User hit a real failure case: their system Git was in a half-installed state
(can neither uninstall nor reinstall) and winget refused to work around it.
We were one step away from shipping an installer that would have left users
with exactly the problem he already had.
What other agents do (reality check):
- Claude Code: requires pre-installed Git; breaks if user doesn't have it.
- OpenCode, Codex: don't need bash at all — PowerShell-first design.
- Cline: uses whatever shell VSCode is configured with; installs nothing.
None of them solve the "broken system Git" problem. We need to own our Git.
Changes:
- scripts/install.ps1::Install-Git: dropped winget path entirely. Now:
(1) use existing git if present; (2) download portable MinGit from the
official git-for-windows GitHub release to %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\git.
No winget, no admin, no Windows installer registry, no system impact.
- Added %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\git\{cmd,usr\bin} to User PATH so git + bash
+ POSIX coreutils (which, env, grep, …) resolve in fresh shells.
- tools/environments/local.py::_find_bash: reorder so Hermes' portable
MinGit install is checked BEFORE falling through to shutil.which("bash")
or system install locations. This way a broken system Git can't
hijack the bash lookup.
- README + installation docs reworded to reflect the new story: "portable
Git Bash, isolated from any system install, recoverable via rm -rf if it
ever breaks."
Recoverability: if Hermes' Git install ever breaks, ``Remove-Item %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\git``
and re-run the installer — no system impact, no uninstall drama, no winget
to fight with.
Native Windows (with Git for Windows installed) can now run the Hermes CLI
and gateway end-to-end without crashing. install.ps1 already existed and
the Git Bash terminal backend was already wired up — this PR fills the
remaining gaps discovered by auditing every Windows-unsafe primitive
(`signal.SIGKILL`, `os.kill(pid, 0)` probes, bare `fcntl`/`termios`
imports) and by comparing hermes against how Claude Code, OpenCode, Codex,
and Cline handle native Windows.
## What changed
### UTF-8 stdio (new module)
- `hermes_cli/stdio.py` — single `configure_windows_stdio()` entry point.
Flips the console code page to CP_UTF8 (65001), reconfigures
`sys.stdout`/`stderr`/`stdin` to UTF-8, sets `PYTHONIOENCODING` + `PYTHONUTF8`
for subprocesses. No-op on non-Windows. Opt out via `HERMES_DISABLE_WINDOWS_UTF8=1`.
- Called early in `cli.py::main`, `hermes_cli/main.py::main`, and
`gateway/run.py::main` so Unicode banners (box-drawing, geometric
symbols, non-Latin chat text) don't `UnicodeEncodeError` on cp1252
consoles.
### Crash sites fixed
- `hermes_cli/main.py:7970` (hermes update → stuck gateway sweep): raw
`os.kill(pid, _signal.SIGKILL)` → `gateway.status.terminate_pid(pid, force=True)`
which routes through `taskkill /T /F` on Windows.
- `hermes_cli/profiles.py::_stop_gateway_process`: same fix — also
converted SIGTERM path to `terminate_pid()` and widened OSError catch
on the intermediate `os.kill(pid, 0)` probe.
- `hermes_cli/kanban_db.py:2914, 3041`: raw `signal.SIGKILL` →
`getattr(signal, "SIGKILL", signal.SIGTERM)` fallback (matches the
pattern already used in `gateway/status.py`).
### OSError widening on `os.kill(pid, 0)` probes
Windows raises `OSError` (WinError 87) for a gone PID instead of
`ProcessLookupError`. Widened the catch at:
- `gateway/run.py:15101` (`--replace` wait-for-exit loop — without this,
the loop busy-spins the full 10s every Windows gateway start)
- `hermes_cli/gateway.py:228, 460, 940`
- `hermes_cli/profiles.py:777`
- `tools/process_registry.py::_is_host_pid_alive`
- `tools/browser_tool.py:1170, 1206`
### Dashboard PTY graceful degradation
`hermes_cli/pty_bridge.py` depends on `fcntl`/`termios`/`ptyprocess`,
none of which exist on native Windows. Previously a Windows dashboard
would crash on `import hermes_cli.web_server` because of a top-level
import. Now:
- `hermes_cli/web_server.py` wraps the pty_bridge import in
`try/except ImportError` and sets `_PTY_BRIDGE_AVAILABLE=False`.
- The `/api/pty` WebSocket handler returns a friendly "use WSL2 for
this tab" message instead of exploding.
- Every other dashboard feature (sessions, jobs, metrics, config
editor) runs natively on Windows.
### Dependency
- `pyproject.toml`: add `tzdata>=2023.3; sys_platform == 'win32'` so
Python's `zoneinfo` works on Windows (which has no IANA tzdata
shipped with the OS). Credits @sprmn24 (PR #13182).
### Docs
- README.md: removed "Native Windows is not supported"; added
PowerShell one-liner and Git-for-Windows prerequisite note.
- `website/docs/getting-started/installation.md`: new Windows section
with capability matrix (everything native except the dashboard
`/chat` PTY tab, which is WSL2-only).
- `website/docs/user-guide/windows-wsl-quickstart.md`: reframed as
"WSL2 as an alternative to native" rather than "the only way".
- `website/docs/developer-guide/contributing.md`: updated
cross-platform guidance with the `signal.SIGKILL` / `OSError`
rules we enforce now.
- `website/docs/user-guide/features/web-dashboard.md`: acknowledged
native Windows works for everything except the embedded PTY pane.
## Why this shape
Pulled from a survey of how other agent codebases handle native
Windows (Claude Code, OpenCode, Codex, Cline):
- All four treat Git Bash as the canonical shell on Windows, same as
hermes already does in `tools/environments/local.py::_find_bash()`.
- None of them force `SetConsoleOutputCP` — but they don't have to,
Node/Rust write UTF-16 to the Win32 console API. Python does not get
that for free, so we flip CP_UTF8 via ctypes.
- None of them ship PowerShell-as-primary-shell (Claude Code exposes
PS as a secondary tool; scope creep for this PR).
- All of them use `taskkill /T /F` for force-kill on Windows, which
is exactly what `gateway.status.terminate_pid(force=True)` does.
## Non-goals (deliberate scope limits)
- No PowerShell-as-a-second-shell tool — worth designing separately.
- No terminal routing rewrite (#12317, #15461, #19800 cluster) — that's
the hardest design call and needs a separate doc.
- No wholesale `open()` → `open(..., encoding="utf-8")` sweep (Tianworld
cluster) — will do as follow-up if users hit actual breakage; most
modern code already specifies it.
## Validation
- 28 new tests in `tests/tools/test_windows_native_support.py` — all
platform-mocked, pass on Linux CI. Cover:
- `configure_windows_stdio` idempotency, opt-out, env-preservation
- `terminate_pid` taskkill routing, failure → OSError, FileNotFoundError fallback
- `getattr(signal, "SIGKILL", …)` fallback shape
- `_is_host_pid_alive` OSError widening (Windows-gone-PID behavior)
- Source-level checks that all entry points call `configure_windows_stdio`
- pty_bridge import-guard present in `web_server.py`
- README no longer says "not supported"
- 12 pre-existing tests in `tests/tools/test_windows_compat.py` still pass.
- `tests/hermes_cli/` ran fully (3909 passed, 9 failures — all confirmed
pre-existing on main by stash-test).
- `tests/gateway/` ran fully (5021 passed, 1 pre-existing failure).
- `tests/tools/test_process_registry.py` + `test_browser_*` pass.
- Manual smoke: `import hermes_cli.stdio; import gateway.run;
import hermes_cli.web_server` — all clean, `_PTY_BRIDGE_AVAILABLE=True`
on Linux (as expected).
## Files
- New: `hermes_cli/stdio.py`, `tests/tools/test_windows_native_support.py`
- Modified: `cli.py`, `gateway/run.py`, `hermes_cli/main.py`,
`hermes_cli/profiles.py`, `hermes_cli/gateway.py`,
`hermes_cli/kanban_db.py`, `hermes_cli/pty_bridge.py`,
`hermes_cli/web_server.py`, `tools/browser_tool.py`,
`tools/process_registry.py`, `pyproject.toml`, `README.md`, and 4
docs pages.
Credits to everyone whose prior PR work informed these fixes — see
the co-author trailers. All of the PRs listed in
`~/.hermes/plans/windows-support-prs.md` fixing `os.kill` / `signal.SIGKILL`
/ UTF-8 stdio / tzdata / README patterns found the same issues; this PR
consolidates them.
Co-authored-by: Philip D'Souza <9472774+PhilipAD@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Arecanon <42595053+ArecaNon@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: XiaoXiao0221 <263113677+XiaoXiao0221@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Lars Hagen <1360677+lars-hagen@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Luan Dias <65574834+luandiasrj@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Ruzzgar <ruzzgarcn@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: sprmn24 <oncuevtv@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: adybag14-cyber <252811164+adybag14-cyber@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Prasanna28Devadiga <54196612+Prasanna28Devadiga@users.noreply.github.com>
Adds two complementary GitHub PR review guides from contest submissions:
- Cron-based PR review agent (from PR #5836 by @dieutx) — polls on a
schedule, no server needed, teaches skills + memory authoring
- Webhook-based PR review (from PR #6503 by @gaijinkush) — real-time via
GitHub webhooks, documents previously undocumented webhook feature
Both guides are cross-linked so users can pick the approach that fits.
