hermes_state.py: delete every '# noqa: F401 (re-exported...)' import block (hermes_state_common/errors/guard/
readpool/sessions/fts/dbfile/wal/repair/registry + agent.context_compressor _DB_PERSISTED_MARKER_KEY); keep
only the names hermes_state.py itself uses, without noqa.
hermes_state_registry.py: drop get_shared_session_db/release_shared_session_db/close_shared_session_dbs
aliases; every caller (gateway/, tools/, tui_gateway/, cron/, mcp_serve, run_agent, tests) now imports
acquire/release/close_all/release_or_close from hermes_state_registry.
hermes_state_titles.py: drop set_auto_title_if_empty shim (title_generator keeps its getattr fallback).
Re-remove shim-only names restored by 34abf954bd: latest_user_message_row_id (tests call
latest_message_row_id(key, role='user'); role-targeting assertions kept) and get_session_activity (tests
build the snapshot via agent.session_activity.build_activity_snapshot over db.get_session(sid)).
hermes_state_wal._log_once resolves its dedupe sets as module globals instead of via hermes_state;
hermes_state_repair helpers call module globals directly (tests patch hermes_state_repair.<name>).
Frozen updater surface untouched (update_cmd_maint imports only SessionDB from hermes_state).
Two tests fail deterministically on main depending only on which SQLite the
test interpreter links — nothing about the code under test. Both are green in
isolation and red in the suite / on an older library, the worst diagnostic
shape.
Root cause A — WAL is not always WAL. Hermes refuses journal_mode=WAL on
SQLite builds carrying the upstream WAL-reset corruption bug (3.7.0–3.51.2,
excluding backports 3.50.7 / 3.44.6) and falls back to DELETE. On such a
build NO -wal sidecar is ever created, so
test_wal_checkpoint_truncates_wal_file asserts on a file that cannot exist.
Invisible locally when the repo .venv and the Hermes managed runtime link
different versions (observed: .venv 3.50.4 → DELETE, runtime 3.53.1 → WAL),
so the same test passes for one interpreter and fails for the other.
- tests/conftest.py: add a `requires_wal` marker plus a
pytest_collection_modifyitems hook that skips such tests when the linked
library will fall back to DELETE. The skip reason names the actual
version so it is diagnosable rather than mysterious.
- pyproject.toml: register the marker.
- test_kanban_db_repair.py: mark the -wal-sidecar test.
Root cause B — process-global warn-once dedup. The WAL-fallback warning is
emitted at most once per (process, db_label). Any earlier test in
test_kanban_db.py that opens a kanban.db consumes that one-shot, so
test_connect_falls_back_to_delete_on_locking_protocol sees zero warnings and
fails — but only as part of the file, never alone.
- test_kanban_db.py: clear both dedup sets in the test that asserts on the
warning, with a comment explaining the isolation trap.
The gate deliberately does NOT import hermes_state. That module computes
DEFAULT_DB_PATH from get_hermes_home() at import time, so importing it during
collection — before the per-test _isolate_hermes_home fixture redirects
HERMES_HOME — permanently caches the developer's REAL ~/.hermes/state.db for
the whole session. The first version of this change did exactly that and made
tests read a live 31,881-session production database (test_console_engine
asserted "Total sessions: 2" and got 31881). The version predicate is
duplicated instead, and tests/test_conftest_wal_gate.py pins the two
implementations in agreement across every documented upstream boundary plus
guards against the import coming back.
Verified: on SQLite 3.50.4 the sidecar test SKIPS naming the version; on
3.53.1 it RUNS and passes, so coverage is not lost where WAL works. Clean
main fails exactly these 2 tests under
`scripts/run_tests.sh tests/hermes_cli/ tests/test_hermes_state.py`
(9926 passed, 2 failed); with this change the same scope is green.
Tests: 726 passed across the two kanban files, test_hermes_state.py, and the
new gate tests.