool,
terminal_tool (both notify_on_complete AND check_interval blocks), tts_tool,
agent/skill_utils, agent/prompt_builder
- Tests updated for new contextvar-based API
Fixes#7358
Co-authored-by: teknium1 <127238744+teknium1@users.noreply.github.com>
Change behavior from silent clamping to returning an error when the
model requests a foreground timeout exceeding FOREGROUND_MAX_TIMEOUT.
This forces the model to use background=true for long-running commands
rather than silently changing its intent.
- Config default timeouts above the cap are NOT rejected (user's choice)
- Only explicit model-requested timeouts trigger rejection
- Added boundary test for timeout exactly at the limit
When the model calls terminal() in foreground mode without background=true
(e.g. to start a server), the tool call blocks until the command exits or
the timeout expires. Without an upper bound the model can request arbitrarily
high timeouts (the schema had minimum=1 but no maximum), blocking the entire
agent session for hours until the gateway idle watchdog kills it.
Changes:
- Add FOREGROUND_MAX_TIMEOUT (600s, configurable via
TERMINAL_MAX_FOREGROUND_TIMEOUT env var) that caps foreground timeout
- Clamp effective_timeout to the cap when background=false and timeout
exceeds the limit
- Include a timeout_note in the tool result when clamped, nudging the
model to use background=true for long-running processes
- Update schema description to show the max timeout value
- Remove dead clamping code in the background branch that could never
fire (max_timeout was set to effective_timeout, so timeout > max_timeout
was always false)
- Add 7 tests covering clamping, no-clamping, config-default-exceeds-cap
edge case, background bypass, default timeout, constant value, and
schema content
Self-review fixes:
- Fixed bug where timeout_note said 'Requested timeout Nones' when
clamping fired from config default exceeding cap (timeout param is
None). Now uses unclamped_timeout instead of the raw timeout param.
- Removed unused pytest import from test file
- Extracted test config dict into _make_env_config() helper
- Fixed tautological test_default_value assertion
- Added missing test for config default > cap with no model timeout
`_cleanup_task_resources` was unconditionally calling `cleanup_vm()` at
the end of every `run_conversation` (i.e. every user turn), tearing down
the docker/daytona/modal sandbox container regardless of its
`persistent_filesystem` setting. This contradicted the documented intent
of `terminal.lifetime_seconds` (idle reaper) and `container_persistent`,
and caused per-turn loss of `/workspace`, `~/.config`, agent CLI auth
state, and any other content living inside the sandbox.
The unconditional teardown was introduced in fbd3a2fd ("prevent leakage
of morph instances between tasks", 2025-11-04) to plug a Morph backend
leak, two days after `lifetime_seconds` shipped in faecbddd. It was
later refactored into `_cleanup_task_resources` in 70dd3a16 without
changing semantics. Code and docs have disagreed since.
Fix: introduce `terminal_tool.is_persistent_env(task_id)` and skip the
per-turn `cleanup_vm` when the active env is persistent. The idle reaper
(`_cleanup_inactive_envs`) still tears persistent envs down once
`terminal.lifetime_seconds` is exceeded. Non-persistent backends (Morph)
are unchanged — still torn down per turn, preserving the original
leak-prevention intent.
- DEFAULT_RESULT_SIZE_CHARS: 50K -> 100K (match current _LARGE_RESULT_CHARS)
- DEFAULT_PREVIEW_SIZE_CHARS: 2K -> 1.5K (match current _LARGE_RESULT_PREVIEW_CHARS)
- Per-tool overrides all set to 100K (terminal, execute_code, search_files)
- Remove pre-read byte guard (no behavioral regression vs current main)
- Revert limit signature change to int=500 (match current default)
- Restore original read_file schema description
- Update test assertions to match 100K thresholds
Comprehensive cleanup across 80 files based on automated (ruff, pyflakes, vulture)
and manual analysis of the entire codebase.
