From 2ea5287da0ed3556110e5e5c88210b41db19ec6d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: kshitijk4poor <82637225+kshitijk4poor@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2026 03:52:02 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] fix(state): only flag uninspectable Hermes processes as
 holders
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The cmdline fallback was matching every system daemon with an
unreadable fd table (init, systemd-journald, dockerd, etc.), causing
FTS rebuilds to be skipped on every Linux system. Add _looks_like_hermes
filter so only processes whose cmdline contains Hermes markers are
flagged — matching @jackulau's suggestion of 'uninspectable AND
identifiable as another Hermes process.'
---
 hermes_state.py | 21 +++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/hermes_state.py b/hermes_state.py
index 6d6a4ddb62..1e2132ea2c 100644
--- a/hermes_state.py
+++ b/hermes_state.py
@@ -3065,6 +3065,21 @@ def _read_proc_cmdline(pid: int) -> Optional[str]:
         return None
 
 
+_HERMES_CMDLINE_MARKERS = ("hermes_cli.main", "hermes_cli/main", "hermes serve",
+                           "hermes-agent", "hermes gateway", "hermes chat")
+
+
+def _looks_like_hermes(cmdline: str) -> bool:
+    """Heuristic: does this cmdline look like a Hermes process?
+
+    Used to decide whether an uninspectable process (fd table unreadable
+    due to different user) should be treated as a potential state.db holder.
+    We only flag processes that look like Hermes, not every system daemon.
+    """
+    lower = cmdline.lower()
+    return any(marker in lower for marker in _HERMES_CMDLINE_MARKERS)
+
+
 # Lifecycle statuses surfaced by session pickers. Classification looks ONLY at
 # a session's final message row — role, whether it carries tool_calls, and its
 # finish_reason — so it stays O(1) per session (see
@@ -4283,9 +4298,11 @@ class SessionDB(SessionSearchMixin, SessionSchemaMixin, SessionPortabilityMixin)
                         # Cannot read this process's fd table (different
                         # user, e.g. root gateway vs user desktop).
                         # /proc/<pid>/cmdline is world-readable by default,
-                        # so check whether this is a Hermes process.
+                        # so check whether this is a Hermes process —
+                        # only flag uninspectable holders that look like
+                        # another Hermes instance, not every system daemon.
                         cmdline = _read_proc_cmdline(pid)
-                        if cmdline is not None:
+                        if cmdline is not None and _looks_like_hermes(cmdline):
                             holders.append((pid, f"uninspectable holder: {cmdline[:80]}"))
                         continue
                     for fd in fds: