* feat(nix): container-aware CLI — auto-route all subcommands into managed container
When container.enable = true, the host `hermes` CLI transparently execs
every subcommand into the managed Docker/Podman container. A symlink
bridge (~/.hermes -> /var/lib/hermes/.hermes) unifies state between host
and container so sessions, config, and memories are shared.
CLI changes:
- Global routing before subcommand dispatch (all commands forwarded)
- docker exec with -u exec_user, env passthrough (TERM, COLORTERM,
LANG, LC_ALL), TTY-aware flags
- Retry with spinner on failure (TTY: 5s, non-TTY: 10s silent)
- Hard fail instead of silent fallback
- HERMES_DEV=1 env var bypasses routing for development
- No routing messages (invisible to user)
NixOS module changes:
- container.hostUsers option: lists users who get ~/.hermes symlink
and automatic hermes group membership
- Activation script creates symlink bridge (with backup of existing
~/.hermes dirs), writes exec_user to .container-mode
- Cleanup on disable: removes symlinks + .container-mode + stops service
- Warning when hostUsers set without addToSystemPackages
* fix: address review — reuse sudo var, add chown -h on symlink update
- hermes_cli/main.py: reuse the existing `sudo` variable instead of
redundant `shutil.which("sudo")` call that could return None
- nix/nixosModules.nix: add missing `chown -h` when updating an
existing symlink target so ownership stays consistent with the
fresh-create and backup-replace branches
* fix: address remaining review items from cursor bugbot
- hermes_cli/main.py: move container routing BEFORE parse_args() so
--help, unrecognised flags, and all subcommands are forwarded
transparently into the container instead of being intercepted by
argparse on the host (high severity)
- nix/nixosModules.nix: resolve home dirs via
config.users.users.${user}.home instead of hardcoding /home/${user},
supporting users with custom home directories (medium severity)
- nix/nixosModules.nix: gate hostUsers group membership on
container.enable so setting hostUsers without container mode doesn't
silently add users to the hermes group (low severity)
* fix: simplify container routing — execvp, no retries, let it crash
- Replace subprocess.run retry loop with os.execvp (no idle parent process)
- Extract _probe_container helper for sudo detection with 15s timeout
- Narrow exception handling: FileNotFoundError only in get_container_exec_info,
catch TimeoutExpired specifically, remove silent except Exception: pass
- Collapse needs_sudo + sudo into single sudo_path variable
- Simplify NixOS symlink creation from 4 branches to 2
- Gate NixOS sudoers hint with "On NixOS:" prefix
- Full test rewrite: 18 tests covering execvp, sudo probe, timeout, permissions
---------
Co-authored-by: Hermes Agent <hermes@nousresearch.com>
* feat(nix): shared-state permission model for interactive CLI users
Enable interactive CLI users in the hermes group to share full
read-write state (sessions, memories, logs, cron) with the gateway
service via a setgid + group-writable permission model.
Changes:
nix/nixosModules.nix:
- Directories use setgid 2770 (was 0750) so new files inherit the
hermes group. home/ stays 0750 (no interactive write needed).
- Activation script creates HERMES_HOME subdirs (cron, sessions, logs,
memories) — previously Python created them but managed mode now skips
mkdir.
- Activation migrates existing runtime files to group-writable (chmod
g+rw). Nix-managed files (config.yaml, .env, .managed) stay 0640/0644.
- Gateway systemd unit gets UMask=0007 so files it creates are 0660.
hermes_cli/config.py:
- ensure_hermes_home() splits into managed/unmanaged paths. Managed mode
verifies dirs exist (raises RuntimeError if not) instead of creating
them. Scoped umask(0o007) ensures SOUL.md is created as 0660.
hermes_logging.py:
- _ManagedRotatingFileHandler subclass applies chmod 0660 after log
rotation in managed mode. RotatingFileHandler.doRollover() creates new
files via open() which uses the process umask (0022 → 0644), not the
scoped umask from ensure_hermes_home().
Verified with a 13-subtest NixOS VM integration test covering setgid,
interactive writes, file ownership, migration, and gateway coexistence.