Changes by category:
Unused imports removed (~95 across 55 files):
- Removed genuinely unused imports from all major subsystems
- agent/, hermes_cli/, tools/, gateway/, plugins/, cron/
- Includes imports in try/except blocks that were truly unused
(vs availability checks which were left alone)
Unused variables removed (~25):
- Removed dead variables: connected, inner, channels, last_exc,
source, new_server_names, verify, pconfig, default_terminal,
result, pending_handled, temperature, loop
- Dropped unused argparse subparser assignments in hermes_cli/main.py
(12 instances of add_parser() where result was never used)
Dead code removed:
- run_agent.py: Removed dead ternary (None if False else None) and
surrounding unreachable branch in identity fallback
- run_agent.py: Removed write-only attribute _last_reported_tool
- hermes_cli/providers.py: Removed dead @property decorator on
module-level function (decorator has no effect outside a class)
- gateway/run.py: Removed unused MCP config load before reconnect
- gateway/platforms/slack.py: Removed dead SessionSource construction
Undefined name bugs fixed (would cause NameError at runtime):
- batch_runner.py: Added missing logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
- tools/environments/daytona.py: Added missing Dict and Path imports
Unnecessary global statements removed (14):
- tools/terminal_tool.py: 5 functions declared global for dicts
they only mutated via .pop()/[key]=value (no rebinding)
- tools/browser_tool.py: cleanup thread loop only reads flag
- tools/rl_training_tool.py: 4 functions only do dict mutations
- tools/mcp_oauth.py: only reads the global
- hermes_time.py: only reads cached values
Inefficient patterns fixed:
- startswith/endswith tuple form: 15 instances of
x.startswith('a') or x.startswith('b') consolidated to
x.startswith(('a', 'b'))
- len(x)==0 / len(x)>0: 13 instances replaced with pythonic
truthiness checks (not x / bool(x))
- in dict.keys(): 5 instances simplified to in dict
- Redefined unused name: removed duplicate _strip_mdv2 import in
send_message_tool.py
Other fixes:
- hermes_cli/doctor.py: Replaced undefined logger.debug() with pass
- hermes_cli/config.py: Consolidated chained .endswith() calls
Test results: 3934 passed, 17 failed (all pre-existing on main),
19 skipped. Zero regressions.
* feat: notify_on_complete for background processes
When terminal(background=true, notify_on_complete=true), the system
auto-triggers a new agent turn when the process exits — no polling needed.
Changes:
- ProcessSession: add notify_on_complete field
- ProcessRegistry: add completion_queue, populate on _move_to_finished()
- Terminal tool: add notify_on_complete parameter to schema + handler
- CLI: drain completion_queue after agent turn AND during idle loop
- Gateway: enhanced _run_process_watcher injects synthetic MessageEvent
on completion, triggering a full agent turn
- Checkpoint persistence includes notify_on_complete for crash recovery
- code_execution_tool: block notify_on_complete in sandbox scripts
- 15 new tests covering queue mechanics, checkpoint round-trip, schema
* docs: update terminal tool descriptions for notify_on_complete
- background: remove 'ONLY for servers' language, describe both patterns
(long-lived processes AND long-running tasks with notify_on_complete)
- notify_on_complete: more prescriptive about when to use it
- TERMINAL_TOOL_DESCRIPTION: remove 'Do NOT use background for builds'
guidance that contradicted the new feature
Shell injection via unquoted workdir interpolation in docker, singularity,
and SSH backends. When workdir contained shell metacharacters (e.g.
~/;id), arbitrary commands could execute.
Changes:
- Add shlex.quote() at each interpolation point in docker.py,
singularity.py, and ssh.py with tilde-aware quoting (keep ~
unquoted for shell expansion, quote only the subpath)
- Add _validate_workdir() allowlist in terminal_tool.py as
defense-in-depth before workdir reaches any backend
Original work by Mariano A. Nicolini (PR #5620). Salvaged with fixes
for tilde expansion (shlex.quote breaks cd ~/path) and replaced
incomplete deny-list with strict character allowlist.
