The remote model catalog (website/static/api/model-catalog.json) now labels
exactly one entry per provider block with "default": true — z-ai/glm-5.2 for
both OpenRouter and Nous Portal. That labeled entry is the model Hermes
silently lands on when the user never picked one, and it can be rotated by
editing the manifest alone: no release needed.
- model_catalog.py: get_default_model_from_cache() reads the label from the
in-process/disk cache only — never triggers a network fetch, so hot
resolution paths (agent build, gateway session setup) stay network-free.
- models.py: get_preferred_silent_default_model() resolves catalog label
first, PREFERRED_SILENT_DEFAULT_MODEL constant second (offline/fresh
install). _PROVIDER_SILENT_DEFAULT_OVERRIDES dict replaced by
_SILENT_DEFAULT_PROVIDERS routing through the shared resolver.
fetch_openrouter_models() preserves the "default" badge through live
/v1/models refreshes so the picker shows it.
- scripts/build_model_catalog.py: generator emits the default label so
regeneration can't drop it.
- website/docs/reference/model-catalog.md: schema documents the new field.
- Salvaged from PR #61141 (@HumphreySun98): bare-provider /model switches
(/model nous) route through the cost-safe default instead of curated
entry [0].
- tests: catalog-label precedence, constant fallback, stale-label fallback,
cache-only (no network) guarantee, and a shipped-manifest contract test
pinning the labeled entry to PREFERRED_SILENT_DEFAULT_MODEL.
E2E (temp HERMES_HOME): fresh-install constant fallback, shipped-manifest
label read, release-free rotation (relabeled cache -> new default across
models.py, tui_gateway, and gateway empty-model paths) all verified.
OpenRouter and Nous Portal curated picker lists now resolve via a JSON
manifest served by the docs site, falling back to the in-repo snapshot
when unreachable. Lets us update model lists without shipping a release.
Live URL: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/api/model-catalog.json
(source at website/static/api/model-catalog.json; auto-deploys via the
existing deploy-site.yml GitHub Pages pipeline on every merge to main).
Schema (v1) carries id + optional description + free-form metadata at
manifest, provider, and model levels. Pricing and context length stay
live-fetched via existing machinery (/v1/models endpoints, models.dev).
Config (new model_catalog section, default enabled):
model_catalog.url master manifest URL
model_catalog.ttl_hours disk cache TTL (default 24h)
model_catalog.providers.<name>.url optional per-provider override
Fetch pipeline: in-process cache -> disk cache (fresh < TTL) -> HTTP
fetch -> disk-cache-on-failure fallback -> in-repo snapshot as last
resort. Never raises to callers; at worst returns the bundled list.
Changes:
- website/static/api/model-catalog.json initial manifest (35 OR + 31 Nous)
- scripts/build_model_catalog.py regenerator from in-repo lists
- hermes_cli/model_catalog.py fetch + validate + cache module
- hermes_cli/models.py fetch_openrouter_models() +
new get_curated_nous_model_ids()
- hermes_cli/main.py, hermes_cli/auth.py Nous flows use the helper
- hermes_cli/config.py model_catalog defaults
- website/docs/reference/model-catalog.md + sidebars.ts
- tests/hermes_cli/test_model_catalog.py 21 tests (validation, fetch
success/failure, accessors,
disabled, overrides, integration)
