From a7609c97be5f03c881e75973f5bf1e405f8d1511 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: teknium1 <teknium1@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2026 22:31:41 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Update docs to match backend key rename and CWD behavior
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- cli-config.yaml.example: env_type → backend everywhere, matching the
  documented config key that hermes_cli/config.py and README already use
- cli-config.yaml.example: added comments clarifying cwd is a path
  INSIDE the target environment for non-local backends
- AGENTS.md: updated terminal.cwd description to explain "." only
  resolves to host CWD for the local backend
- .env.example: updated TERMINAL_CWD comment to warn against using
  host-local paths with remote backends, lists per-backend defaults
---
 .env.example            |  6 ++++--
 AGENTS.md               |  2 +-
 cli-config.yaml.example | 20 ++++++++++----------
 3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 7927fd42..689517d3 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -48,8 +48,10 @@ TERMINAL_MODAL_IMAGE=nikolaik/python-nodejs:python3.11-nodejs20
 
 
 # Working directory for terminal commands
-# For CLI: "." means current directory (resolved automatically from config.yaml)
-# For containers (docker/singularity/modal): absolute path inside the container
+# For local backend: "." means current directory (resolved automatically)
+# For remote backends (ssh/docker/modal/singularity): use an absolute path
+#   INSIDE the target environment, or leave unset for the backend's default
+#   (/root for modal, / for docker, ~ for ssh). Do NOT use a host-local path.
 # Usually managed by config.yaml (terminal.cwd) — uncomment to override
 # TERMINAL_CWD=.
 
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index e375add6..316fdb67 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ API keys are loaded from `~/.hermes/.env`:
 
 Terminal tool configuration (in `~/.hermes/config.yaml`):
 - `terminal.backend` - Backend: local, docker, singularity, modal, or ssh
-- `terminal.cwd` - Working directory for CLI ("." = current directory)
+- `terminal.cwd` - Working directory ("." = host CWD for local only; for remote backends set an absolute path inside the target, or omit to use the backend's default)
 - `terminal.docker_image` - Image for Docker backend
 - `terminal.singularity_image` - Image for Singularity backend
 - `terminal.modal_image` - Image for Modal backend
diff --git a/cli-config.yaml.example b/cli-config.yaml.example
index ac9a68b6..6da5297b 100644
--- a/cli-config.yaml.example
+++ b/cli-config.yaml.example
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ model:
 #   - CLI (`hermes` command): Uses "." (current directory where you run hermes)
 #   - Messaging (Telegram/Discord): Uses MESSAGING_CWD from .env (default: home)
 terminal:
-  env_type: "local"
-  cwd: "."  # CLI working directory - "." means current directory
+  backend: "local"
+  cwd: "."  # For local backend: "." = current directory. Ignored for remote backends.
   timeout: 180
   lifetime_seconds: 300
   # sudo_password: ""  # Enable sudo commands (pipes via sudo -S) - SECURITY WARNING: plaintext!
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ terminal:
 # Great for: keeping agent isolated from its own code, using powerful remote hardware
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # terminal:
-#   env_type: "ssh"
-#   cwd: "/home/myuser/project"
+#   backend: "ssh"
+#   cwd: "/home/myuser/project"  # Path on the REMOTE server
 #   timeout: 180
 #   lifetime_seconds: 300
 #   ssh_host: "my-server.example.com"
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ terminal:
 # Great for: reproducible environments, testing, isolation
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # terminal:
-#   env_type: "docker"
-#   cwd: "/workspace"
+#   backend: "docker"
+#   cwd: "/workspace"  # Path INSIDE the container (default: /)
 #   timeout: 180
 #   lifetime_seconds: 300
 #   docker_image: "nikolaik/python-nodejs:python3.11-nodejs20"
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ terminal:
 # Great for: HPC clusters, shared compute environments
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # terminal:
-#   env_type: "singularity"
-#   cwd: "/workspace"
+#   backend: "singularity"
+#   cwd: "/workspace"  # Path INSIDE the container (default: /root)
 #   timeout: 180
 #   lifetime_seconds: 300
 #   singularity_image: "docker://nikolaik/python-nodejs:python3.11-nodejs20"
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ terminal:
 # Great for: GPU access, scalable compute, serverless execution
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # terminal:
-#   env_type: "modal"
-#   cwd: "/workspace"
+#   backend: "modal"
+#   cwd: "/workspace"  # Path INSIDE the sandbox (default: /root)
 #   timeout: 180
 #   lifetime_seconds: 300
 #   modal_image: "nikolaik/python-nodejs:python3.11-nodejs20"