Per AGENTS.md, ~/.hermes/.env is reserved for API keys / secrets and
config.yaml is the surface for non-secret configuration. The Nous
Portal plugin previously read HERMES_DASHBOARD_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID and
HERMES_DASHBOARD_PORTAL_URL from the environment only, which forced
local-dev / on-prem operators to put non-secret per-instance
configuration in .env — violating the convention.
Add dashboard.oauth.{client_id,portal_url} to DEFAULT_CONFIG and have
the plugin resolve each setting with env-overrides-config precedence:
1. Env var when set to a non-empty value (Fly.io platform-secret
injection — what pushes per-deploy client_ids without baking
them into the image).
2. config.yaml entry (canonical surface for local dev / on-prem).
3. Plugin default (no provider registered when client_id is empty;
portal_url defaults to https://portal.nousresearch.com).
Empty env values are explicitly treated as unset so a provisioned-but-
not-populated Fly secret can't accidentally shadow a valid config.yaml
entry with an empty string — operators would otherwise lose the gate.
Implementation:
- hermes_cli/config.py: add dashboard.oauth.{client_id,portal_url}
block to DEFAULT_CONFIG with full doc comment explaining the
override precedence and Fly.io rationale.
- plugins/dashboard_auth/nous/__init__.py: add _load_config_oauth_section,
_resolve_client_id, _resolve_portal_url helpers; replace the two
direct os.environ.get() calls in register() with the resolvers.
Update the skip-reason string to mention BOTH surfaces so an
operator looking at the fail-closed bind error knows config.yaml
is a valid alternative to the env var.
- plugins/dashboard_auth/nous/plugin.yaml: update description to
name both surfaces. requires_env stays pointing at the env var
name — it's metadata-only (not used by the plugin loader for
gating) so this is documentation/UX, not enforcement.
- cli-config.yaml.example: append commented dashboard.oauth block
with the same override rationale operators see in code.
- website/docs/user-guide/features/web-dashboard.md: rewrite the
'Default provider: Nous Research' section to lead with config.yaml,
present env vars as operator overrides (Fly.io's primary path).
Updated the example fail-closed bind error to match the new
skip-reason text.
Test coverage — new TestConfigYamlSource class (8 tests) pinning
every tier of the precedence chain:
- config-yaml-only path registers correctly
- both config-yaml fields (client_id + portal_url) honoured
- env var overrides config for client_id (Fly.io critical path)
- env var overrides config for portal_url
- empty env string does NOT shadow config (CI/Fly edge case)
- neither source set → skip with reason mentioning BOTH surfaces
- load_config() raising falls through to env-only path (resilience)
- non-dict oauth section falls through cleanly (typo resilience)
Mutation-tested: flipping the precedence to config-wins-over-env trips
exactly test_env_overrides_config_client_id while the other 7 stay
green, confirming the suite discriminates the order, not just the
sources.
This closes the last item in Teknium's PR review (PR #30156).
The Nous OAuth provider plugin (plugins/dashboard_auth/nous) is bundled
and auto-loaded — same as before — but previously refused to register
unless BOTH HERMES_DASHBOARD_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID and HERMES_DASHBOARD_PORTAL_URL
were set, then the gate's fail-closed branch told the operator 'install
the default Nous provider'. That message is misleading: the provider IS
installed; it's just unconfigured. And the contract only really needs
the per-instance client_id — the portal URL is the same for everyone
in production.
Three changes:
1. plugins/dashboard_auth/nous/__init__.py:
- HERMES_DASHBOARD_PORTAL_URL is now optional and defaults to
'https://portal.nousresearch.com'. Override only for staging
(portal.rewbs.uk) or a custom deployment. Empty string also
falls back to the default so an empty Fly secret can't point
the dashboard at nowhere.
- Plugin exposes a module-level LAST_SKIP_REASON: str that the gate
reads when no providers register. Cleared on each register() call.
Skip reasons are human-readable and actionable
('HERMES_DASHBOARD_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID is not set. The Nous Portal
provisions this env var…').
2. plugins/dashboard_auth/nous/plugin.yaml:
- requires_env drops HERMES_DASHBOARD_PORTAL_URL; only the client_id
is mandatory. Description updated to reflect this.
3. hermes_cli/web_server.py:
- When the gate fail-closes for 'no providers', it now reads each
bundled plugin's LAST_SKIP_REASON and embeds them in the SystemExit
message. Operator sees the specific config fix needed:
Bundled providers reported these issues:
• nous: HERMES_DASHBOARD_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID is not set. …
instead of the prior generic 'Install the default Nous provider'.
Tests:
- TestPluginRegister rewritten to assert the new defaults +
LAST_SKIP_REASON contents (6 tests, +1 new for empty-string env).
- New gate test test_start_server_surfaces_nous_skip_reason_when_unconfigured.
- test_get_method_is_not_allowed widened to handle the SPA-shell 200
path explicitly — assertion now verifies no JSON ticket leaks
rather than asserting a specific status code (covers all four of
401/404/405/200).
Docs updated: web-dashboard.md's 'Default provider' section now shows
the env-var table with required/optional columns and embeds the
fail-closed error message verbatim so operators can match what they
see at the prompt.
Bundled, kind=backend, auto-loads. Activates ONLY when Portal-injected
env vars are present:
HERMES_DASHBOARD_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID — agent:{instance_id}
HERMES_DASHBOARD_PORTAL_URL — Portal base URL
Loopback / --insecure operators leave both unset and never see this
plugin register anything. The fail-closed branch in start_server handles
the 'public bind + zero providers' case independently.
Implementation follows nous-account-service PR #180's published OAuth
contract verbatim:
- client_id is per-instance (agent:{instance_id}); the suffix is
cross-checked against the token's agent_instance_id claim as
defense-in-depth (contract C9).
- scope is agent_dashboard:access only (contract C3).
- aud is the bare client_id, no hermes-cli: prefix (contract C2).
- RS256 JWT verification against /.well-known/jwks.json with
5-minute cache (contract C7).
- No refresh tokens in V1: refresh_session always raises
RefreshExpiredError; revoke_session is a no-op (contract C5).
- oauth_contract_version claim: missing → warn + proceed; present
and != 1 → refuse (contract C11, OQ-C2 tolerant treatment).
- redirect_uri validated client-side as defense before bouncing to
Portal; authoritative check is server-side per agent-redirect-uri.ts.
41 new tests covering construction, plugin-entry env gating, start_login
shape, complete_login httpx-mocked happy path + error mapping,
verify_session JWT verification (RSA keypair fixture, full claim-check
matrix), refresh_session always raising, revoke_session no-op.
PyJWT + cryptography are already in the venv (jose was previously
suggested; switched to pyjwt[crypto] since the latter is already
pulled in transitively).
