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
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"]
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.
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.
Block dangerous HA service domains (shell_command, command_line,
python_script, pyscript, hassio, rest_command) that allow arbitrary
code execution or SSRF. Add regex validation for entity_id to prevent
path traversal attacks. 17 new tests covering both security features.
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.
- Introduce a new test suite in `test_file_tools_live.py` to validate file operations and ensure accurate command execution in a real environment.
- Implement assertions to check for shell noise contamination in outputs, enhancing the reliability of command results.
- Create fixtures for setting up a local environment and populating directories with known file contents for comprehensive testing.
- Refactor shell noise handling in `process_registry.py` and `local.py` to support multiple noise patterns, improving output cleanliness.
- Introduce a new test suite for the `redact_sensitive_text` function, covering various sensitive data formats including API keys, tokens, and environment variables.
- Ensure that sensitive information is properly masked in logs and outputs while non-sensitive data remains unchanged.
- Add tests for different scenarios including JSON fields, authorization headers, and environment variable assignments.
- Implement a redacting formatter for logging to enhance security during log output.
- Enhanced Codex model discovery by fetching available models from the API, with fallback to local cache and defaults.
- Updated the context compressor's summary target tokens to 2500 for improved performance.
- Added external credential detection for Codex CLI to streamline authentication.
- Refactored various components to ensure consistent handling of authentication and model selection across the application.
os.setsid, os.killpg, and os.getpgid do not exist on Windows and raise
AttributeError on import or first call. This breaks the terminal tool,
code execution sandbox, process registry, and WhatsApp bridge on Windows.
Added _IS_WINDOWS platform guard in all four affected files, following
the pattern documented in CONTRIBUTING.md. On Windows, preexec_fn is
set to None and process termination falls back to proc.terminate() /
proc.kill() instead of process group signals.
Files changed:
- tools/environments/local.py (3 call sites)
- tools/process_registry.py (2 call sites)
- tools/code_execution_tool.py (3 call sites)
- gateway/platforms/whatsapp.py (3 call sites)
The regex `ignore\s+(previous|all|...)\s+instructions` only matched
a single keyword between 'ignore' and 'instructions'. Phrases like
'ignore all prior instructions' bypassed the scanner entirely.
Changed to `ignore\s+(?:\w+\s+)*(previous|all|...)\s+instructions`
to allow arbitrary words before the keyword.
- Auto-authorize HA events in gateway (system-generated, not user messages)
- Guard _read_events against None/closed WebSocket after failed reconnect
- Use UUID for send() message_id instead of polluting WS sequence counter
- entity_id parameter now takes precedence over data["entity_id"]
- Add ha_list_entities, ha_get_state, ha_call_service tools via REST API
- Add WebSocket gateway adapter for real-time state_changed event monitoring
- Support domain/entity filtering, cooldown, and auto-reconnect with backoff
- Use REST API for outbound notifications to avoid WS race condition
- Gate tool availability on HASS_TOKEN env var
- Add 82 unit tests covering real logic (filtering, payload building, event pipeline)
