purge_stale_done_notify_subs only matched status='done', so a task the
circuit breaker parked in 'blocked' kept its notify-sub rows forever on
boards that never archive. Widen the predicate to done OR blocked while
keeping the existing age clause; backlog/ready cards are idle, not
abandoned, and stay exempt (test_gc_spares_reopened_task_even_when_old).
Watcher comment/log and docs updated to say done/blocked.
Closes#100955
Co-authored-by: itsflownium <itsflownium@users.noreply.github.com>
The goal judge now returns 'blocked' for unachievable goals, but the
/loop --until gate only checked == 'done', so an impossible stop
condition would re-fire every tick until loops.max_ticks. Pause the
loop with the judge's reason instead. Also collapse the kanban gate
callers' 'gate_verdict == "continue" or rejection is not None' to
'rejection is not None' (rejection is None iff verdict == done), drop
the duplicate blocked-verdict goal test, and document the verdict.
Bundled by #83063 into the always-shipped set, but it serves only
multi-agent kanban campaigns — too niche for every install's skills
index (~20 tok/call for all users). Moved to the optional catalog
(installable via /skills search + hub, official source) and renamed so
the trigger is legible at a glance: 'merge-reconciler' read like a
generic git helper; 'agent-merge-conflict-arbiter' says who it is for.
- skills/autonomous-ai-agents/merge-reconciler -> optional-skills/autonomous-ai-agents/agent-merge-conflict-arbiter
- frontmatter name + description updated (description within the 60-char hardline its own contract test enforces)
- contract test moved/renamed, 9/9 green
- kanban docs (en + zh-Hans) repointed; zero merge-reconciler refs remain
`completed` already puts the worker's summary inside the synthetic wake
turn, so the woken creator sees what was done. `review_requested` did
not: the summary rode the passive ping only, and the wake turn said just
"handed off for review", forcing the woken reviewer to re-read the board
(and losing the PR link the worker had already written).
Reuse the same first-line handoff the `completed` branch builds, so the
existing `gateway.kanban.wake.handoff` string renders it — no new locale
keys, no change to the passive message.
`review_requested` and `block_loop_detected` are terminal event kinds that
hand a decision back to the origin subscriber, but neither was listed in the
gateway notifier's `_WAKE_KINDS`. A `notify+wake` subscription therefore got
the passive ping only and the origin agent never took a turn — so an agent
that delegated implementation work slept through the "ready for review"
handoff and through a task being routed to triage, while the equivalent
`blocked` event woke it.
Add both kinds to the wake set, add their status strings to the synthetic
wake message in every locale, and document which events wake.
Builds on @nductien's completion-notify module (PR #87705):
- Notify on the gateway watcher's full terminal set — blocked, gave_up,
crashed, timed_out, block_loop_detected — not just completed. A worker
hitting a blocker while the user is away was the original community ask.
- Route all notification copy through the kanban plugin i18n bundles
(en/ja/zh/zh-hant), with an English-bundle fallback when the translator
isn't bound yet.
- Wire the ctx.os.notify door so events also fire a NATIVE OS notification
while the user is away from the Hermes window (host.notify toast covers
the foreground). OS-door failures are isolated from the toast path.
- Docs: Desktop notifications section in kanban.md, including the
app-running coverage window.
Now that subscriptions survive `done` (completion is reversible —
on every 5s notifier tick forever. Add
kanban_db.purge_stale_done_notify_subs(): one DELETE removing subs
whose task has been done with no new events past a retention window
(age = latest task event, falling back to completed_at/created_at, so
any activity exempts the task; a reopened task is exempt by status
alone). The notifier watcher runs it per board once at startup and at
most hourly, re-reading kanban.done_sub_retention_days (config.yaml,
default 30; 0 disables) at each sweep.
Carry the worker's completion handoff into the synthetic creator wake
turn and label it as an automatic notification with inspect-the-board /
don't-recreate guidance, so a woken orchestrator doesn't re-decompose
work that already exists (#70752).
Salvaged from PR #71100 by @yinkev; ported onto the restructured wake
region (delivery_mode gating, scope_id, sub chat_id destinations). The
auto_subscribe_on_create config-default half of the original PR was
dropped as already superseded on main.
Salvage of #37865 by @verybigdog. Adds delivery_mode (notify / notify+wake / wake)
on kanban notify subscriptions, persists chat_type + user_id_alt so a woken turn
reconstructs the creator's real session key, inherits the return path to child
tasks, and keeps wake out of the model-exposed send_message schema.
Original commits were authored under a local placeholder identity
(hermes-agent@users.noreply.local); re-attributed to the contributor's
public email.
Adds the comment-based hotspot convention (no new primitives) across three
guidance surfaces:
- KANBAN_GUIDANCE worker lifecycle: new step 7 — when a file keeps colliding
with siblings or appears in other cards' recent comments, leave a
'hotspot: <path> — <reason>' kanban_comment and repeat it in completion
metadata so the orchestrator can decompose the file first.
- kanban.md (en + zh-Hans): 'Collision hotspots in parallel campaigns'
subsection — the convention, the orchestrator response (2+ flags on one
path => dedicated decomposition card before queuing more work touching
it), and the cross-link to merge-reconciler for conflicts that already
happened.
- merge-reconciler SKILL.md Pitfalls: repeated conflicts on the same file
across rounds are a hotspot signal — flag for decomposition rather than
serially reconciling.
Live-verified: guidance renders once via real import (6152 chars); hotspot
comment round-trips through add_comment -> list_comments -> worker context
on an isolated HERMES_KANBAN_DB; kanban tools, review-surfaces, and
merge-reconciler skill tests green (45 passed).