Reworks quickstart.md by integrating the best content from PR #5744
by @aidil2105:
- Opinionated decision table ('The fastest path')
- Common failure modes table with causes and fixes
- Recovery toolkit sequence
- Session lifecycle verification step
- Better first-chat guidance with example prompts
Slims down installation.md:
- Removes 10-step manual/dev install section (already covered in
developer-guide/contributing.md)
- Links to Contributing guide for dev setup
- Keeps focused on the automated installer + prerequisites + troubleshooting
* feat: nix flake, uv2nix build, dev shell and home manager
* fixed nix run, updated docs for setup
* feat(nix): NixOS module with persistent container mode, managed guards, checks
- Replace homeModules.nix with nixosModules.nix (two deployment modes)
- Mode A (native): hardened systemd service with ProtectSystem=strict
- Mode B (container): persistent Ubuntu container with /nix/store bind-mount,
identity-hash-based recreation, GC root protection, symlink-based updates
- Add HERMES_MANAGED guards blocking CLI config mutation (config set, setup,
gateway install/uninstall) when running under NixOS module
- Add nix/checks.nix with build-time verification (binary, CLI, managed guard)
- Remove container.nix (no Nix-built OCI image; pulls ubuntu:24.04 at runtime)
- Simplify packages.nix (drop fetchFromGitHub submodules, PYTHONPATH wrappers)
- Rewrite docs/nixos-setup.md with full options reference, container
architecture, secrets management, and troubleshooting guide
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Update config.py
* feat(nix): add CI workflow and enhanced build checks
- GitHub Actions workflow for nix flake check + build on linux/macOS
- Entry point sync check to catch pyproject.toml drift
- Expanded managed-guard check to cover config edit
- Wrap hermes-acp binary in Nix package
- Fix Path type mismatch in is_managed()
* Update MCP server package name; bundled skills support
* fix reading .env. instead have container user a common mounted .env file
* feat(nix): container entrypoint with privilege drop and sudo provisioning
Container was running as non-root via --user, which broke apt/pip installs
and caused crashes when $HOME didn't exist. Replace --user with a Nix-built
entrypoint script that provisions the hermes user, sudo (NOPASSWD), and
/home/hermes inside the container on first boot, then drops privileges via
setpriv. Writable layer persists so setup only runs once.
Also expands MCP server options to support HTTP transport and sampling.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix group and user creation in container mode
* feat(nix): persistent /home/hermes and MESSAGING_CWD in container mode
Container mode now bind-mounts ${stateDir}/home to /home/hermes so the
agent's home directory survives container recreation. Previously it lived
in the writable layer and was lost on image/volume/options changes.
Also passes MESSAGING_CWD to the container so the agent finds its
workspace and documents, matching native mode behavior.
Other changes:
- Extract containerDataDir/containerHomeDir bindings (no more magic strings)
- Fix entrypoint chown to run unconditionally (volume mounts always exist)
- Add schema field to container identity hash for auto-recreation
- Add idempotency test (Scenario G) to config-roundtrip check
* docs: add Nix & NixOS setup guide to docs site
Add comprehensive Nix documentation to the Docusaurus site at
website/docs/getting-started/nix-setup.md, covering nix run/profile
install, NixOS module (native + container modes), declarative settings,
secrets management, MCP servers, managed mode, container architecture,
dev shell, flake checks, and full options reference.
- Register nix-setup in sidebar after installation page
- Add Nix callout tip to installation.md linking to new guide
- Add canonical version pointer in docs/nixos-setup.md
* docs: remove docs/nixos-setup.md, consolidate into website docs
Backfill missing details (restart/restartSec in full example,
gateway.pid, 0750 permissions, docker inspect commands) into
the canonical website/docs/getting-started/nix-setup.md and
delete the old standalone file.
* fix(nix): add compression.protect_last_n and target_ratio to config-keys.json
New keys were added to DEFAULT_CONFIG on main, causing the
config-drift check to fail in CI.
* fix(nix): skip checks on aarch64-darwin (onnxruntime wheel missing)
The full Python venv includes onnxruntime (via faster-whisper/STT)
which lacks a compatible uv2nix wheel on aarch64-darwin. Gate all
checks behind stdenv.hostPlatform.isLinux. The package and devShell
still evaluate on macOS.