Co-authored-by: Mariano A. Nicolini <entropidelic@users.noreply.github.com>
When commands like grep, diff, test, or find return non-zero exit codes
that aren't actual errors (grep 1 = no matches, diff 1 = files differ),
the model wastes turns investigating non-problems. This adds an
exit_code_meaning field to the terminal JSON result that explains
informational exit codes, so the agent can move on instead of debugging.
Covers grep/rg/ag/ack (no matches), diff (files differ), find (partial
access), test/[ (condition false), curl (timeouts, DNS, HTTP errors),
and git (context-dependent). Correctly extracts the last command from
pipelines and chains, strips full paths and env var assignments.
The exit_code field itself is unchanged — this is purely additive context.
When a dangerous command is approved (gateway, CLI, or smart approval),
the terminal tool now includes an 'approval' field in the result JSON
so the model knows approval was requested and granted. Previously the
model only saw normal command output with no indication that approval
happened, causing it to hallucinate that the approval system didn't fire.
Changes:
- approval.py: Return user_approved/description in all 3 approval paths
(gateway blocking, CLI interactive, smart approval)
- terminal_tool.py: Capture approval metadata and inject into both
foreground and background command results
Add docker_env option to terminal config — a dict of key-value pairs that
get set inside Docker containers via -e flags at both container creation
(docker run) and per-command execution (docker exec) time.
This complements docker_forward_env (which reads values dynamically from
the host process environment). docker_env is useful when Hermes runs as a
systemd service without access to the user's shell environment — e.g.
setting SSH_AUTH_SOCK or GNUPGHOME to known stable paths for SSH/GPG
agent socket forwarding.
Precedence: docker_env provides baseline values; docker_forward_env
overrides for the same key.
Config example:
terminal:
docker_env:
SSH_AUTH_SOCK: /run/user/1000/ssh-agent.sock
GNUPGHOME: /root/.gnupg
docker_volumes:
- /run/user/1000/ssh-agent.sock:/run/user/1000/ssh-agent.sock
- /run/user/1000/gnupg/S.gpg-agent:/root/.gnupg/S.gpg-agent
- Add contextvars.Token[str] type hints to set/reset_current_session_key
- Use get_current_session_key(default='') in terminal_tool.py for background
process session tracking, fixing the same env var race for concurrent
gateway sessions spawning background processes
When a user runs 'hermes update', the Python process caches old modules
in sys.modules. After git pull updates files on disk, lazy imports of
newly-updated modules fail because they try to import display_hermes_home
from the cached (old) hermes_constants which doesn't have the function.
This specifically broke the gateway auto-restart in cmd_update — importing
hermes_cli/gateway.py triggered the top-level 'from hermes_constants
import display_hermes_home' against the cached old module. The ImportError
was silently caught, so the gateway was never restarted after update.
Users with a running gateway then hit the ImportError on their next
Telegram/Discord message when the stale gateway process lazily loaded
run_agent.py (new version) which also had the top-level import.
Fixes:
- hermes_cli/gateway.py: lazy import at call site (line 940)
- run_agent.py: lazy import at call site (line 6927)
- tools/terminal_tool.py: lazy imports at 3 call sites
- tools/tts_tool.py: static schema string (no module-level call)
- hermes_cli/auth.py: lazy import at call site (line 2024)
- hermes_cli/main.py: reload hermes_constants after git pull in cmd_update
Also fixes 4 pre-existing test failures in test_parse_env_var caused by
NameError on display_hermes_home in terminal_tool.py.
Prep for profiles: user-facing messages now use display_hermes_home() so
diagnostic output shows the correct path for each profile.
New helper: display_hermes_home() in hermes_constants.py
12 files swept, ~30 user-facing string replacements.
Includes dynamic TTS schema description.