Design decisions belong to the orchestrator: decide naming schemes,
schemas, file formats, and API shapes before fanning out; never let two
subtree cards decide the same question; stamp every decision into each
dependent card body since workers cannot see sibling context. Mirrored
in the kanban docs (en + zh-Hans) with an exporter/importer worked
example, and bounded KANBAN_GUIDANCE size with an invariant test.
Add a non-terminal "review" status so a worker that finished implementation
can hand off for human review without abusing kanban_block. The old
kanban_block(reason="review-required: ...") convention routed the handoff
through the unblock-loop breaker, so a normal review -> changes -> review
cycle was falsely escalated to triage.
- kanban_db: request_review (running/ready -> review, non-block, emits
review_requested), reopen_review_task (review -> ready/todo, review_reopened),
complete_task accepts review -> done, and a review_dispatch gate (default off,
shared by the dispatcher loop and the gateway health probe).
- kanban_request_review worker tool + `request-review` / `reopen-review` CLI
verbs; tool wired through toolsets, EXPOSED_TOOLS, _POLISHED_TOOLS.
- Gateway notifier wakes the origin subscriber on review_requested and
block_loop_detected; the subscription survives until done/archived, so every
review cycle re-notifies.
- Dashboard PATCH + bulk route the review transitions (request_review /
reopen_review_task) and render the review column.
- goals.py goal-loop and KANBAN_GUIDANCE recognize review as a terminator.
- Docs (reference tables, user guide, AGENTS.md, zh-Hans mirrors) + tests.
needs_input / failed are unchanged: they still route through kanban_block,
still count toward block_recurrences, and still escalate to triage.
Adds skills/autonomous-ai-agents/merge-reconciler — a bundled skill teaching
a neutral third-party agent to resolve git merge conflicts between two
agents' branches: gather both diffs + intents, classify each hunk
(disjoint-intent / same-question-different-answer / superseded), resolve
under an impartiality contract, verify, and hand back a per-hunk summary.
Procedure was live-tested end-to-end against a real conflict fixture.
Includes contract tests (tests/skills/test_merge_reconciler_skill.py) and a
kanban docs cross-reference (en + zh-Hans): assign a third neutral profile a
reconciliation card with both conflicted cards as parents.
Surface the existing planner/worker cost-split capability as an explicit
strategy in the docs:
- delegation.md: new 'Cost strategy: frontier planner, inexpensive workers'
subsection under Model Override, with a config.yaml snippet using the
verified delegation.model / delegation.provider keys, the resolution order
(base_url > provider > inherit parent; model applies in all cases, empty =
inherit), and a note that delegate_task has no per-task model parameter —
quality-sensitive tasks should use kanban's per-task override instead.
- kanban.md: matching 'Cost strategy: frontier orchestrator, inexpensive
workers' subsection using the verified per-profile config mechanism
(dispatcher injects profile-scoped HERMES_HOME at worker spawn) and the
existing per-task model_override (--model/--provider, set-model, dashboard).
- zh-Hans mirrors for both pages.
- cli-config.yaml.example: cost tip comment under the delegation section.
Config resolution was live-verified against tools/delegate_tool.py
(_load_config + _resolve_delegation_credentials) with a temp HERMES_HOME:
delegation.model pins children to the sentinel model; with no delegation
keys, children inherit the parent model and credentials.
Adds 'Handing context to follow-up cards (the parent link)' to the kanban
feature page and a CI-remediation worked example to the tutorial, with
zh-Hans mirrors. Claims live-verified against kanban_db on an isolated
board: create_task creates children of done parents directly in ready,
recompute_ready leaves children of open parents in todo, and
build_worker_context surfaces the parent's completion summary and
metadata under '## Parent task results'.
Two small config-gated features:
1. Kanban orphaned-card reconciliation (kanban.reconcile_orphans, default
true, config.yaml): a running card with broken claim bookkeeping
(claim_lock or claim_expires NULL — crash mid-claim, manual SQL, DB
restore) is invisible to all existing recovery paths
(release_stale_claims requires claim_expires NOT NULL,
detect_crashed_workers requires host-local lock + pid,
detect_stale_running is config-disabled by default) and shows Running
forever. New reconcile_orphaned_running() pass in kanban_db.py runs
each dispatch_once tick: requeues orphans to ready with an explanatory
comment, closes any leaked run, emits a 'reconciled' event, and defers
when the recorded PID is still alive on this host (never requeue
beside a live worker). Surfaced via DispatchResult.reconciled_orphans.
2. Per-server MCP identity header (mcp_servers.<name>.identity_header,
config.yaml): optional {name, value_from: static|profile, value}
mapping; the header is attached to that server's HTTP/SSE transport
requests. 'static' sends the config value; 'profile' resolves the
active Hermes profile name once at connect time (no per-call
mutation). Explicit per-server headers of the same name (any casing)
win. Invalid blocks warn-and-ignore; stdio servers warn-and-ignore.
Tests: tests/gateway/test_kanban_reconcile_orphans.py (9),
tests/tools/test_mcp_identity_header.py (13), all written first (RED)
then implemented (GREEN). No new HERMES_* env vars.
Inspired by: openai/symphony tracker reconciliation (Apache-2.0) +
Poke per-user MCP identity (idea-level).
The goals page never mentions Kanban and the kanban page references /goal
only inside the goal-mode-cards section, so users assume /goal hands work
to the board (see #26116 - /goal is single-session continuation only).
Adds a decision section to goals.md and the inverse note to kanban.md.
Follows PR #75592: the notifier is no longer gated on
kanban.dispatch_in_gateway. Every gateway delivers events for
subscriptions owned by the profiles whose adapters it hosts; legacy
unstamped subscriptions go only through the confirmed dispatcher
lock owner. Adds a 'Multi-profile setups' subsection to the kanban
Gateway notifications docs (en + zh-Hans).
