diff --git a/hermes_state.py b/hermes_state.py
index 77d1a1ab4..54cec8437 100644
--- a/hermes_state.py
+++ b/hermes_state.py
@@ -349,13 +349,6 @@ class SessionDB:
 
         self._conn.commit()
 
-    def close(self):
-        """Close the database connection."""
-        with self._lock:
-            if self._conn:
-                self._conn.close()
-                self._conn = None
-
     # =========================================================================
     # Session lifecycle
     # =========================================================================
diff --git a/tools/browser_tool.py b/tools/browser_tool.py
index 56870c041..8339fdd9c 100644
--- a/tools/browser_tool.py
+++ b/tools/browser_tool.py
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ import requests
 from typing import Dict, Any, Optional, List
 from pathlib import Path
 from agent.auxiliary_client import call_llm
+from hermes_constants import get_hermes_home
 
 try:
     from tools.website_policy import check_website_access
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ def _get_command_timeout() -> int:
     ``DEFAULT_COMMAND_TIMEOUT`` (30s) if unset or unreadable.
     """
     try:
-        hermes_home = Path(os.environ.get("HERMES_HOME", Path.home() / ".hermes"))
+        hermes_home = get_hermes_home()
         config_path = hermes_home / "config.yaml"
         if config_path.exists():
             import yaml
@@ -256,7 +257,7 @@ def _get_cloud_provider() -> Optional[CloudBrowserProvider]:
 
     _cloud_provider_resolved = True
     try:
-        hermes_home = Path(os.environ.get("HERMES_HOME", Path.home() / ".hermes"))
+        hermes_home = get_hermes_home()
         config_path = hermes_home / "config.yaml"
         if config_path.exists():
             import yaml
@@ -327,7 +328,7 @@ def _allow_private_urls() -> bool:
     _allow_private_urls_resolved = True
     _cached_allow_private_urls = False  # safe default
     try:
-        hermes_home = Path(os.environ.get("HERMES_HOME", Path.home() / ".hermes"))
+        hermes_home = get_hermes_home()
         config_path = hermes_home / "config.yaml"
         if config_path.exists():
             import yaml
@@ -777,7 +778,7 @@ def _find_agent_browser() -> str:
             extra_dirs.append(d)
     extra_dirs.extend(_discover_homebrew_node_dirs())
 
-    hermes_home = Path(os.environ.get("HERMES_HOME", Path.home() / ".hermes"))
+    hermes_home = get_hermes_home()
     hermes_node_bin = str(hermes_home / "node" / "bin")
     if os.path.isdir(hermes_node_bin):
         extra_dirs.append(hermes_node_bin)
diff --git a/tools/delegate_tool.py b/tools/delegate_tool.py
index cef91cf75..7b7583800 100644
--- a/tools/delegate_tool.py
+++ b/tools/delegate_tool.py
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ def delegate_task(
     if parent_agent and hasattr(parent_agent, '_memory_manager') and parent_agent._memory_manager:
         for entry in results:
             try:
-                _task_goal = tasks[entry["task_index"]]["goal"] if entry["task_index"] < len(tasks) else ""
+                _task_goal = task_list[entry["task_index"]]["goal"] if entry["task_index"] < len(task_list) else ""
                 parent_agent._memory_manager.on_delegation(
                     task=_task_goal,
                     result=entry.get("summary", "") or "",
diff --git a/tools/web_tools.py b/tools/web_tools.py
index ba6bdb077..69ab16e86 100644
--- a/tools/web_tools.py
+++ b/tools/web_tools.py
@@ -788,6 +788,15 @@ Create a single, unified markdown summary."""
             logger.warning("Synthesis LLM returned empty content, retrying once")
             response = await async_call_llm(**call_kwargs)
             final_summary = extract_content_or_reasoning(response)
+
+        # If still None after retry, fall back to concatenated summaries
+        if not final_summary:
+            logger.warning("Synthesis failed after retry — concatenating chunk summaries")
+            fallback = "\n\n".join(summaries)
+            if len(fallback) > max_output_size:
+                fallback = fallback[:max_output_size] + "\n\n[... truncated ...]"
+            return fallback
+
         # Enforce hard cap
         if len(final_summary) > max_output_size:
             final_summary = final_summary[:max_output_size] + "\n\n[... summary truncated for context management ...]"