Adds delegation.model and delegation.provider config fields so subagents
can run on a completely different provider:model pair than the parent agent.
When delegation.provider is set, the system resolves the full credential
bundle (base_url, api_key, api_mode) via resolve_runtime_provider() —
the same path used by CLI/gateway startup. This means all configured
providers work out of the box: openrouter, nous, zai, kimi-coding,
minimax, minimax-cn.
Key design decisions:
- Provider resolution uses hermes_cli.runtime_provider (single source of
truth for credential resolution across CLI, gateway, cron, and now
delegation)
- When only delegation.model is set (no provider), the model name changes
but parent credentials are inherited (for switching models within the
same provider like OpenRouter)
- When delegation.provider is set, full credentials are resolved
independently — enabling cross-provider delegation (e.g. parent on
Nous Portal, subagents on OpenRouter)
- Clear error messages if provider resolution fails (missing API key,
unknown provider name)
- _load_config() now falls back to hermes_cli.config.load_config() for
gateway/cron contexts where CLI_CONFIG is unavailable
Based on PR #791 by 0xbyt4 (closes#609), reworked to use proper
provider credential resolution instead of passing provider as metadata.
Co-authored-by: 0xbyt4 <0xbyt4@users.noreply.github.com>
Enhanced the _run_single_child function by introducing max_tokens, reasoning_config, and prefill_messages parameters from the parent agent. This allows for more flexible configuration of child agents, improving their operational capabilities.
Eliminated the model parameter from the delegate_task function and its associated schema, defaulting to None for subagent calls. This change simplifies the function signature and enforces consistent behavior across task delegation.
Subagent tool calls now count toward the same session-wide iteration
limit as the parent agent. Previously, each subagent had its own
independent counter, so a parent with max_iterations=60 could spawn
3 subagents each doing 50 calls = 150 total tool calls unmetered.
Changes:
- IterationBudget: thread-safe shared counter (run_agent.py)
- consume(): try to use one iteration, returns False if exhausted
- refund(): give back one iteration (for execute_code turns)
- Thread-safe via Lock (subagents run in ThreadPoolExecutor)
- Parent creates the budget, children inherit it via delegate_tool.py
- execute_code turns are refunded (don't count against budget)
- Default raised from 60 → 90 to account for shared consumption
- Per-child cap (50) still applies as a safety valve
The per-child max_iterations (default 50) remains as a per-child
ceiling, but the shared budget is the hard session-wide limit.
A child stops at whichever comes first.
When a user disables the web toolset via 'hermes tools', the execute_code
schema description still hardcoded web_search/web_extract as available,
causing the model to keep trying to use them. Similarly, delegate_task
always defaulted to ['terminal', 'file', 'web'] for subagents regardless
of the parent's config.
Changes:
- execute_code schema is now built dynamically via build_execute_code_schema()
based on which sandbox tools are actually enabled
- model_tools.py rebuilds the execute_code schema at definition time using
the intersection of sandbox-allowed and session-enabled tools
- delegate_task now inherits the parent agent's enabled_toolsets instead of
hardcoding DEFAULT_TOOLSETS when no explicit toolsets are specified
- delegate_task description updated to say 'inherits your enabled toolsets'
Reported by kotyKD on Discord.
Two fixes to the subagent progress display from PR #186:
1. Task index prefix: show 1-indexed prefix ([1], [2], ...) for ALL
tasks in batch mode (task_count > 1). Single tasks get no prefix.
Previously task 0 had no prefix while others did, making batch
output confusing.
2. Completion indicator: use spinner.print_above() instead of raw
print() for per-task completion lines (✓ [1/2] ...). Raw print
collided with the active spinner, mushing the completion text
onto the spinner line. Now prints cleanly above.
Added task_count parameter to _build_child_progress_callback and
_run_single_child. Updated tests accordingly.
When subagents run via delegate_task, the user now sees real-time
progress instead of silence:
CLI: tree-view activity lines print above the delegation spinner
🔀 Delegating: research quantum computing
├─ 💭 "I'll search for papers first..."
├─ 🔍 web_search "quantum computing"
├─ 📖 read_file "paper.pdf"
└─ ⠹ working... (18.2s)
Gateway (Telegram/Discord): batched progress summaries sent every
5 tool calls to avoid message spam. Remaining tools flushed on
subagent completion.
Changes:
- agent/display.py: add KawaiiSpinner.print_above() to print
status lines above an active spinner without disrupting animation.
Uses captured stdout (self._out) so it works inside the child's
redirect_stdout(devnull).
- tools/delegate_tool.py: add _build_child_progress_callback()
that creates a per-child callback relaying tool calls and
thinking events to the parent's spinner (CLI) or progress
queue (gateway). Each child gets its own callback instance,
so parallel subagents don't share state. Includes _flush()
for gateway batch completion.
- run_agent.py: fire tool_progress_callback with '_thinking'
event when the model produces text content. Guarded by
_delegate_depth > 0 so only subagents fire this (prevents
gateway spam from main agent). REASONING_SCRATCHPAD/think/
reasoning XML tags are stripped before display.
Tests: 21 new tests covering print_above, callback builder,
thinking relay, SCRATCHPAD filtering, batching, flush, thread
isolation, delegate_depth guard, and prefix handling.
When using Nous Portal (or any non-OpenRouter provider), child agents
spawned by delegate_task failed with "No pricing available" or "Unknown
model" errors because they had no valid API key.
The delegate tool passed base_url but not api_key to child AIAgent
instances. Without an explicit key, children fell back to the empty
OPENROUTER_API_KEY env var, causing auth failures.
Extract the parent's API key from _client_kwargs and pass it through.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Saved and restored stdout/stderr to prevent redirection issues in child threads, ensuring consistent output during task delegation.
- Enhanced reliability of output handling in concurrent execution scenarios.
- Revised descriptions for various tools in model_tools.py, browser_tool.py, code_execution_tool.py, delegate_tool.py, and terminal_tool.py to enhance clarity and reduce verbosity.
- Improved consistency in terminology and formatting across tool descriptions, ensuring users have a clearer understanding of tool functionalities and usage.
- Added a spinner to visually indicate task delegation progress in quiet mode, improving user experience during batch processing.
- Implemented a method to update spinner text dynamically based on remaining tasks, providing real-time feedback.
- Enhanced the `delegate_task` function to include per-task completion messages, ensuring clarity on task status during execution.
- Updated the KawaiiSpinner class to allow message updates while running, facilitating better interaction during long-running tasks.
- Introduced the `delegate_task` tool, allowing the main agent to spawn child AIAgent instances with isolated context for complex tasks.
- Supported both single-task and batch processing (up to 3 concurrent tasks) to enhance task management capabilities.
- Updated configuration options for delegation, including maximum iterations and default toolsets for subagents.
- Enhanced documentation to provide clear guidance on using the delegation feature and its configuration.
- Added comprehensive tests to ensure the functionality and reliability of the delegation logic.