The reported confusion was an unblocked task 'unpredictably' ending up in
triage. unblock itself only ever routes to ready/todo; a subsequent same-cause
re-block hitting BLOCK_RECURRENCE_LIMIT is what escalates to triage. Document
this deterministic loop-breaker at the human-facing lifecycle level so users
stop reading it as an LLM decision.
Community feedback (@LSanapalli on X): the inline task-creation form is
cramped inside a ~280px column with no way to resize; board-level
workspace defaults can't be changed after board creation; and users
believe they must block a task, comment, then unblock just to talk to
a worker.
- Create-task dialog: replace the inline column form with a centered
modal (reuses hermes-kanban-dialog chrome, 36rem wide) with labeled
fields for title, assignee, priority, skills, workspace kind/path,
goal mode, and parent task. Same request shape; Enter/Escape behavior
preserved; submit disabled until a title is present.
- Board settings dialog: new Settings button in the board switcher opens
a modal to edit display name, description, and the board-level default
project directory (default_workdir). PATCH /boards/:slug now accepts
default_workdir (validated absolute existing dir; empty string clears;
omitted leaves unchanged) and returns the recomputed
default_workspace_kind so task-creation defaults follow immediately.
- Comment workflow hint: the task drawer's comment box now explains that
comments land on the thread immediately and reach the worker on its
next run/kanban_show() — no block/unblock dance needed — with a fuller
tooltip for when blocking IS the right tool.
- i18n: new keys optional in the kanban namespace with English fallbacks
in the bundle (established pattern; avoids churning 17 locale files).
- Docs: dashboard section updated for the dialog + Settings button.
- Nudge text now warns that repeated protocol violations will block the
task and require manual intervention, so the model understands the
consequence of ignoring the nudge.
- Kanban docs restructured to clearly separate the two defense layers:
agent-side prevention (nudge, from #64350) and dispatcher-side
recovery (bounded retry, from this PR).
- Two new integration tests verifying the nudge mentions blocking and
that the agent-side and dispatcher-side budgets are independent.
Fold in kevinb361's suggested lifecycle wording (#61817 conceded in favor of
this PR) and update the second stale site his sweep didn't cover: the
task-events table still said the dispatcher 'auto-blocks immediately instead
of retrying'. Both now describe the violation-only streak: protocol_violation
fires on every violation (its payload marker feeds the budget), below-budget
runs return the task to ready, and gave_up + auto-block happen only when the
consecutive streak reaches _PROTOCOL_VIOLATION_FAILURE_LIMIT (default 3,
per-task max_retries overriding).
* feat(kanban): typed block reasons + unblock-loop breaker
Stops the kanban blocked-task loop: a worker blocks a task, a cron
unblocks it, the worker re-blocks for the same reason, repeat forever.
block_task now takes a typed kind and a persistent block_recurrences
counter on the tasks table:
- kind=dependency routes to todo (parent-gated, auto-resumed), never
the human 'blocked' bucket a cron would keep unblocking.
- needs_input/capability/transient/untyped land in blocked; each
same-cause re-block after an unblock increments block_recurrences,
and at BLOCK_RECURRENCE_LIMIT (default 2) the task routes to triage
for a human instead of blocked.
- unblock_task no longer resets block_recurrences (the amnesia that
let the loop run unbounded); complete_task clears it on success.
Wired through the worker kanban_block tool (new kind arg) and the
hermes kanban block --kind CLI flag, both reporting where the task
actually landed. Docs + 11 new tests; 536 existing kanban tests green.
* test(kanban): make second-block notify test use a distinct block cause
test_notifier_second_blocked_delivers blocked the same task twice with
the same (untyped) reason, which now trips the new unblock-loop breaker
and routes the second block to triage instead of blocked — so only one
'blocked' notification fired. The test's actual intent is that TWO
distinct block cycles each notify; give the two cycles different kinds
(needs_input then capability) so they're genuinely separate blocks. The
same-cause loop→triage path is covered by test_kanban_block_kinds.py.
The kanban-worker and kanban-orchestrator bundled skills existed only to
be force-loaded into dispatcher-spawned workers, gated by
environments:[kanban] so they wouldn't leak into normal CLI listings.
That gating was fragile (the leak that #50443 patched) and the
--skills auto-load was already best-effort — most workers ran without it
because the bundled skill isn't present in profile-scoped skills dirs.
Remove the skills entirely and promote their load-bearing content
(workspace kinds, deliverable artifacts, created-card integrity, profile
discovery) into KANBAN_GUIDANCE, which is already injected into every
kanban worker's system prompt. Net result: every worker reliably gets
the guidance, nothing can leak into a CLI/blank-slate session, and the
gating machinery is gone.
- agent/prompt_builder.py: promote the 4 load-bearing rules into KANBAN_GUIDANCE
- hermes_cli/kanban_db.py: drop --skills kanban-worker auto-injection + _kanban_worker_skill_available probe
- hermes_cli/kanban_swarm.py: drop skills=[kanban-orchestrator] on the root card
- hermes_cli/kanban.py: drop kanban-init skill seeding; fix help text
- delete skills/devops/kanban-{worker,orchestrator}
- docs: delete the two skill pages (EN+zh), fix sidebars/catalog/kanban.md/kanban-worker-lanes.md and the video-orchestrator + codex-lane references
- tests: update spawn-argv expectations; re-bound the guidance-size guard
Supersedes the skill-leak half of #50443 (credit @helix4u for flagging the area).
When a worker calls kanban_create from inside a session that has a
persistent delivery channel, the originating session is now subscribed
to the new task's completion/block events automatically. The agent
that dispatched the task gets notified instead of having to poll.
- Gateway sessions (telegram/discord/slack): HERMES_SESSION_PLATFORM +
HERMES_SESSION_CHAT_ID ContextVars, set by the messaging gateway.
- TUI / desktop sessions: HERMES_SESSION_KEY in the subprocess env.
The TUI notification poller keys on platform='tui' + chat_id=<key>.
- CLI / cron / test: no persistent channel, no subscription.
Gated by kanban.auto_subscribe_on_create in config.yaml (default True).
Disable to mirror pre-feature behaviour — users who want explicit
kanban_notify-subscribe calls per task can set it to false. This
config gate addresses the design concern that got PR #19718 reverted
upstream (unconditional implicit auto-subscribe on tool-driven
kanban_create was too aggressive for orchestrator users).
HERMES_SESSION_ID is intentionally not a fallback channel — it is
set by ACP/agent subprocess telemetry for every invocation, not just
TUI, so treating it as a notification target would auto-subscribe
every CLI session and re-introduce the over-eager behaviour.
The kanban_create response now includes a 'subscribed' bool so
orchestrators can react if subscription failed (e.g. by falling
back to explicit kanban_notify-subscribe or to polling).
Includes 6 tests covering the gateway / TUI / CLI / partial-context /
gated / add_notify_sub-failure paths. All 90 tests in
test_kanban_tools.py pass; 509 broader kanban tests pass.
* feat(kanban): goal_mode cards run workers in a /goal loop
A goal_mode card wraps its dispatched worker in the Ralph-style goal
loop behind /goal: after each turn an auxiliary judge checks the
worker's response against the card title+body, and if not done the
worker keeps going in the SAME session until the judge agrees, the
worker terminates the task itself, or the turn budget runs out (which
blocks the card for human review — never a silent exit).
- kanban_db: goal_mode + goal_max_turns columns (additive migration),
Task fields, create_task params, INSERT wiring, created-event payload.
- kanban_tools: goal_mode/goal_max_turns on the kanban_create tool so
orchestrators can opt cards in when fanning out.
- kanban CLI: --goal / --goal-max-turns on 'kanban create'.
- dashboard API: goal_mode/goal_max_turns on the create endpoint
(auto-surfaced back via asdict).
- _default_spawn: sets HERMES_KANBAN_GOAL_MODE / _GOAL_MAX_TURNS only
when the card opts in.
- goals.run_kanban_goal_loop: standalone, callback-injected loop engine
(no SessionDB persistence; ephemeral worker). cli.py quiet path calls
it after the worker's first turn when the env vars are set.
- Docs: orchestrator skill + kanban feature page.
Tests: DB roundtrip + legacy migration, spawn env gating, and the loop's
continuation/completion/budget-block/finalize-nudge branches. E2E run
against a real kanban DB confirms a budget-exhausted goal worker lands
in a sticky blocked state.
* feat(kanban/dashboard): goal-mode toggle in the create form
Wires the goal_mode card setting into the dashboard UI (the plugin's
hand-written IIFE bundle, no build step):
- InlineCreate: 'goal mode' checkbox after the skills field; checking it
reveals an optional 'max turns' number input. Both reset on submit and
only post goal_mode/goal_max_turns when enabled.
- TaskDrawer: a 'Goal mode: on (max N turns)' MetaRow so a card's
goal-mode setting is visible after creation (auto-fed by asdict via the
existing _task_dict).
Live-tested through the running dashboard with a browser: created a
goal-mode card with max-turns=8, confirmed it persisted to the kanban DB
(goal_mode=1, goal_max_turns=8) and rendered back in the drawer as
'on (max 8 turns)'. No JS console errors.
Tasks can now carry file attachments (PDFs, images, source docs) that
workers read directly — closes the gap where source material had to be
pasted as a path into the task body.
- kanban_db: task_attachments table (additive), Attachment dataclass,
add/list/get/delete accessors, attachments_root/task_attachments_dir
path helpers (per-board, HERMES_KANBAN_ATTACHMENTS_ROOT override)
- build_worker_context: surfaces each attachment's absolute path so the
worker (full file/terminal tool access) reads it via read_file/pdftotext
- dashboard API: POST/GET/DELETE attachment routes (multipart upload,
25MB cap, traversal-safe filenames, root-containment check on download)
- dashboard UI: Attachments section in the task drawer — upload button,
list with download, per-row remove
- docs + tests (13 cases: DB accessors, REST round-trip, traversal
rejection, collision suffixing, worker-context surfacing)
Closes#35338
First scratch workspace creation on an install now emits a one-shot
warning log + a 'tip_scratch_workspace' event on the task. Sentinel
file at ~/.hermes/kanban/.scratch_tip_shown silences subsequent
creations across the whole install.
Behavior unchanged — scratch is still ephemeral by design. This just
makes the design visible to new users (reported in user community:
'progress files vanished, no warning anywhere').
Docs (en + ko) updated to spell out 'Deleted when the task completes'
on the scratch bullet and 'Preserved on completion' on worktree/dir.
Follow-up to #28455. The respawn guard's blocker_auth rule (last error
matched a quota/auth/429 pattern) was auto-blocking the task on first
occurrence. That's too aggressive: transient rate limits typically
clear in seconds to minutes, but the auto-block puts the task in
'blocked' status which requires manual unblock.
Now treats blocker_auth the same as recent_success and active_pr:
defer the spawn this tick, leave the task in 'ready', let the next
tick try again. If the auth error genuinely persists, the existing
consecutive_failures counter trips the auto-block circuit breaker
after failure_limit failures via the normal path — so a persistent
401/403/quota-exhausted still ends up blocked, just not on first hit.
Also documents the respawn_guarded event in kanban.md's events table
with the three guard reasons.
Updated test_dispatch_respawn_guard_auto_blocks_auth_error → renamed
to test_dispatch_respawn_guard_defers_auth_error_without_auto_block;
asserts task stays in 'ready' and the guard reason is recorded.
Follow-up to #28452. detect_stale_running() was calling
_record_task_failure() on every reclaim, which ticked the
consecutive_failures counter. With the default failure_limit=2,
two legitimately long-running tasks (>4 h without explicit
heartbeat) would auto-block via the spawn-failure circuit
breaker — even though no worker actually failed.
Stale reclaim is dispatcher-side absence-of-heartbeat detection,
not a worker fault. Removed the _record_task_failure() call;
the 'stale' event in task_events is still the audit surface,
but the failure counter is now reserved for spawn_failed /
timed_out / crashed (real failures).
Also documents the heartbeat requirement:
- KANBAN_GUIDANCE in agent/prompt_builder.py now states the
rule ('call kanban_heartbeat at least once an hour for tasks
running longer than 1 hour') so workers learn the contract.
- kanban.md adds the stale event row to the events table and
flags the heartbeat requirement in the worker lifecycle list.
New regression test: test_detect_stale_does_not_tick_failure_counter
locks in the new behaviour.
Salvages #26496 by @aqilaziz. Adds branch_name column + CLI flag so
tasks with workspace_kind='worktree' can pin a target branch on
create. Schema migration added to _migrate_add_optional_columns.
- Task.branch_name field + DB column + migration
- create_task accepts branch_name kwarg
- hermes kanban create --branch <name> flag
- kanban show output includes 'Branch: <name>' when set
Cherry-picked the substantive commit (a7558cf27); the PR's tip was
an unrelated service-path-dirs commit. Resolved 2 INSERT-column-list
and show-output conflicts alongside main's session_id and
max_runtime_seconds additions; kept all three.
Salvages #28199 by @bensargotest-sys. Aligns Kanban docs with current
tool registration: dispatcher-spawned task workers get task tools,
profiles that explicitly enable the kanban toolset get orchestrator
routing tools (kanban_list, kanban_unblock). Corrects failure-limit
text to current default of 2. Hardens the e2e subprocess script to
resolve repo root and use the spawnable default assignee. Updates the
diagnostics severity fixture to assert error below the critical
threshold.
Salvages #21585 by @helix4u. Documents the protocol_violation event
(worker exits successfully while task is still running), adds
--max-retries to the create flag list and --failure-limit to dispatch.
Wrap existing box-drawing diagrams with ascii-guard markers so docs-site checks pass when website docs are touched.
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
* feat(kanban): orchestrator-driven auto-decomposition on triage
Closes the core gap in the kanban system: dropping a one-liner into Triage
now decomposes it into a graph of child tasks routed to specialist
profiles by description, matching teknium's original vision ("main
orchestrator splits/creates actual tasks, doles them out to each agent").
The build
---------
- hermes_cli/profiles.py: new `description` + `description_auto` fields
on ProfileInfo, persisted in <profile_dir>/profile.yaml. Helpers
read_profile_meta / write_profile_meta. `create_profile` accepts
optional description.
- hermes_cli/profile_describer.py: new module — auto-generate a 1-2
sentence description from a profile's skills + model + name via the
auxiliary LLM (`auxiliary.profile_describer`).
- hermes_cli/main.py: new `hermes profile create --description ...`
flag; new `hermes profile describe [name] [--text ... | --auto |
--all --auto]` subcommand.
- hermes_cli/kanban_db.py: new `decompose_triage_task` atomic helper —
creates N child tasks, links the root as a child of every leaf
(root waits for the whole graph), flips root `triage -> todo` with
orchestrator assignee, records an audit comment + `decomposed` event
in a single write_txn.
- hermes_cli/kanban_decompose.py: new module — calls the auxiliary LLM
(`auxiliary.kanban_decomposer`) with the profile roster + descriptions
to produce a JSON task graph, then invokes the DB helper. Rewrites
unknown assignees to the configured `kanban.default_assignee` (or
the active default profile) so a task NEVER lands with assignee=None.
Falls back to specify-style single-task promotion when the LLM
returns `fanout: false`.
- hermes_cli/kanban.py: new `hermes kanban decompose [task_id | --all]`
CLI verb.
- hermes_cli/config.py: new DEFAULT_CONFIG keys —
kanban.orchestrator_profile, kanban.default_assignee,
kanban.auto_decompose (default True), kanban.auto_decompose_per_tick
(default 3), auxiliary.kanban_decomposer, auxiliary.profile_describer.
- gateway/run.py: kanban dispatcher watcher now runs auto-decompose
before each `_tick_once`, capped by `auto_decompose_per_tick` so a
bulk-load of triage tasks doesn't burst-spend the aux LLM.
- plugins/kanban/dashboard/plugin_api.py: new endpoints —
GET /profiles (list roster + descriptions),
PATCH /profiles/<name> (set description, user-authored),
POST /profiles/<name>/describe-auto (LLM-generate),
POST /tasks/<id>/decompose (run decomposer),
GET/PUT /orchestration (orchestrator/default-assignee/auto-decompose
pickers, with resolved fallbacks echoed back).
- plugins/kanban/dashboard/dist/index.js: new OrchestrationPanel
collapsible — dropdowns for orchestrator profile and default
assignee, auto-decompose toggle, per-profile description editor with
Save and Auto-generate buttons. New ⚗ Decompose button next to
✨ Specify on triage-column task drawers.
Behavior
--------
- A task in Triage gets fanned out into a small DAG of child tasks.
Children with no internal parents flip to `ready` immediately
(parallel dispatch). Children with sibling parents wait. The root
stays alive as a parent of every child — when the whole graph
finishes, it promotes to `ready` and the orchestrator profile wakes
back up to judge completion (the "adds more tasks until done" part
of the original vision).
- `kanban.orchestrator_profile` unset -> falls back to the default
profile (whichever `hermes` launches with no -p flag).
- `kanban.default_assignee` unset -> same fallback. Tasks NEVER end
up unassigned.
- `kanban.auto_decompose=true` (default) runs the decomposer
automatically on dispatcher ticks; manual `hermes kanban decompose`
is always available.
Tests
-----
- tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_decompose_db.py — 7 tests for the
atomic DB helper (status transitions, dep graph, audit trail,
validation errors).
- tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_decompose.py — 6 tests for the
decomposer module (fanout, no-fanout fallback, unknown-assignee
rewrite, malformed-JSON resilience, no-aux-client path).
- tests/hermes_cli/test_profile_describer.py — 10 tests for
profile.yaml r/w + the LLM auto-describer (yaml corrupt tolerance,
user-vs-auto description protection, --overwrite, fallback parsing).
E2E
---
- CLI end-to-end: created profiles with descriptions, dropped a triage
task, mocked the aux LLM with a 3-task graph -> verified all three
children were created with the right assignees, the dependency
edges matched the LLM's graph, root flipped to todo gated by every
child, audit comment + `decomposed` event recorded.
- Dashboard end-to-end: started the dashboard against an isolated
HERMES_HOME, verified all four new endpoints via curl (profile
listing, PATCH for description, PUT for orchestration settings,
POST for decompose). Opened the UI in the browser, confirmed the
OrchestrationPanel renders with all three pickers + the per-profile
description editor, typed a description, clicked Save, verified
~/.hermes/profile.yaml was written. Clicked Decompose on the triage
card and confirmed the inline error message surfaced as designed
("no auxiliary client configured").
* feat(kanban): surface decompose mode (Auto/Manual) as a one-click pill
The auto/manual toggle already existed as kanban.auto_decompose (default
true), but it was buried inside the collapsed Orchestration settings
panel — users couldn't tell at a glance which mode they were in. This
hoists it to a pill at the top of the kanban page so the state is always
visible and one click flips it.
UX
- New "⚗ Decompose: AUTO|MANUAL" pill in the kanban header. Emerald
styling when Auto is on (the default), muted/gray when Manual.
- Pill is visible both in the collapsed AND expanded Orchestration
settings views so context is preserved when the user opens the panel.
- Tooltip explains both states + what clicking does.
- Renamed the in-panel "Auto-decompose on triage / Enabled" checkbox
to "Decompose mode / Auto (default) | Manual" for language parity
with the pill.
Behavior preserved
- Default remains Auto (kanban.auto_decompose=true).
- Manual mode restores pre-PR behavior: triage tasks stay in triage
until the user clicks ⚗ Decompose on each card (or runs
`hermes kanban decompose <id>`).
Implementation
- plugins/kanban/dashboard/dist/index.js: load /orchestration on mount
(not just on expand) so the collapsed pill reflects real state.
Render mode pill in both collapsed and expanded headers. Reuses the
existing PUT /api/plugins/kanban/orchestration endpoint — no new
backend, no new tests required.
E2E verified
- Pill renders as "⚗ Decompose: AUTO" on page load (default).
- One click flips to "⚗ Decompose: MANUAL" with muted styling.
- config.yaml on disk shows auto_decompose: false after the flip.
- Second click round-trips back to Auto; config.yaml flips to true.
* feat(kanban): rename mode pill to "Orchestration: Auto/Manual"
Per Teknium feedback — "Decompose" was too implementation-specific.
"Orchestration" is the user-facing concept (the whole pitch is the
orchestrator profile routing work), and the pill is the front door to it.
- Pill text: "Orchestration: Auto" / "Orchestration: Manual" (title case,
no ⚗ prefix, no SHOUTY-CAPS for the mode value)
- In-panel checkbox label: "Orchestration mode" (was "Decompose mode")
- Tooltips updated to match
- No behavior change
* docs(kanban): document decompose, profile descriptions, orchestration mode
Brings the docs site up to parity with the PR. English build verified
locally (npx docusaurus build --locale en) — clean, no new broken links
or anchors. Pre-existing broken-link warnings (rl-training, llms.txt,
step-by-step-checklist, fallback-model) untouched.
- website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md
+ `hermes kanban decompose` action row in the action table, with
pointer to the Auto vs Manual orchestration section.
- website/docs/reference/profile-commands.md
+ `--description "<text>"` flag on `hermes profile create`.
+ Full `hermes profile describe` section: read, --text, --auto,
--overwrite, --all flags with examples.
- website/docs/user-guide/features/kanban.md (the big one)
+ Triage column intro rewritten around the Auto-decompose default
behavior, with pointer to the new Auto vs Manual section.
+ Status action row updated to mention both ⚗ Decompose and
✨ Specify on triage cards.
+ New "Auto vs Manual orchestration" section explaining the two
modes, how to flip them (pill, config), how routing-by-description
works, the no-None-assignee guarantee, plus a config knob table
(auto_decompose, auto_decompose_per_tick, orchestrator_profile,
default_assignee) and the two new auxiliary slots
(kanban_decomposer, profile_describer).
+ REST surface table gains 6 new endpoint rows: /tasks/:id/decompose,
/profiles (GET), /profiles/:name (PATCH), /profiles/:name/describe-auto,
/orchestration (GET + PUT).
- website/docs/user-guide/features/kanban-tutorial.md
+ Triage column blurb updated for Auto by default + Manual via the
pill, with cross-link to the Auto vs Manual orchestration section.
- website/docs/user-guide/profiles.md
+ Blank-profile flow now mentions --description and points to the
kanban routing model for context.
- website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
+ `kanban_decomposer` and `profile_describer` added to the
`hermes model -> Configure auxiliary models` menu listing.
The skill enumerated 8 specialist profile names (researcher, analyst,
writer, reviewer, backend-eng, frontend-eng, ops, pm) as "the standard
roster" and told orchestrators to "assume these exist." Almost no real
Hermes setup matches that fleet — single-profile setups, Docker-worker
setups, and curated-team setups all violate it — so following the skill
literally produced cards assigned to non-existent profiles, which the
dispatcher silently failed to spawn (no autocorrect, no fallback, just
sits in `ready` forever).