* fix(nix): skip flake check and build on macOS CI
onnxruntime (transitive dep via faster-whisper) lacks a compatible
uv2nix wheel on aarch64-darwin. Run full checks and build on Linux
only; macOS CI verifies the flake evaluates without building.
* fix(nix): preserve container writable layer across nixos-rebuild
The container identity hash included the entrypoint's Nix store path,
which changes on every nixpkgs update (due to runtimeShell/stdenv
input-addressing). This caused false-positive identity mismatches,
triggering container recreation and losing the persistent writable layer.
- Use stable symlink (current-entrypoint) like current-package already does
- Remove entrypoint from identity hash (only image/volumes/options matter)
- Add GC root for entrypoint so nix-collect-garbage doesn't break it
- Remove global HERMES_HOME env var from addToSystemPackages (conflicted
with interactive CLI use, service already sets its own)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Complete cleanup after dropping the mini-swe-agent submodule (PR #2804):
- Remove MSWEA_SILENT_STARTUP and MSWEA_GLOBAL_CONFIG_DIR env var
settings from cli.py, run_agent.py, hermes_cli/main.py, doctor.py
- Remove mini-swe-agent health check from hermes doctor
- Remove 'minisweagent' from logger suppression lists
- Remove litellm/typer/platformdirs from requirements.txt
- Remove mini-swe-agent install steps from install.ps1 (Windows)
- Remove mini-swe-agent install steps from website docs
- Update all stale comments/docstrings referencing mini-swe-agent
in terminal_tool.py, tools/__init__.py, code_execution_tool.py,
environments/README.md, environments/agent_loop.py
- Remove mini_swe_runner from pyproject.toml py-modules
(still exists as standalone script for RL training use)
- Shrink test_minisweagent_path.py to empty stub
The orphaned mini-swe-agent/ directory on disk needs manual removal:
rm -rf mini-swe-agent/
- add ACP user and developer docs covering setup, lifecycle, callbacks,
permissions, tool rendering, and runtime behavior
- add developer guides for agent loop, provider runtime resolution,
prompt assembly, context caching/compression, gateway internals,
session storage, tools runtime, trajectories, and cron internals
- refresh architecture, quickstart, installation, CLI reference, and
environments docs to link the new implementation pages and ACP support
Show users the specific commands for each config area (hermes model,
hermes tools, hermes config set, hermes gateway setup) and then
present 'hermes setup' as the option to configure everything at once.
The installer already handles full setup (provider config, etc.), so
telling users to run 'hermes setup' post-install is redundant and
confusing. Updated all docs to reflect the correct flow:
1. Run the installer (handles everything including provider setup)
2. Use 'hermes model', 'hermes tools', 'hermes gateway setup' to
reconfigure individual settings later
Files updated:
- README.md: removed setup from quick install & getting started
- installation.md: updated post-install, manual step 9, troubleshooting
- quickstart.md: updated provider section & quick reference table
- cli-commands.md: updated hermes setup description
- faq.md: replaced hermes setup references with specific commands
On top of PR #460: self-hosted Firecrawl instances don't require an API
key (USE_DB_AUTHENTICATION=false), so don't force users to set a dummy
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY when FIRECRAWL_API_URL is set. Also adds a proper
self-hosting section to the configuration docs explaining what you get,
what you lose, and how to set it up (Docker stack, tradeoffs vs cloud).
Added 2 more tests (URL-only without key, neither-set raises).
Adds optional FIRECRAWL_API_URL environment variable to support
self-hosted Firecrawl deployments alongside the cloud service.
- Add FIRECRAWL_API_URL to optional env vars in hermes_cli/config.py
- Update _get_firecrawl_client() in tools/web_tools.py to accept custom API URL
- Add tests for client initialization with/without URL
- Document new env var in installation and config guides
- Installation: Remove PowerShell/CMD install commands, add WSL2 warning
- Quickstart: Replace PowerShell block with WSL2 tip
- Contributing: Update cross-platform section to clarify Windows unsupported
- Index: Update install description to say WSL2 instead of Windows
- 25 documentation pages covering Getting Started, User Guide, Developer Guide, and Reference
- Docusaurus with custom amber/gold theme matching the landing page branding
- GitHub Actions workflow to deploy landing page + docs to GitHub Pages
- Landing page at root, docs at /docs/ on hermes-agent.nousresearch.com
- Content extracted and restructured from existing repo docs (README, AGENTS.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, docs/)
- Auto-deploy on push to main when website/ or landingpage/ changes
