feat(docker): auto-redirect gateway run to supervised mode inside s6 image

Pre-s6, `docker run nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run` was the
standard invocation: gateway ran as the container's main process,
tini reaped zombies, container exit code matched gateway exit code,
no supervision. With s6-overlay as PID 1, the same invocation now
auto-upgrades to supervised semantics — auto-restart on crash,
dashboard supervised alongside (when HERMES_DASHBOARD=1 is set),
multiple profile gateways under the same /init.

Users get the new behavior with zero changes to their docker run
command. A loud one-line breadcrumb on stderr explains the upgrade
and points at the opt-out for users who genuinely want pre-s6
foreground semantics.

How it works:

  1. `_gateway_command_inner` (the `gateway run` handler) checks if
     we're inside a container with s6 as PID 1.
  2. If yes, dispatches `start` to the s6 service manager (registers
     and starts gateway-default), then `exec sleep infinity` to keep
     the CMD process alive without binding container lifetime to
     gateway PID lifetime. The supervised gateway can flap freely;
     `docker stop` still tears everything down via /init stage 3.
  3. If no, falls through to the existing foreground code path
     unchanged. Host runs of `hermes gateway run` are unaffected.

Three gates make the redirect inert outside the intended scope:

  * `detect_service_manager() != "s6"` — host/non-s6-container runs.
  * `HERMES_S6_SUPERVISED_CHILD=1` env var (recursion guard) —
    exported by `S6ServiceManager._render_run_script` for the
    s6-supervised invocation itself. Without this guard, the
    supervised `gateway run --replace` would re-enter the redirect
    and recurse (run → start → run → start → ...) infinitely.
  * `--no-supervise` CLI flag OR `HERMES_GATEWAY_NO_SUPERVISE=1` env
    var — explicit user opt-out for CI smoke tests, debugging the
    foreground startup path, or any case wanting "CMD exit =
    container exit" semantics. Strict truthiness (1/true/yes,
    case-insensitive); typos like `=0` do NOT silently opt out.

Tests:

  * Unit tests in tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_s6_dispatch.py
    cover all five paths (host no-op, supervised fire, sentinel
    recursion guard, CLI flag, env var truthy + falsy). The two
    load-bearing gates (sentinel + opt-out) were mutation-tested
    by removing each gate in isolation and confirming the dedicated
    test fails with the expected error.
  * Docker harness tests in tests/docker/test_gateway_run_supervised.py
    cover the round trips end-to-end against a built image: redirect
    fires (sleep-infinity heartbeat + supervised gateway-default
    slot + breadcrumb), --no-supervise opt-out (foreground gateway,
    no want-up on the slot), HERMES_GATEWAY_NO_SUPERVISE env var
    works identically, recursion is impossible (≤1 supervised
    python gateway-run + exactly 1 sleep-infinity parented to the
    CMD wrapper), and HERMES_DASHBOARD=1 produces both supervised
    gateway and supervised dashboard.

Docs:

  * Added a `:::tip Gateway runs supervised` admonition near the
    main docker.md example explaining the upgrade and pointing at
    the opt-out. Pre-s6 (tini-based) images still run gateway run
    as the foreground main process, so the note is scoped to the
    s6 image only.

Trade-off documented in the helper docstring: container exit code
under the redirect is sleep's exit code (always 0 on SIGTERM), not
the gateway's. That was an explicit design call — the supervised
gateway is allowed to flap without taking the container with it,
which is what "supervision" means. CI users who want exit-code
forwarding can pass --no-supervise.
This commit is contained in:
Ben Barclay 2026-05-28 11:43:46 +10:00 committed by Ben Barclay
parent 36c99af37a
commit 0927fb5584
7 changed files with 626 additions and 0 deletions

View file

@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ docker run -d \
Port 8642 exposes the gateway's [OpenAI-compatible API server](./features/api-server.md) and health endpoint. It's optional if you only use chat platforms (Telegram, Discord, etc.), but required if you want the dashboard or external tools to reach the gateway.
:::tip Gateway runs supervised
Inside the official Docker image, `gateway run` is **automatically supervised by s6-overlay**: if the gateway process crashes it's restarted within a couple of seconds without losing the container, and the dashboard (when `HERMES_DASHBOARD=1` is set) is supervised alongside it. The `gateway run` CMD process itself is a `sleep infinity` heartbeat that keeps the container alive while s6 manages the actual gateway process — so `docker stop` still shuts everything down cleanly, but `docker logs` shows the supervised gateway's output.
You'll see a one-line breadcrumb in `docker logs` confirming the upgrade. To opt out — and get the historical "gateway is the container's main process, container exit = gateway exit" semantics — pass `--no-supervise` or set `HERMES_GATEWAY_NO_SUPERVISE=1`. The opt-out is useful for CI smoke tests that want the container to exit with the gateway's status code; for production deployments the supervised default is strictly better.
This behavior applies to the s6-based image only. Earlier (tini-based) images still run `gateway run` as the foreground main process.
:::
Note: the API server is gated on `API_SERVER_ENABLED=true`. To expose it beyond `127.0.0.1` inside the container, also set `API_SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0` and an `API_SERVER_KEY` (minimum 8 characters — generate one with `openssl rand -hex 32`). Example:
```sh