fix: extend JSON repair to browser tool and CLI (#862)

- repair malformed browser command envelopes before treating stdout as non-JSON
- repair eval/image payloads in browser_tool.py
- repair CLI parsing for vision and /cron tool responses
- add focused regression tests for browser and CLI repair paths

cli.py

@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ from tools.terminal_tool import set_sudo_password_callback, set_approval_callbac
 from tools.skills_tool import set_secret_capture_callback
 from hermes_cli.callbacks import prompt_for_secret
 from tools.browser_tool import _emergency_cleanup_all_sessions as _cleanup_all_browsers
+from utils import repair_and_load_json
 
 # Guard to prevent cleanup from running multiple times on exit
 _cleanup_done = False
@@ -3569,7 +3570,11 @@ class HermesCLI:
                 result_json = _asyncio.run(
                     vision_analyze_tool(image_url=str(img_path), user_prompt=analysis_prompt)
                 )
-                result = _json.loads(result_json)
+                result = repair_and_load_json(
+                    result_json,
+                    default={},
+                    context="cli_image_analysis",
+                ) if isinstance(result_json, str) else {}
                 if result.get("success"):
                     description = result.get("analysis", "")
                     enriched_parts.append(
@@ -4960,7 +4965,14 @@ class HermesCLI:
         from tools.cronjob_tools import cronjob as cronjob_tool
 
         def _cron_api(**kwargs):
-            return json.loads(cronjob_tool(**kwargs))
+            result = repair_and_load_json(
+                cronjob_tool(**kwargs),
+                default=None,
+                context="cli_cron_command",
+            )
+            if isinstance(result, dict):
+                return result
+            return {"success": False, "error": "Invalid JSON from cronjob tool"}
 
         def _normalize_skills(values):
             normalized = []

tests/cli/test_cli_json_repair.py

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import sys
+import types
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+
+def _stub_auxiliary_client():
+    stub = types.ModuleType("agent.auxiliary_client")
+    stub.call_llm = lambda *args, **kwargs: None
+    stub.resolve_provider_client = lambda *args, **kwargs: (None, None)
+    stub.get_text_auxiliary_client = lambda *args, **kwargs: (None, None)
+    stub.async_call_llm = lambda *args, **kwargs: None
+    stub.extract_content_or_reasoning = lambda *args, **kwargs: ""
+    stub._OR_HEADERS = {}
+    stub._get_task_timeout = lambda *args, **kwargs: 30
+    sys.modules["agent.auxiliary_client"] = stub
+
+
+def _stub_vision_tools(vision_analyze_tool):
+    stub = types.ModuleType("tools.vision_tools")
+    stub.vision_analyze_tool = vision_analyze_tool
+    sys.modules["tools.vision_tools"] = stub
+
+
+def test_preprocess_images_with_vision_repairs_malformed_json(tmp_path):
+    _stub_auxiliary_client()
+    from cli import HermesCLI
+
+    cli_obj = HermesCLI.__new__(HermesCLI)
+    image_path = tmp_path / "test.png"
+    image_path.write_bytes(b"fake-image-bytes")
+
+    async def fake_vision(**kwargs):
+        return "{'success': true, 'analysis': 'Recovered image description',}"
+
+    _stub_vision_tools(fake_vision)
+    result = HermesCLI._preprocess_images_with_vision(
+        cli_obj,
+        "Describe this",
+        [image_path],
+        announce=False,
+    )
+
+    assert "Recovered image description" in result
+    assert "Describe this" in result
+    assert str(image_path) in result
+
+
+def test_handle_cron_command_repairs_malformed_json(capsys):
+    _stub_auxiliary_client()
+    from cli import HermesCLI
+
+    cli_obj = HermesCLI.__new__(HermesCLI)
+    malformed_result = """{'success': true, 'jobs': [{'job_id': 'job-1234567890ab', 'name': 'Nightly Check', 'state': 'scheduled', 'schedule': 'every 1h', 'repeat': 'forever', 'prompt_preview': 'Check server status', 'skills': ['blogwatcher',], 'next_run_at': '2026-04-22T01:00:00Z',},],}"""
+
+    with patch("tools.cronjob_tools.cronjob", return_value=malformed_result):
+        HermesCLI._handle_cron_command(cli_obj, "/cron list")
+
+    out = capsys.readouterr().out
+    assert "Scheduled Jobs:" in out
+    assert "job-1234567890ab" in out
+    assert "Nightly Check" in out
+    assert "blogwatcher" in out

