The `@askjo/camofox-browser` npm package was a top-level entry in
the root `package.json` `dependencies` block, so `hermes update`
ran its postinstall on every user, every update. That postinstall
calls `npx camoufox-js fetch`, which silently downloads a ~300MB
Firefox-fork browser binary from GitHub Releases — multi-minute on
fast connections, and a hard block for users on slow / restricted
networks (notably users in China running through a VPN).
Camofox is an explicit opt-in browser backend. The runtime check
in `tools/browser_tool.py` only routes through Camofox when the
user has set `CAMOFOX_URL` (selected via `hermes tools` →
Browser Automation → Camofox). Users who never opted in never
touched the package at runtime, yet every `hermes update` paid
for the binary fetch anyway.
This change:
* Removes `@askjo/camofox-browser` from root `package.json`
dependencies (and the regenerated `package-lock.json` drops
Camofox's entire transitive tree, ~2.6k lines).
* Updates the Camofox `post_setup` handler in
`hermes_cli/tools_config.py` to install
`@askjo/camofox-browser@^1.5.2` explicitly when the user
selects Camofox, and streams npm output (no `--silent`, no
`capture_output`) so the ~300MB download is visible rather
than appearing frozen.
* Adds `tests/test_package_json_lazy_deps.py` as a regression
guard so future PRs can't silently re-add Camofox (or any
binary-postinstall package) to eager root dependencies.
`agent-browser` stays eager — it is the default Chromium-driving
backend used by every session that does not have a cloud browser
provider configured, and its postinstall is small.
Validation:
| | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| `hermes update` time on slow network | multi-minute hang at `→ Updating Node.js dependencies...` | seconds (no binary fetch) |
| Camofox opt-in install visibility | silent, looked frozen | streamed npm output |
| Regression guard against re-adding | none | `test_package_json_lazy_deps.py` |
Tests:
- `tests/test_package_json_lazy_deps.py`: 3/3 pass
- `tests/tools/test_browser_camofox*`: 92/92 pass
- `tests/hermes_cli/test_tools_config.py`: 66/66 pass
- `tests/hermes_cli/test_cmd_update.py` + adjacent: green
Reported by lulu (Discord, May 2026) — `hermes update` hangs at
`→ Updating Node.js dependencies...` in China.
Related: #18840, #18869.