Drop the swe-rex dependency for Modal terminal backend and use the
Modal SDK directly (Sandbox.create + Sandbox.exec). This fixes:
- AsyncUsageWarning from synchronous App.lookup() in async context
- DeprecationError from unencrypted_ports / .url on unencrypted tunnels
(deprecated 2026-03-05)
The new implementation:
- Uses modal.App.lookup.aio() for async-safe app creation
- Uses Sandbox.create.aio() with 'sleep infinity' entrypoint
- Uses Sandbox.exec.aio() for direct command execution (no HTTP server
or tunnel needed)
- Keeps all existing features: persistent filesystem snapshots,
configurable resources (CPU/memory/disk), sudo support, interrupt
handling, _AsyncWorker for event loop safety
Consistent with the Docker backend precedent (PR #2804) where we
removed mini-swe-agent in favor of direct docker run.
Files changed:
- tools/environments/modal.py - core rewrite
- tools/terminal_tool.py - health check: modal instead of swerex
- hermes_cli/setup.py - install modal instead of swe-rex[modal]
- pyproject.toml - modal extra: modal>=1.0.0 instead of swe-rex[modal]
- scripts/kill_modal.sh - grep for hermes-agent instead of swe-rex
- tests/ - updated for new implementation
- environments/README.md - updated patches section
- website/docs - updated install command
- add managed modal and gateway-backed tool integrations\n- improve CLI setup, auth, and configuration for subscriber flows\n- expand tests and docs for managed tool support
Three categories of cleanup, all zero-behavioral-change:
1. F-strings without placeholders (154 fixes across 29 files)
- Converted f'...' to '...' where no {expression} was present
- Heaviest files: run_agent.py (24), cli.py (20), honcho_integration/cli.py (34)
2. Simplify defensive patterns in run_agent.py
- Added explicit self._is_anthropic_oauth = False in __init__ (before
the api_mode branch that conditionally sets it)
- Replaced 7x getattr(self, '_is_anthropic_oauth', False) with direct
self._is_anthropic_oauth (attribute always initialized now)
- Added _is_openrouter_url() and _is_anthropic_url() helper methods
- Replaced 3 inline 'openrouter' in self._base_url_lower checks
3. Remove dead code in small files
- hermes_cli/claw.py: removed unused 'total' computation
- tools/fuzzy_match.py: removed unused strip_indent() function and
pattern_stripped variable
Full test suite: 6184 passed, 0 failures
E2E PTY: banner clean, tool calls work, zero garbled ANSI
Complete cleanup after dropping the mini-swe-agent submodule (PR #2804):
- Remove MSWEA_SILENT_STARTUP and MSWEA_GLOBAL_CONFIG_DIR env var
settings from cli.py, run_agent.py, hermes_cli/main.py, doctor.py
- Remove mini-swe-agent health check from hermes doctor
- Remove 'minisweagent' from logger suppression lists
- Remove litellm/typer/platformdirs from requirements.txt
- Remove mini-swe-agent install steps from install.ps1 (Windows)
- Remove mini-swe-agent install steps from website docs
- Update all stale comments/docstrings referencing mini-swe-agent
in terminal_tool.py, tools/__init__.py, code_execution_tool.py,
environments/README.md, environments/agent_loop.py
- Remove mini_swe_runner from pyproject.toml py-modules
(still exists as standalone script for RL training use)
- Shrink test_minisweagent_path.py to empty stub
The orphaned mini-swe-agent/ directory on disk needs manual removal:
rm -rf mini-swe-agent/
When TERMINAL_CWD is set to '.' or any relative path (common when the
CLI config defaults to cwd='.'), container backends (docker, modal,
singularity, daytona) would pass it directly to the container where it's
meaningless. This caused 'docker run -d -w .' to fail.
Now relative paths are caught alongside host paths and replaced with
the default '/root' for container backends.
Drop the mini-swe-agent git submodule. All terminal backends now use
hermes-agent's own environment implementations directly.