Changes:
- Drop the standard-specialist-roster table.
- Add a "Profiles are user-configured — not a fixed roster" section at
the top with a Step 0 that prescribes `hermes profile list` (or asking
the user) before fanning out. Cache the result in working memory.
- Rewrite the worked task-graph example with placeholder names
(<profile-A>, <profile-B>, <profile-C>) so the structure is still
teachable but doesn't invite copy-paste of role names that may not
exist.
- Reframe the "If no specialist fits" anti-temptation rule: don't
invent profile names; ask the user.
- Add a "Inventing profile names that doesn't exist" entry to Pitfalls.
- Bump skill version 2.0.0 → 3.0.0 (semantic break: previous behavior
promised a roster the skill no longer enumerates).
- Update website/docs/user-guide/features/kanban.md to drop the
matching "(researcher, writer, analyst, backend-eng, reviewer, ops)"
line and explain the discovery prompt instead.
- Re-run website/scripts/generate-skill-docs.py to refresh the
auto-generated skill page + catalog.
Closes#21131 in spirit — addresses the same hardcoded-names footgun
@yehuosi flagged, with a different shape than their PR (delete the
roster rather than replace each name with placeholder, since the
roster table was the load-bearing footgun and the worked example is
salvageable with placeholder profile names).
Co-authored-by: yehuosi <yehuosi@users.noreply.github.com>
* docs: deep audit — fix stale config keys, missing commands, and registry drift
Cross-checked ~80 high-impact docs pages (getting-started, reference, top-level
user-guide, user-guide/features) against the live registries:
hermes_cli/commands.py COMMAND_REGISTRY (slash commands)
hermes_cli/auth.py PROVIDER_REGISTRY (providers)
hermes_cli/config.py DEFAULT_CONFIG (config keys)
toolsets.py TOOLSETS (toolsets)
tools/registry.py get_all_tool_names() (tools)
python -m hermes_cli.main <subcmd> --help (CLI args)
reference/
- cli-commands.md: drop duplicate hermes fallback row + duplicate section,
add stepfun/lmstudio to --provider enum, expand auth/mcp/curator subcommand
lists to match --help output (status/logout/spotify, login, archive/prune/
list-archived).
- slash-commands.md: add missing /sessions and /reload-skills entries +
correct the cross-platform Notes line.
- tools-reference.md: drop bogus '68 tools' headline, drop fictional
'browser-cdp toolset' (these tools live in 'browser' and are runtime-gated),
add missing 'kanban' and 'video' toolset sections, fix MCP example to use
the real mcp_<server>_<tool> prefix.
- toolsets-reference.md: list browser_cdp/browser_dialog inside the 'browser'
row, add missing 'kanban' and 'video' toolset rows, drop the stale
'38 tools' count for hermes-cli.
- profile-commands.md: add missing install/update/info subcommands, document
fish completion.
- environment-variables.md: dedupe GMI_API_KEY/GMI_BASE_URL rows (kept the
one with the correct gmi-serving.com default).
- faq.md: Anthropic/Google/OpenAI examples — direct providers exist (not just
via OpenRouter), refresh the OpenAI model list.
getting-started/
- installation.md: PortableGit (not MinGit) is what the Windows installer
fetches; document the 32-bit MinGit fallback.
- installation.md / termux.md: installer prefers .[termux-all] then falls
back to .[termux].
- nix-setup.md: Python 3.12 (not 3.11), Node.js 22 (not 20); fix invalid
'nix flake update --flake' invocation.
- updating.md: 'hermes backup restore --state pre-update' doesn't exist —
point at the snapshot/quick-snapshot flow; correct config key
'updates.pre_update_backup' (was 'update.backup').
user-guide/
- configuration.md: api_max_retries default 3 (not 2); display.runtime_footer
is the real key (not display.runtime_metadata_footer); checkpoints defaults
enabled=false / max_snapshots=20 (not true / 50).
- configuring-models.md: 'hermes model list' / 'hermes model set ...' don't
exist — hermes model is interactive only.
- tui.md: busy_indicator -> tui_status_indicator with values
kaomoji|emoji|unicode|ascii (not kawaii|minimal|dots|wings|none).
- security.md: SSH backend keys (TERMINAL_SSH_HOST/USER/KEY) live in .env,
not config.yaml.
- windows-wsl-quickstart.md: there is no 'hermes api' subcommand — the
OpenAI-compatible API server runs inside hermes gateway.
user-guide/features/
- computer-use.md: approvals.mode (not security.approval_level); fix broken
./browser-use.md link to ./browser.md.
- fallback-providers.md: top-level fallback_providers (not
model.fallback_providers); the picker is subcommand-based, not modal.
- api-server.md: API_SERVER_* are env vars — write to per-profile .env,
not 'hermes config set' which targets YAML.
- web-search.md: drop web_crawl as a registered tool (it isn't); deep-crawl
modes are exposed through web_extract.
- kanban.md: failure_limit default is 2, not '~5'.
- plugins.md: drop hard-coded '33 providers' count.
- honcho.md: fix unclosed quote in echo HONCHO_API_KEY snippet; document
that 'hermes honcho' subcommand is gated on memory.provider=honcho;
reconcile subcommand list with actual --help output.
- memory-providers.md: legacy 'hermes honcho setup' redirect documented.
Verified via 'npm run build' — site builds cleanly; broken-link count went
from 149 to 146 (no regressions, fixed a few in passing).
