fix(cli): refresh TERMINAL_CWD when --in re-homes the session

`--in DIR` only chdir'd. Every cwd consumer (resolve_agent_cwd -> Codex
app-server thread cwd, the terminal tool, context-file discovery) prefers
TERMINAL_CWD over the process cwd, so a value inherited from a parent
Hermes surface, the shell or .env survived the chdir and the session kept
running in the old directory. The local backend was rescued by cli.py's
force-export at import time; docker/ssh backends and the TUI launch path,
which never imports cli.py, were not.

Refresh TERMINAL_CWD to the --in target when it is already set. An unset
variable stays unset so the backends keep deriving from the new process
cwd and no host path is pre-seeded into ssh/container backends.

Fixes #106220

hermes_cli/main.py

@@ -1443,6 +1443,15 @@ def _apply_in_dir(args) -> None:
     except OSError as e:
         print(f"Error: cannot enter --in directory {in_dir}: {e}")
         sys.exit(1)
+    # Every cwd consumer (resolve_agent_cwd -> Codex app-server thread cwd, the
+    # terminal tool, context-file discovery) prefers TERMINAL_CWD over the process
+    # cwd, so a value inherited from a parent surface, the shell or .env outlives
+    # this chdir and re-homes the session in the old directory (#106220). Refresh
+    # it. An unset variable stays unset: the backends then derive from the new
+    # process cwd (local exports it at cli import, docker mounts it, ssh and
+    # container backends keep their own remote/sandbox default).
+    if os.environ.get("TERMINAL_CWD", "").strip():
+        os.environ["TERMINAL_CWD"] = _target_dir
     args.no_restore_cwd = True
 
 

tests/hermes_cli/test_resume_latest_and_in_dir.py

@@ -229,3 +229,51 @@ def test_in_dir_expands_user_home(main_mod, launched, monkeypatch, tmp_path):
         assert os.getcwd() == str((home / "proj").resolve())
     finally:
         os.chdir(start)
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# --in must win over an inherited TERMINAL_CWD (#106220)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_in_dir_replaces_inherited_terminal_cwd(main_mod, monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """A parent Hermes surface, the shell or .env can export TERMINAL_CWD before
+    the CLI starts. Every cwd consumer prefers that variable over the process
+    cwd, so a bare chdir left the Codex app-server thread, the terminal tool and
+    context-file discovery in the inherited directory."""
+    import os
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    from agent.runtime_cwd import resolve_agent_cwd
+
+    inherited = tmp_path / "inherited"
+    target = tmp_path / "target"
+    inherited.mkdir()
+    target.mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.chdir(inherited)
+    monkeypatch.setenv("TERMINAL_CWD", str(inherited))
+
+    args = _args(in_dir=str(target))
+    main_mod._apply_in_dir(args)
+
+    assert Path.cwd().resolve() == target.resolve()
+    assert Path(os.environ["TERMINAL_CWD"]).resolve() == target.resolve()
+    assert resolve_agent_cwd().resolve() == target.resolve()
+    assert args.no_restore_cwd is True
+
+
+def test_in_dir_leaves_unset_terminal_cwd_unset(main_mod, monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """Without an inherited value the backends already derive from the process
+    cwd (local exports os.getcwd() at cli import, docker mounts it, the TUI
+    child inherits the chdir). Pre-seeding a host path here would leak it into
+    ssh/container backends that must keep their own default."""
+    import os
+
+    target = tmp_path / "target"
+    target.mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("TERMINAL_CWD", raising=False)
+
+    main_mod._apply_in_dir(_args(in_dir=str(target)))
+
+    assert "TERMINAL_CWD" not in os.environ