refresh_launchd_plist_if_needed ran `launchctl bootout` then
`launchctl bootstrap` with errors silenced (`2>/dev/null` in the
detached helper, `check=False` in the direct subprocess path).
Under high load or a launchd race, the bootout succeeds — removing
the service from launchd — but the follow-up bootstrap fails
silently. The service stays unregistered; KeepAlive can't revive
a service launchd no longer knows about, so the gateway stays dark
until a manual `launchctl bootstrap`.
Observed incident (2026-06-26): `/restart` in chat triggered a
planned drain; during the drain a separate call re-triggered the
plist refresh, which bootout'd the live service. Under loadavg
9.48 the bootstrap failed silently — 2h35min offline until manual
recovery.
Fix: retry the bootstrap up to 5 times with 2s back-off, verify
with `launchctl list <label>` afterwards, and log failures to
~/.hermes/logs/launchd-reload.log so the health watchdog can
detect a persistent orphan. Mirrors the contract across both
the detached helper (refresh inside gateway tree) and the direct
subprocess path (refresh from external CLI).
Existing tests pass:
- test_refresh_defers_reload_when_running_inside_gateway_tree
- test_refresh_uses_direct_reload_when_not_inside_gateway_tree
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Fabio Fernandes Valente
7a7d19e73b