Docker backend:
- Inline the `docker run -d` container startup (was 15 lines in
minisweagent's DockerEnvironment). Our wrapper already handled
execute(), cleanup(), security hardening, volumes, and resource limits.
Modal backend:
- Import swe-rex's ModalDeployment directly instead of going through
minisweagent's 90-line passthrough wrapper.
- Bake the _AsyncWorker pattern (from environments/patches.py) directly
into ModalEnvironment for Atropos compatibility without monkey-patching.
Cleanup:
- Remove minisweagent_path.py (submodule path resolution helper)
- Remove submodule init/install from install.sh and setup-hermes.sh
- Remove mini-swe-agent from .gitmodules
- environments/patches.py is now a no-op (kept for backward compat)
- terminal_tool.py no longer does sys.path hacking for minisweagent
- mini_swe_runner.py guards imports (optional, for RL training only)
- Update all affected tests to mock the new direct subprocess calls
- Update README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md
No functionality change — all Docker, Modal, local, SSH, Singularity,
and Daytona backends behave identically. 6093 tests pass.
Root cause: terminal_tool, execute_code, and process_registry returned raw
subprocess output with ANSI escape sequences intact. The model saw these
in tool results and copied them into file writes.
Previous fix (PR #2532) stripped ANSI at the write point in file_tools.py,
but this was a band-aid — regex on file content risks corrupting legitimate
content, and doesn't prevent ANSI from wasting tokens in the model context.
Source-level fix:
- New tools/ansi_strip.py with comprehensive ECMA-48 regex covering CSI
(incl. private-mode, colon-separated, intermediate bytes), OSC (both
terminators), DCS/SOS/PM/APC strings, Fp/Fe/Fs/nF escapes, 8-bit C1
- terminal_tool.py: strip output before returning to model
- code_execution_tool.py: strip stdout/stderr before returning
- process_registry.py: strip output in poll/read_log/wait
- file_tools.py: remove _strip_ansi band-aid (no longer needed)
Verified: `ls --color=always` output returned as clean text to model,
file written from that output contains zero ESC bytes.
Salvaged from PR #1573 by @eren-karakus0. Cherry-picked with authorship preserved.
Fixes#1143 — background process notifications resume after gateway restart.
Co-authored-by: Muhammet Eren Karakuş <erenkar950@gmail.com>
Docker terminal sessions are secret-dark by default. This adds
terminal.docker_forward_env as an explicit allowlist for env vars
that may be forwarded into Docker containers.
Values resolve from the current shell first, then fall back to
~/.hermes/.env. Only variables the user explicitly lists are
forwarded — nothing is auto-exposed.
Cherry-picked from PR #1449 by @teknium1, conflict-resolved onto
current main.
Fixes#1436
Supersedes #1439
Keep Docker sandboxes isolated by default. Add an explicit terminal.docker_mount_cwd_to_workspace opt-in, thread it through terminal/file environment creation, and document the security tradeoff and config.yaml workflow clearly.
Fixes#1445 — When using Docker backend, the user's current working
directory is now automatically bind-mounted to /workspace inside the
container. This allows users to run `cd my-project && hermes` and have
their project files accessible to the agent without manual volume config.
Changes:
- Add host_cwd and auto_mount_cwd parameters to DockerEnvironment
- Capture original host CWD in _get_env_config() before container fallback
- Pass host_cwd through _create_environment() to Docker backend
- Add TERMINAL_DOCKER_NO_AUTO_MOUNT env var to disable if needed
- Skip auto-mount when /workspace is already explicitly mounted
- Add tests for auto-mount behavior
- Add documentation for the new feature
The auto-mount is skipped when:
1. TERMINAL_DOCKER_NO_AUTO_MOUNT=true is set
2. User configured docker_volumes with :/workspace
3. persistent_filesystem=true (persistent sandbox mode)
This makes the Docker backend behave more intuitively — the agent
operates on the user's actual project directory by default.
Salvaged from PR #1146 by spanishflu-est1918.
Background process progress/completion messages were sent with only
chat_id, landing in the general topic instead of the originating forum
topic. Thread the thread_id from HERMES_SESSION_THREAD_ID through the
watcher payload and pass it as metadata to adapter.send() so Telegram
routes notifications to the correct topic.
The env var export (HERMES_SESSION_THREAD_ID in _set_session_env /
_clear_session_env) already existed on main — this commit adds the
missing watcher plumbing.
Co-authored-by: spanishflu-est1918 <spanishflu-est1918@users.noreply.github.com>
- Add 'emoji' field to ToolEntry and 'get_emoji()' to ToolRegistry
- Add emoji= to all 50+ registry.register() calls across tool files
- Add get_tool_emoji() helper in agent/display.py with 3-tier resolution:
skin override → registry default → hardcoded fallback
- Replace hardcoded emoji maps in run_agent.py, delegate_tool.py, and
gateway/run.py with centralized get_tool_emoji() calls
- Add 'tool_emojis' field to SkinConfig so skins can override per-tool
emojis (e.g. ares skin could use swords instead of wrenches)
- Add 11 tests (5 registry emoji, 6 display/skin integration)
- Update AGENTS.md skin docs table
Based on the approach from PR #1061 by ForgingAlex (emoji centralization
in registry). This salvage fixes several issues from the original:
- Does NOT split the cronjob tool (which would crash on missing schemas)
- Does NOT change image_generate toolset/requires_env/is_async
- Does NOT delete existing tests
- Completes the centralization (gateway/run.py was missed)
- Hooks into the skin system for full customizability
SSH persistent shell now defaults to true — non-local backends benefit
most from state persistence across execute() calls. Local backend
remains opt-in via TERMINAL_LOCAL_PERSISTENT env var.
New config.yaml option: terminal.persistent_shell (default: true)
Controls the default for non-local backends. Users can disable with:
hermes config set terminal.persistent_shell false
Precedence: per-backend env var > TERMINAL_PERSISTENT_SHELL > default.
Wired through cli.py, gateway/run.py, and hermes_cli/config.py so the
config.yaml value reaches terminal_tool via env var bridge.
Salvaged from PR #979 onto current main.
Preserve the current terminal backend checks while surfacing actionable
preflight errors for unknown TERMINAL_ENV values, missing SSH host/user
configuration, and missing Modal credentials/config. Tighten the modal
regression test so it deterministically exercises the config-missing
path.
Integrate tirith as a pre-execution security scanner that detects
homograph URLs, pipe-to-interpreter patterns, terminal injection,
zero-width Unicode, and environment variable manipulation — threats
the existing 50-pattern dangerous command detector doesn't cover.
Architecture: gather-then-decide — both tirith and the dangerous
command detector run before any approval prompt, preventing gateway
force=True replay from bypassing one check when only the other was
shown to the user.
New files:
- tools/tirith_security.py: subprocess wrapper with auto-installer,
mandatory cosign provenance verification, non-blocking background
download, disk-persistent failure markers with retryable-cause
tracking (cosign_missing auto-clears when cosign appears on PATH)
- tests/tools/test_tirith_security.py: 62 tests covering exit code
mapping, fail_open, cosign verification, background install,
HERMES_HOME isolation, and failure recovery
- tests/tools/test_command_guards.py: 21 integration tests for the
combined guard orchestration
Modified files:
- tools/approval.py: add check_all_command_guards() orchestrator,
add allow_permanent parameter to prompt_dangerous_approval()
- tools/terminal_tool.py: replace _check_dangerous_command with
consolidated check_all_command_guards
- cli.py: update _approval_callback for allow_permanent kwarg,
call ensure_installed() at startup
- gateway/run.py: iterate pattern_keys list on replay approval,
call ensure_installed() at startup
- hermes_cli/config.py: add security config defaults, split
commented sections for independent fallback
- cli-config.yaml.example: document tirith security config
Salvage of PR #1246 by ChatGPT (teknium1 session), resolved against
current main which already includes #1239.