Refs: #6044
* Fix managed log file mode on initial open
Co-authored-by: Siddharth Balyan <alt-glitch@users.noreply.github.com>
* refactor: simplify managed file handler and merge activation loops
- Cache is_managed() result in handler __init__ instead of lazy-importing
on every _open()/_chmod_if_managed() call. Avoids repeated stat+env
checks on log rotation.
- Merge two for-loops over the same subdir list in activation script
into a single loop (mkdir + chown + chmod + find in one pass).
---------
Co-authored-by: Cursor Agent <cursoragent@cursor.com>
Co-authored-by: Siddharth Balyan <alt-glitch@users.noreply.github.com>
* fix(nix): export HERMES_HOME system-wide when addToSystemPackages is true
The `addToSystemPackages` option's documentation (and the `:::tip` block in
`website/docs/getting-started/nix-setup.md`) promises that enabling it both
puts the `hermes` CLI on PATH and sets `HERMES_HOME` system-wide so interactive
shells share state with the gateway service. The module only did the former,
so running `hermes` in a user shell silently created a separate `~/.hermes/`
directory instead of the managed `${stateDir}/.hermes`.
Implement the documented behavior by also setting
`environment.variables.HERMES_HOME = "${cfg.stateDir}/.hermes"` in the same
mkIf block, and update the option description to match.
Fixes#6044
* fix(nix): preserve group-readable permissions in managed mode
The NixOS module sets HERMES_HOME directories to 0750 and files to 0640
so interactive users in the hermes group can share state with the gateway
service. Two issues prevented this from working:
1. hermes_cli/config.py: _secure_dir() unconditionally chmod'd HERMES_HOME
to 0700 on every startup, overwriting the NixOS module's 0750. Similarly,
_secure_file() forced 0600 on config files. Both now skip in managed mode
(detected via .managed marker or HERMES_MANAGED env var).
2. nix/nixosModules.nix: the .env file was created with 0600 (owner-only),
while config.yaml was already 0640 (group-readable). Changed to 0640 for
consistency — users granted hermes group membership should be able to read
the managed .env.
Verified with a NixOS VM integration test: a normal user in the hermes group
can now run `hermes version` and `hermes config` against the managed
HERMES_HOME without PermissionError.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: zerone0x <zerone0x@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Activation script, tmpfiles, and container entrypoint now agree on
0750 for all directories. Tighten config.yaml and workspace documents
from 0644 to 0640 (group-readable, no world access). Add explicit
chmod for .managed marker and container $TARGET_HOME to eliminate
umask dependence. Secrets (auth.json, .env) remain 0600.
* refactor: suffix runtimeDeps PATH so apt-installed tools take priority
Changes makeWrapper from --prefix to --suffix. In container mode,
tools installed via apt in /usr/bin now win over read-only nix store
copies. Nix store versions become dead-letter fallbacks. Native NixOS
mode unaffected — tools in /run/current-system/sw/bin already precede
the suffix.
* feat(container): first-boot apt provisioning for agent tools
Installs nodejs, npm, curl via apt and uv via curl on first container
boot. Uses sentinel file so subsequent boots skip. Container recreation
triggers fresh install. Combined with --suffix PATH change, agents get
mutable tools that support npm i -g and uv without hitting read-only
nix store paths.
* docs: update nixosModules header for tool provisioning
* feat(container): consolidate first-boot provisioning + Python 3.11 venv
Merge sudo and tool apt installs into a single apt-get update call.
Move uv install outside the sentinel so transient failures retry on
next boot. Bootstrap a Python 3.11 venv via uv (--seed for pip) and
prepend ~/.venv/bin to PATH so agents get writable python/pip/node
out of the box.
