* feat(cron): add no_agent mode for script-only cron jobs (watchdog pattern)
Adds a no_agent=True option to the cronjob system. When enabled, the
scheduler runs the attached script on schedule and delivers its stdout
directly to the job's target — no LLM, no agent loop, no token spend.
This is the classic bash-watchdog pattern (memory alert every 5 min,
disk alert every 15 min, CI ping) reimplemented as a first-class Hermes
primitive instead of a systemd timer + curl + bot token triplet living
outside the system.
## What
hermes cron create "every 5m" \
--no-agent \
--script memory-watchdog.sh \
--deliver telegram \
--name memory-watchdog
Agent tool:
cronjob(action='create',
schedule='every 5m',
script='memory-watchdog.sh',
no_agent=True,
deliver='telegram')
Semantics:
- Script stdout (trimmed) → delivered verbatim as the message
- Empty stdout → silent tick (no delivery; watchdog pattern)
- wakeAgent=false gate → silent tick (same gate LLM jobs use)
- Non-zero exit/timeout → delivered as an error alert
(broken watchdogs shouldn't fail silently)
- No LLM ever invoked; no tokens spent; no provider fallback applied
## Implementation
cron/jobs.py
* create_job gains no_agent: bool = False
* prompt becomes Optional (no_agent jobs don't need one)
* Validation: no_agent=True requires a script at create time
* Field roundtrips via load_jobs / save_jobs / update_job
cron/scheduler.py
* run_job: new short-circuit branch at the top that runs the script,
wraps its output into the (success, doc, final_response, error)
tuple downstream delivery already expects, and returns before any
AIAgent import or construction
* _run_job_script: picks interpreter by extension — .sh/.bash run
under /bin/bash, anything else under sys.executable (Python).
Shell support unlocks the bash-watchdog pattern without wrapping
scripts in Python. Extension is explicit; we deliberately do NOT
trust the file's own shebang. Path-containment guard (scripts dir)
unchanged.
tools/cronjob_tools.py
* Schema: new no_agent boolean property with clear trigger guidance
* cronjob() accepts no_agent and validates mode-specific shape:
- no_agent=True requires script; prompt/skills optional
- no_agent=False keeps the existing 'prompt or skill required' rule
* update path rejects flipping no_agent=True on a job without a script
* _format_job surfaces no_agent in list output
* Handler lambda forwards no_agent from tool args
hermes_cli/main.py, hermes_cli/cron.py
* 'hermes cron create --no-agent' and edit's --no-agent / --agent
pair for toggling at CLI parity with the agent tool
* Existing --script help text updated to describe both modes
* List / create / edit output now shows 'Mode: no-agent (...)' when set
## Tests
tests/cron/test_cron_no_agent.py — 18 tests covering:
* create_job: no_agent shape, validation, field persistence
* update_job: flag roundtrip across reload
* cronjob tool: schema validation, update toggling, mode-specific
requirements, prompt-relaxation rule
* run_job short-circuit:
- success path delivers stdout verbatim
- empty stdout → SILENT_MARKER (no delivery downstream)
- wakeAgent=false gate → silent
- script failure → error alert
- run_job does NOT import AIAgent (verified via mock)
* _run_job_script:
- .sh executes via bash (no shebang required)
- .bash executes via bash
- .py still runs via sys.executable (regression)
- path-traversal still blocked (security regression)
All 18 new tests pass. 341/342 pre-existing cron tests still pass; the
one failure (test_script_empty_output_noted) was already broken on main
and is unrelated to this change.
## Docs
website/docs/guides/cron-script-only.md — new dedicated guide covering
the watchdog pattern, interpreter rules, delivery mapping, worked
examples (memory / disk alerts), and the comparison table vs hermes send,
regular LLM cron jobs, and OS-level cron.
website/docs/user-guide/features/cron.md — new 'No-agent mode' section
in the cron feature reference, cross-linked to the guide.
website/docs/guides/automate-with-cron.md — new tip box pointing users
to no-agent mode when they don't need LLM reasoning.
## Compatibility
- Existing jobs: unchanged. no_agent defaults to False, existing code
paths untouched until the flag is set.
- Schema additive only; older jobs.json without the field load fine
via .get() with False default.
- New CLI flags are opt-in and don't alter existing flag behavior.
* fix(cron): lazy-import AIAgent + SessionDB so no_agent ticks pay zero
The unconditional `from run_agent import AIAgent` + SessionDB() init at
the top of run_job() meant every no_agent tick still paid the full agent
module load cost (~300ms + transitive imports + DB open) even though it
never touched any of that machinery.
Move both to live under the default (LLM) path, after the no_agent
short-circuit has returned. Now a no_agent tick's sys.modules stays
clean — verified end-to-end:
assert 'run_agent' not in sys.modules # before
run_job(no_agent_job)
assert 'run_agent' not in sys.modules # after
The existing mock-based unit test (test_run_job_no_agent_never_invokes_aiagent)
kept passing because patch() replaces the class AFTER import; the leak
was only visible via real subprocess-style verification. End-to-end
demo confirmed: agent calls cronjob(no_agent=True) → script runs →
stdout delivered → no LLM machinery loaded.
* docs(cron): tighten no_agent tool schema — defaults, silent semantics, pick rule
Previous description buried the important bits in one long sentence.