Changes:
- Add minisweagent_path.py: worktree-aware helper that finds
mini-swe-agent/src from either the current checkout or the main
checkout behind a git worktree
- Use the helper in tools/terminal_tool.py and mini_swe_runner.py
instead of naive path-relative lookup that fails in worktrees
- Clean up check_terminal_requirements():
- local: return True (no minisweagent dep, per #1239)
- singularity/ssh: remove unnecessary minisweagent imports
- docker/modal: use importlib.util.find_spec with clear error
- Add regression tests for worktree path discovery and tool resolution
Fixes discovered while running TBLite baseline evaluation:
1. ephemeral_disk param not supported in modal 1.3.5 - check before passing
2. Modal legacy image builder requires working pip - add ensurepip fix via
setup_dockerfile_commands to handle task images with broken pip
3. Host cwd leaked into Modal sandbox - add /home/ to host prefix check
4. Tilde ~ not expanded by subprocess.run(cwd=) in sandboxes - use /root
5. install_pipx must stay True for swerex-remote to be available
Dependencies also needed (not in this commit):
- git submodule update --init mini-swe-agent
- uv pip install swe-rex boto3
On macOS, Docker Desktop installs the CLI to /usr/local/bin/docker, but
when Hermes runs as a gateway service (launchd) or in other non-login
contexts, /usr/local/bin is often not in PATH. This causes the Docker
requirements check to fail with 'No such file or directory: docker' even
though docker works fine from the user's terminal.
Add find_docker() helper that uses shutil.which() first, then probes
common Docker Desktop install paths on macOS (/usr/local/bin,
/opt/homebrew/bin, Docker.app bundle). The resolved path is cached and
passed to mini-swe-agent via its 'executable' parameter.
- tools/environments/docker.py: add find_docker(), use it in
_storage_opt_supported() and pass to _Docker(executable=...)
- tools/terminal_tool.py: use find_docker() in requirements check
- tests/tools/test_docker_find.py: 4 tests (PATH, fallback, not found, cache)
2877 tests pass.
Authored by voteblake.
- Semaphore limits concurrent Modal sandbox creations to 8 (configurable)
to prevent thread pool deadlocks when 86+ tasks fire simultaneously
- Modal cleanup guard for failed init (prevents AttributeError)
- CWD override to /app for TB2 containers
- Add /home/ to host path validation for container backends
Authored by shitcoinsherpa. Adds encoding='utf-8' to all text-mode
open() calls in gateway/run.py, gateway/config.py, hermes_cli/config.py,
hermes_cli/main.py, and hermes_cli/status.py. Prevents encoding errors
on Windows where the default locale is not UTF-8.
Also fixed 4 additional open() calls in gateway/run.py that were added
after the PR branch was created.
The existing password prompt uses /dev/tty and termios to read input
with echo disabled. Neither exists on Windows.
On Windows, msvcrt.getwch() reads a single character from the console
without echoing it. This adds a Windows code path that uses getwch()
in a loop, collecting characters until Enter is pressed.
The Unix path using termios and /dev/tty is unchanged.
- Add max_concurrent_tasks config (default 8) with semaphore in TB2 eval
- Pass cwd: /app via register_task_env_overrides for TB2 tasks
- Add /home/ to host path prefixes as safety net for container backends
When all 86 TerminalBench2 tasks fire simultaneously, each creates a Modal sandbox
via asyncio.run() inside a thread pool worker. Modal's blocking calls deadlock
when too many are created at once. The semaphore ensures max 8 concurrent creations.
Co-Authored-By: hermes-agent[bot] <hermes-agent[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Add Daytona to image selection, container_config guards, environment
factory, requirements check, and diagnostics in terminal_tool.py and
file_tools.py. Also add to sandboxed-backend approval bypass.