* docs: round 2 audit fixes + regenerate skill catalogs
Follow-up to the previous commit on this branch:
Round 2 manual fixes:
- quickstart.md: KIMI_CODING_API_KEY mentioned alongside KIMI_API_KEY;
voice-mode and ACP install commands rewritten — bare 'pip install ...'
doesn't work for curl-installed setups (no pip on PATH, not in repo
dir); replaced with 'cd ~/.hermes/hermes-agent && uv pip install -e
".[voice]"'. ACP already ships in [all] so the curl install includes it.
- cli.md / configuration.md: 'auxiliary.compression.model' shown as
'google/gemini-3-flash-preview' (the doc's own claimed default);
actual default is empty (= use main model). Reworded as 'leave empty
(default) or pin a cheap model'.
- built-in-plugins.md: added the bundled 'kanban/dashboard' plugin row
that was missing from the table.
Regenerated skill catalogs:
- ran website/scripts/generate-skill-docs.py to refresh all 163 per-skill
pages and both reference catalogs (skills-catalog.md,
optional-skills-catalog.md). This adds the entries that were genuinely
missing — productivity/teams-meeting-pipeline (bundled),
optional/finance/* (entire category — 7 skills:
3-statement-model, comps-analysis, dcf-model, excel-author, lbo-model,
merger-model, pptx-author), creative/hyperframes,
creative/kanban-video-orchestrator, devops/watchers,
productivity/shop-app, research/searxng-search,
apple/macos-computer-use — and rewrites every other per-skill page from
the current SKILL.md. Most diffs are tiny (one line of refreshed
metadata).
Validation:
- 'npm run build' succeeded.
- Broken-link count moved 146 -> 155 — the +9 are zh-Hans translation
shells that lag every newly-added skill page (pre-existing pattern).
No regressions on any en/ page.
* feat(kanban): add `specify` — auxiliary LLM fleshes out triage tasks
The Triage column shipped with a placeholder 'a specifier will flesh
out the spec', but the specifier itself was never built. This wires
it up as a dedicated CLI verb.
`hermes kanban specify <id>` calls the auxiliary LLM (configured under
`auxiliary.triage_specifier`) to expand a rough one-liner into a
concrete spec — tightened title plus a body with Goal / Approach /
Acceptance criteria / Out-of-scope sections — then atomically flips
`status: triage -> todo` and recomputes ready so parent-free tasks
go straight to the dispatcher on the same tick.
Surface:
hermes kanban specify <task_id> # single task
hermes kanban specify --all [--tenant T] # sweep triage column
hermes kanban specify ... --author NAME # audit-comment author
hermes kanban specify ... --json # one JSON line per task
Design choices:
- Parent gating is preserved. specify_triage_task flips to 'todo',
then recompute_ready promotes to 'ready' only when parents are
done — same rule as a normal parent-gated todo.
- No daemon, no background watcher. Every invocation is explicit —
keeps cost predictable and doesn't fight the dispatcher loop.
- Response parse is lenient: strict JSON preferred, markdown-fence
tolerated, raw-body fallback on malformed JSON so the LLM can't
strand a task in triage.
- All failure modes (no aux client, API error, task moved out of
triage mid-call) return SpecifyOutcome(ok=False, reason=...) so
--all continues past individual failures.
Changes:
hermes_cli/kanban_db.py + specify_triage_task()
hermes_cli/kanban_specify.py NEW (~220 LOC — prompt, parse, call)
hermes_cli/kanban.py + specify subcommand + _cmd_specify
hermes_cli/config.py + auxiliary.triage_specifier task slot
website/docs/user-guide/features/kanban.md specify + config notes
website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md CLI reference entry
tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_specify_db.py NEW (10 tests)
tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_specify.py NEW (20 tests)
Validation: 30/30 targeted tests pass. E2E: triage task -> specify ->
ends in 'ready' with events [created, specified, promoted] and the
audit comment recorded under the configured author.
* feat(kanban): wire specifier into dashboard and gateway slash
Follow-ups to the initial PR #21435 — closes the two gaps I'd left as
post-merge: dashboard button and first-class gateway surface.
Dashboard (plugins/kanban/dashboard/)
- POST /tasks/:id/specify NEW endpoint. Thin wrapper around
kanban_specify.specify_task(). Returns the CLI outcome shape
({ok, task_id, reason, new_title}); ok=false with a human reason
is a 200, not a 4xx, so the UI can render it inline without
treating 'no aux client configured' as a crash.
- Runs sync in FastAPI's threadpool because the LLM call can take
tens of seconds on reasoning models.
- Pins HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD around the specify call so the module's
argless kb.connect() lands on the right board.
- dist/index.js: doSpecify callback threaded through the drawer →
TaskDetail → StatusActions prop chain. ✨ Specify button appears
ONLY when task.status === 'triage' (elsewhere the backend would
reject anyway — hide the button to keep the action row clean).
Busy state (Specifying…) + inline success/error banner under the
button using the response.reason text.
- dist/style.css: tiny hermes-kanban-msg-ok / -err classes using
existing --color vars so themes reskin cleanly.
Gateway slash (/kanban specify)
- Already works via the existing run_slash → build_parser →
kanban_command pipeline. No code change needed — slash commands
inherit the argparse tree automatically. Added coverage:
test_run_slash_specify_end_to_end (create --triage, specify, verify
promotion + retitle) and test_run_slash_specify_help_is_reachable.
Tests
- tests/plugins/test_kanban_dashboard_plugin.py: 3 new tests for the
REST endpoint — happy path, non-triage rejection as ok=false 200,
missing aux client as ok=false 200.
- tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_cli.py: 2 new slash-surface tests.
Docs
- website/docs/user-guide/features/kanban.md: dashboard action row
description mentions ✨ Specify + all three surfaces. REST table
gains /tasks/:id/specify. Slash examples include /kanban specify.
Validation: 340/340 targeted tests pass. E2E via TestClient: create a
triage task over REST → POST /specify with mocked aux client → task
moves to 'ready' column on /board with new title and body applied.
Teknium