Agents could plausibly miss three things an LLM-facing schema should
make unmissable:
1. What the default is — now first sentence + JSON Schema `default: false`
2. What 'silent run' actually means for the user — now spelled out:
'nothing is sent to the user and they won't see anything happened'
3. When to pick True vs False — now a concrete decision rule with
examples on both sides (watchdogs/metrics/pollers → True;
summarize/draft/pick/rephrase → False)
Also adds explicit 'prompt and skills are ignored when True' since the
agent could otherwise still pass them out of habit.
No behavior change — schema text only.
Cron jobs can now specify a per-job working directory. When set, the job
runs as if launched from that directory: AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md /
.cursorrules from that dir are injected into the system prompt, and the
terminal / file / code-exec tools use it as their cwd (via TERMINAL_CWD).
When unset, old behaviour is preserved (no project context files, tools
use the scheduler's cwd).
Requested by @bluthcy.
## Mechanism
- cron/jobs.py: create_job / update_job accept 'workdir'; validated to
be an absolute existing directory at create/update time.
- cron/scheduler.py run_job: if job.workdir is set, point TERMINAL_CWD
at it and flip skip_context_files to False before building the agent.
Restored in finally on every exit path.
- cron/scheduler.py tick: workdir jobs run sequentially (outside the
thread pool) because TERMINAL_CWD is process-global. Workdir-less jobs
still run in the parallel pool unchanged.
- tools/cronjob_tools.py + hermes_cli/cron.py + hermes_cli/main.py:
expose 'workdir' via the cronjob tool and 'hermes cron create/edit
--workdir ...'. Empty string on edit clears the field.
## Validation
- tests/cron/test_cron_workdir.py (21 tests): normalize, create, update,
JSON round-trip via cronjob tool, tick partition (workdir jobs run on
the main thread, not the pool), run_job env toggle + restore in finally.
- Full targeted suite (tests/cron/, test_cronjob_tools.py, test_cron.py,
test_config_cwd_bridge.py, test_worktree.py): 314/314 passed.
- Live smoke: hermes cron create --workdir $(pwd) works; relative path
rejected; list shows 'Workdir:'; edit --workdir '' clears.
_deliver_result() now returns Optional[str] — None on success, error
message on failure. All failure paths (unknown platform, platform
disabled, config load error, send failure, unresolvable target)
return descriptive error strings.
mark_job_run() gains delivery_error param, tracked as
last_delivery_error on the job — separate from agent execution errors.
A job where the agent succeeded but delivery failed shows
last_status='ok' + last_delivery_error='...'.
The cronjob list tool now surfaces last_delivery_error so agents and
users can see when cron outputs aren't arriving.
Inspired by PR #5863 (oxngon) — reimplemented with proper wiring.
Tests: 3 new mark_job_run tests + 6 new _deliver_result return tests.
Add an optional 'script' parameter to cron jobs that references a Python
script. The script runs before each agent turn, and its stdout is injected
into the prompt as context. This enables stateful monitoring — the script
handles data collection and change detection, the LLM analyzes and reports.
- cron/jobs.py: add script field to create_job(), stored in job dict
- cron/scheduler.py: add _run_job_script() executor with timeout handling,
inject script output/errors into _build_job_prompt()
- tools/cronjob_tools.py: add script to tool schema, create/update handlers,
_format_job display
- hermes_cli/cron.py: add --script to create/edit, display in list/edit output
- hermes_cli/main.py: add --script argparse for cron create/edit subcommands
- tests/cron/test_cron_script.py: 20 tests covering job CRUD, script
execution, path resolution, error handling, prompt injection, tool API
Script paths can be absolute or relative (resolved against ~/.hermes/scripts/).
Scripts run with a 120s timeout. Failures are injected as error context so
the LLM can report the problem. Empty string clears an attached script.
Remove [:8] truncation from hermes cron list output. Job IDs are 12
hex chars — truncating to 8 makes them unusable for cron run/pause/remove
which require the full ID.
Co-authored-by: vitobotta <vitobotta@users.noreply.github.com>
- Removed legacy cron daemon functionality, integrating cron job execution directly into the gateway process for improved efficiency.
- Updated CLI commands to reflect changes, replacing `hermes cron daemon` with `hermes cron status` and enhancing documentation for cron job management.
- Clarified messaging in the README and other documentation regarding the gateway's role in managing cron jobs.
- Removed obsolete terminal_hecate tool and related configurations to simplify the codebase.
- Updated the README to include a new banner image and changed the title emoji from 🦋 to ⚕.
- Modified various CLI outputs and scripts to reflect the new branding, ensuring consistency in the use of the ⚕ emoji.
- Added a new banner image asset for enhanced visual appeal during installation and setup processes.
- Updated CLI to load configuration from user-specific and project-specific YAML files, prioritizing user settings.
- Introduced a new command `/platforms` to display the status of connected messaging platforms (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp).
- Implemented a gateway system for handling messaging interactions, including session management and delivery routing for cron job outputs.
- Added support for environment variable configuration and a dedicated gateway configuration file for advanced settings.
- Enhanced documentation in README.md and added a new messaging.md file to guide users on platform integrations and setup.
- Updated toolsets to include platform-specific capabilities for Telegram, Discord, and WhatsApp, ensuring secure and tailored interactions.