tests/tools/test_browser_json_repair.py

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+import io
+import json
+import sys
+import types
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+
+def _stub_auxiliary_client():
+    stub = types.ModuleType("agent.auxiliary_client")
+    stub.call_llm = lambda *args, **kwargs: None
+    stub.resolve_provider_client = lambda *args, **kwargs: (None, None)
+    stub.get_text_auxiliary_client = lambda *args, **kwargs: (None, None)
+    stub.async_call_llm = lambda *args, **kwargs: None
+    stub.extract_content_or_reasoning = lambda *args, **kwargs: ""
+    stub._OR_HEADERS = {}
+    stub._get_task_timeout = lambda *args, **kwargs: 30
+    sys.modules["agent.auxiliary_client"] = stub
+
+
+def test_run_browser_command_repairs_malformed_stdout_envelope(tmp_path):
+    _stub_auxiliary_client()
+    from tools.browser_tool import _run_browser_command
+
+    mock_proc = MagicMock()
+    mock_proc.returncode = 0
+    mock_proc.wait.return_value = 0
+    fake_session = {
+        "session_name": "test-session",
+        "session_id": "test-id",
+        "cdp_url": None,
+    }
+    malformed_stdout = "{'success': true, 'data': {'url': 'https://example.com',},}"
+
+    def fake_open(path, mode="r", *args, **kwargs):
+        path = str(path)
+        if path.endswith("_stdout_navigate"):
+            return io.StringIO(malformed_stdout)
+        if path.endswith("_stderr_navigate"):
+            return io.StringIO("")
+        raise FileNotFoundError(path)
+
+    with (
+        patch("tools.browser_tool._find_agent_browser", return_value="/usr/bin/agent-browser"),
+        patch("tools.browser_tool._get_session_info", return_value=fake_session),
+        patch("tools.browser_tool._socket_safe_tmpdir", return_value=str(tmp_path)),
+        patch("tools.browser_tool._merge_browser_path", side_effect=lambda p: p),
+        patch("tools.interrupt.is_interrupted", return_value=False),
+        patch("subprocess.Popen", return_value=mock_proc),
+        patch("os.open", return_value=99),
+        patch("os.close"),
+        patch("os.unlink"),
+        patch("builtins.open", side_effect=fake_open),
+    ):
+        result = _run_browser_command("task-1", "navigate", ["https://example.com"])
+
+    assert result["success"] is True
+    assert result["data"]["url"] == "https://example.com"
+
+
+def test_agent_browser_eval_repairs_malformed_json_result():
+    _stub_auxiliary_client()
+    from tools.browser_tool import _browser_eval
+
+    with patch(
+        "tools.browser_tool._run_browser_command",
+        return_value={"success": True, "data": {"result": "{'items': ['a', 'b',],}"}},
+    ):
+        result = json.loads(_browser_eval("document.body.innerText", task_id="test"))
+
+    assert result["success"] is True
+    assert result["result"] == {"items": ["a", "b"]}
+    assert result["result_type"] == "dict"
+
+
+def test_camofox_eval_repairs_malformed_json_result():
+    _stub_auxiliary_client()
+    from tools.browser_tool import _camofox_eval
+
+    with (
+        patch("tools.browser_camofox._ensure_tab", return_value={"tab_id": "tab-1", "user_id": "user-1"}),
+        patch("tools.browser_camofox._post", return_value={"result": "{'count': 3,}"}),
+    ):
+        result = json.loads(_camofox_eval("2+1", task_id="test"))
+
+    assert result["success"] is True
+    assert result["result"] == {"count": 3}
+    assert result["result_type"] == "dict"
+
+
+def test_browser_get_images_repairs_malformed_json_result():
+    _stub_auxiliary_client()
+    from tools.browser_tool import browser_get_images
+
+    with patch(
+        "tools.browser_tool._run_browser_command",
+        return_value={
+            "success": True,
+            "data": {
+                "result": "[{\"src\": \"https://example.com/cat.png\", \"alt\": \"cat\",}]"
+            },
+        },
+    ):
+        result = json.loads(browser_get_images(task_id="test"))
+
+    assert result["success"] is True
+    assert result["count"] == 1
+    assert result["images"] == [{"src": "https://example.com/cat.png", "alt": "cat"}]
+    assert "warning" not in result

tools/browser_tool.py

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ from typing import Dict, Any, Optional, List
 from pathlib import Path
 from agent.auxiliary_client import call_llm
 from hermes_constants import get_hermes_home
+from utils import repair_and_load_json
 
 try:
     from tools.website_policy import check_website_access
@@ -1171,8 +1172,12 @@ def _run_browser_command(
             return {"success": False, "error": f"Browser command '{command}' returned no output"}
 
         if stdout_text:
-            try:
-                parsed = json.loads(stdout_text)
+            parsed = repair_and_load_json(
+                stdout_text,
+                default=None,
+                context=f"browser_{command}_stdout",
+            )
+            if isinstance(parsed, dict):
                 # Warn if snapshot came back empty (common sign of daemon/CDP issues)
                 if command == "snapshot" and parsed.get("success"):
                     snap_data = parsed.get("data", {})
@@ -1181,35 +1186,35 @@ def _run_browser_command(
                                        "Possible stale daemon or CDP connection issue. "
                                        "returncode=%s", returncode)
                 return parsed
-            except json.JSONDecodeError:
-                raw = stdout_text[:2000]
-                logger.warning("browser '%s' returned non-JSON output (rc=%s): %s",
-                               command, returncode, raw[:500])
 