---------
Co-authored-by: Hermes Agent <hermes@nousresearch.com>
* feat: nix flake, uv2nix build, dev shell and home manager
* fixed nix run, updated docs for setup
* feat(nix): NixOS module with persistent container mode, managed guards, checks
- Replace homeModules.nix with nixosModules.nix (two deployment modes)
- Mode A (native): hardened systemd service with ProtectSystem=strict
- Mode B (container): persistent Ubuntu container with /nix/store bind-mount,
identity-hash-based recreation, GC root protection, symlink-based updates
- Add HERMES_MANAGED guards blocking CLI config mutation (config set, setup,
gateway install/uninstall) when running under NixOS module
- Add nix/checks.nix with build-time verification (binary, CLI, managed guard)
- Remove container.nix (no Nix-built OCI image; pulls ubuntu:24.04 at runtime)
- Simplify packages.nix (drop fetchFromGitHub submodules, PYTHONPATH wrappers)
- Rewrite docs/nixos-setup.md with full options reference, container
architecture, secrets management, and troubleshooting guide
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Update config.py
* feat(nix): add CI workflow and enhanced build checks
- GitHub Actions workflow for nix flake check + build on linux/macOS
- Entry point sync check to catch pyproject.toml drift
- Expanded managed-guard check to cover config edit
- Wrap hermes-acp binary in Nix package
- Fix Path type mismatch in is_managed()
* Update MCP server package name; bundled skills support
* fix reading .env. instead have container user a common mounted .env file
* feat(nix): container entrypoint with privilege drop and sudo provisioning
Container was running as non-root via --user, which broke apt/pip installs
and caused crashes when $HOME didn't exist. Replace --user with a Nix-built
entrypoint script that provisions the hermes user, sudo (NOPASSWD), and
/home/hermes inside the container on first boot, then drops privileges via
setpriv. Writable layer persists so setup only runs once.
Also expands MCP server options to support HTTP transport and sampling.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix group and user creation in container mode
* feat(nix): persistent /home/hermes and MESSAGING_CWD in container mode
Container mode now bind-mounts ${stateDir}/home to /home/hermes so the
agent's home directory survives container recreation. Previously it lived
in the writable layer and was lost on image/volume/options changes.
Also passes MESSAGING_CWD to the container so the agent finds its
workspace and documents, matching native mode behavior.
Other changes:
- Extract containerDataDir/containerHomeDir bindings (no more magic strings)
- Fix entrypoint chown to run unconditionally (volume mounts always exist)
- Add schema field to container identity hash for auto-recreation
- Add idempotency test (Scenario G) to config-roundtrip check
* docs: add Nix & NixOS setup guide to docs site
Add comprehensive Nix documentation to the Docusaurus site at
website/docs/getting-started/nix-setup.md, covering nix run/profile
install, NixOS module (native + container modes), declarative settings,
secrets management, MCP servers, managed mode, container architecture,
dev shell, flake checks, and full options reference.
- Register nix-setup in sidebar after installation page
- Add Nix callout tip to installation.md linking to new guide
- Add canonical version pointer in docs/nixos-setup.md
* docs: remove docs/nixos-setup.md, consolidate into website docs
Backfill missing details (restart/restartSec in full example,
gateway.pid, 0750 permissions, docker inspect commands) into
the canonical website/docs/getting-started/nix-setup.md and
delete the old standalone file.
* fix(nix): add compression.protect_last_n and target_ratio to config-keys.json
New keys were added to DEFAULT_CONFIG on main, causing the
config-drift check to fail in CI.
* fix(nix): skip checks on aarch64-darwin (onnxruntime wheel missing)
The full Python venv includes onnxruntime (via faster-whisper/STT)
which lacks a compatible uv2nix wheel on aarch64-darwin. Gate all
checks behind stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux. The package and devShell
still evaluate on macOS.
* fix(nix): skip flake check and build on macOS CI
onnxruntime (transitive dep via faster-whisper) lacks a compatible
uv2nix wheel on aarch64-darwin. Run full checks and build on Linux
only; macOS CI verifies the flake evaluates without building.
* fix(nix): preserve container writable layer across nixos-rebuild
The container identity hash included the entrypoint's Nix store path,
which changes on every nixpkgs update (due to runtimeShell/stdenv
input-addressing). This caused false-positive identity mismatches,
triggering container recreation and losing the persistent writable layer.
- Use stable symlink (current-entrypoint) like current-package already does
- Remove entrypoint from identity hash (only image/volumes/options matter)
- Add GC root for entrypoint so nix-collect-garbage doesn't break it
- Remove global HERMES_HOME env var from addToSystemPackages (conflicted
with interactive CLI use, service already sets its own)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
