Replace 10 callsites across 6 files that manually opened config.yaml,
called yaml.safe_load(), and handled missing-file/parse-error fallbacks
with the new read_raw_config() helper from hermes_cli/config.py.
Each migrated site previously had 5-8 lines of boilerplate:
config_path = get_hermes_home() / 'config.yaml'
if config_path.exists():
import yaml
with open(config_path) as f:
cfg = yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
Now reduced to:
from hermes_cli.config import read_raw_config
cfg = read_raw_config()
Migrated files:
- tools/browser_tool.py (4 sites): command_timeout, cloud_provider,
allow_private_urls, record_sessions
- tools/env_passthrough.py: terminal.env_passthrough
- tools/credential_files.py: terminal.credential_files
- tools/transcription_tools.py: stt.model
- hermes_cli/commands.py: config-gated command resolution
- hermes_cli/auth.py (2 sites): model config read + provider reset
Skipped (intentionally):
- gateway/run.py: 10+ sites with local aliases, critical path
- hermes_cli/profiles.py: profile-specific config path
- hermes_cli/doctor.py: reads raw then writes fixes back
- agent/model_metadata.py: different file (context_length_cache.yaml)
- tools/website_policy.py: custom config_path param + error types
16 callsites across 14 files were re-deriving the hermes home path
via os.environ.get('HERMES_HOME', ...) instead of using the canonical
get_hermes_home() from hermes_constants. This breaks profiles — each
profile has its own HERMES_HOME, and the inline fallback defaults to
~/.hermes regardless.
Fixed by importing and calling get_hermes_home() at each site. For
files already inside the hermes process (agent/, hermes_cli/, tools/,
gateway/, plugins/), this is always safe. Files that run outside the
process context (mcp_serve.py, mcp_oauth.py) already had correct
try/except ImportError fallbacks and were left alone.
Skipped: hermes_constants.py (IS the implementation), env_loader.py
(bootstrap), profiles.py (intentionally manipulates the env var),
standalone scripts (optional-skills/, skills/), and tests.
The ContextVar migration removed 'from pathlib import Path' but Path
is still used in _load_config_passthrough(). Without this import,
config-based env passthrough would raise NameError.
* feat: env var passthrough for skills and user config
Skills that declare required_environment_variables now have those vars
passed through to sandboxed execution environments (execute_code and
terminal). Previously, execute_code stripped all vars containing KEY,
TOKEN, SECRET, etc. and the terminal blocklist removed Hermes
infrastructure vars — both blocked skill-declared env vars.
Two passthrough sources:
1. Skill-scoped (automatic): when a skill is loaded via skill_view and
declares required_environment_variables, vars that are present in
the environment are registered in a session-scoped passthrough set.
2. Config-based (manual): terminal.env_passthrough in config.yaml lets
users explicitly allowlist vars for non-skill use cases.
Changes:
- New module: tools/env_passthrough.py — shared passthrough registry
- hermes_cli/config.py: add terminal.env_passthrough to DEFAULT_CONFIG
- tools/skills_tool.py: register available skill env vars on load
- tools/code_execution_tool.py: check passthrough before filtering
- tools/environments/local.py: check passthrough in _sanitize_subprocess_env
and _make_run_env
- 19 new tests covering all layers
* docs: add environment variable passthrough documentation
Document the env var passthrough feature across four docs pages:
- security.md: new 'Environment Variable Passthrough' section with
full explanation, comparison table, and security considerations
- code-execution.md: update security section, add passthrough subsection,
fix comparison table
- creating-skills.md: add tip about automatic sandbox passthrough
- skills.md: add note about passthrough after secure setup docs
Live-tested: launched interactive CLI, loaded a skill with
required_environment_variables, verified TEST_SKILL_SECRET_KEY was
accessible inside execute_code sandbox (value: passthrough-test-value-42).