-                if command == "screenshot":
-                    stderr_text = (stderr or "").strip()
-                    combined_text = "\n".join(
-                        part for part in [stdout_text, stderr_text] if part
+            raw = stdout_text[:2000]
+            logger.warning("browser '%s' returned non-JSON output (rc=%s): %s",
+                           command, returncode, raw[:500])
+
+            if command == "screenshot":
+                stderr_text = (stderr or "").strip()
+                combined_text = "\n".join(
+                    part for part in [stdout_text, stderr_text] if part
+                )
+                recovered_path = _extract_screenshot_path_from_text(combined_text)
+
+                if recovered_path and Path(recovered_path).exists():
+                    logger.info(
+                        "browser 'screenshot' recovered file from non-JSON output: %s",
+                        recovered_path,
                     )
-                    recovered_path = _extract_screenshot_path_from_text(combined_text)
+                    return {
+                        "success": True,
+                        "data": {
+                            "path": recovered_path,
+                            "raw": raw,
+                        },
+                    }
 
-                    if recovered_path and Path(recovered_path).exists():
-                        logger.info(
-                            "browser 'screenshot' recovered file from non-JSON output: %s",
-                            recovered_path,
-                        )
-                        return {
-                            "success": True,
-                            "data": {
-                                "path": recovered_path,
-                                "raw": raw,
-                            },
-                        }
-
-                return {
-                    "success": False,
-                    "error": f"Non-JSON output from agent-browser for '{command}': {raw}"
-                }
+            return {
+                "success": False,
+                "error": f"Non-JSON output from agent-browser for '{command}': {raw}"
+            }
         
         # Check for errors
         if returncode != 0:
@@ -1777,10 +1782,11 @@ def _browser_eval(expression: str, task_id: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
     # is valid JSON, parse it so the model gets structured data.
     parsed = raw_result
     if isinstance(raw_result, str):
-        try:
-            parsed = json.loads(raw_result)
-        except (json.JSONDecodeError, ValueError):
-            pass  # keep as string
+        parsed = repair_and_load_json(
+            raw_result,
+            default=raw_result,
+            context="browser_eval_result",
+        )
 
     return json.dumps({
         "success": True,
@@ -1801,10 +1807,11 @@ def _camofox_eval(expression: str, task_id: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
         raw_result = resp.get("result") if isinstance(resp, dict) else resp
         parsed = raw_result
         if isinstance(raw_result, str):
-            try:
-                parsed = json.loads(raw_result)
-            except (json.JSONDecodeError, ValueError):
-                pass
+            parsed = repair_and_load_json(
+                raw_result,
+                default=raw_result,
+                context="camofox_eval_result",
+            )
 
         return json.dumps({
             "success": True,
@@ -1904,26 +1911,29 @@ def browser_get_images(task_id: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
     if result.get("success"):
         data = result.get("data", {})
         raw_result = data.get("result", "[]")
-        
-        try:
-            # Parse the JSON string returned by JavaScript
-            if isinstance(raw_result, str):
-                images = json.loads(raw_result)
-            else:
-                images = raw_result
-            
-            return json.dumps({
-                "success": True,
-                "images": images,
-                "count": len(images)
-            }, ensure_ascii=False)
-        except json.JSONDecodeError:
-            return json.dumps({
-                "success": True,
-                "images": [],
-                "count": 0,
-                "warning": "Could not parse image data"
-            }, ensure_ascii=False)
+
+        warning = None
+        if isinstance(raw_result, str):
+            images = repair_and_load_json(
+                raw_result,
+                default=None,
+                context="browser_get_images_result",
+            )
+        else:
+            images = raw_result
+
+        if not isinstance(images, list):
+            images = []
+            warning = "Could not parse image data"
+
+        payload = {
+            "success": True,
+            "images": images,
+            "count": len(images),
+        }
+        if warning:
+            payload["warning"] = warning
+        return json.dumps(payload, ensure_ascii=False)
     else:
         return json.dumps({
             "success": False,