Signed-off-by: rovle <lovre.pesut@gmail.com>
Updated documentation within terminal_tool.py to emphasize the appropriate use of foreground and background processes. Enhanced descriptions for the timeout setting and background execution to guide users towards optimal configurations for scripts, builds, and long-running tasks. Adjusted the default timeout value from 60 to 180 seconds for improved handling of longer operations.
- Introduce a new test suite for the `redact_sensitive_text` function, covering various sensitive data formats including API keys, tokens, and environment variables.
- Ensure that sensitive information is properly masked in logs and outputs while non-sensitive data remains unchanged.
- Add tests for different scenarios including JSON fields, authorization headers, and environment variable assignments.
- Implement a redacting formatter for logging to enhance security during log output.
The sudo password was embedded in shell commands via single-quote
interpolation: echo '{password}' | sudo -S
If the password contained shell metacharacters (single quotes,
$(), backticks), they would be interpreted by the shell, enabling
arbitrary command execution.
Fix: use shlex.quote() which properly escapes all shell-special
characters, ensuring the password is always treated as a literal
string argument to echo.
The SSH backend was missing from check_terminal_requirements(), causing
it to fall through to `return False`. This silently disabled both the
terminal and file tools when TERMINAL_ENV=ssh was configured.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The browser_tool signal handler calls sys.exit(130) which raises
SystemExit. When this fires during terminal_tool's atexit cleanup
(specifically during _cleanup_thread.join()), it produces an unhandled
traceback. Wrapping the join in a try/except suppresses the race
without changing shutdown behavior.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Added a new section in the README for Inference Providers, detailing setup instructions for Nous Portal, OpenRouter, and Custom Endpoints, improving user guidance for LLM connections.
- Updated messaging platform setup instructions to include Slack and WhatsApp, providing clearer steps for configuration.
- Introduced a new environment variable, TERMINAL_SANDBOX_DIR, to allow users to customize the sandbox storage location for Docker and Singularity environments.
- Refactored the Docker and Singularity environment classes to utilize the new sandbox directory for persistent workspaces, enhancing organization and usability.
- Improved handling of working directories across various environments, ensuring compatibility and clarity in execution paths.
- Introduced a shared interrupt signaling mechanism to allow tools to check for user interrupts during long-running operations.
- Updated the AIAgent to handle interrupts more effectively, ensuring in-progress tool calls are canceled and multiple interrupt messages are combined into one prompt.
- Enhanced the CLI configuration to include container resource limits (CPU, memory, disk) and persistence options for Docker, Singularity, and Modal environments.
- Improved documentation to clarify interrupt behaviors and container resource settings, providing users with better guidance on configuration and usage.
- Updated the authorization logic to include a per-platform allow-all flag for improved flexibility.
- Revised the order of checks to prioritize platform-specific allow-all settings, followed by environment variable allowlists and DM pairing approvals.
- Added global allow-all configuration for broader access control.
- Improved handling of allowlists by stripping whitespace and ensuring valid entries are processed.
- Updated the environment creation condition to specifically check for "singularity" instead of allowing "local", ensuring more precise handling of environment types during task execution.
- Added functionality to suppress logging noise from specific modules when in quiet mode, improving user experience in CLI.
- Updated terminal_tool.py to change the log level for fallback directory usage from warning to debug, providing clearer context without cluttering logs.
- Added methods for handling sudo password and dangerous command approval prompts using a callback mechanism in cli.py.
- Integrated these prompts with the prompt_toolkit UI for improved user experience.
- Updated terminal_tool.py to support callback registration for interactive prompts, enhancing the CLI's interactivity.
- Introduced a background thread for API calls in run_agent.py to allow for interrupt handling during long-running operations.
- Enhanced error handling for interrupted API calls, ensuring graceful degradation of user experience.
- Introduced logging functionality in cli.py, run_agent.py, scheduler.py, and various tool modules to replace print statements with structured logging.
- Enhanced error handling and informational messages to improve debugging and monitoring capabilities.
- Ensured consistent logging practices across the codebase, facilitating better traceability and maintenance.
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