Auxiliary LLM tasks (vision, compression, web_extract, etc.) currently
require modifications to core files for any plugin that needs its own
task slot — specifically the _AUX_TASKS list in hermes_cli/main.py and
the hardcoded env-var bridging dict in gateway/run.py. This violates
the 'plugins must not modify core files' rule and forces every memory
or context plugin that wants its own auxiliary task to either fork
core or open a coupled core+plugin PR.
This change adds a generic plugin surface for auxiliary task
registration:
ctx.register_auxiliary_task(
key='memory_retain_filter',
display_name='Memory retain filter',
description='hindsight pre-retain dedup/extract',
defaults={'timeout': 30, 'extra_body': {'reasoning_effort': 'low'}},
)
After registration, the task automatically:
- Appears in 'hermes model → Configure auxiliary models' picker via
a new _all_aux_tasks() merge of built-in + plugin tasks
- Has its provider/model/base_url/api_key bridged from config.yaml
to AUXILIARY_<KEY_UPPER>_* env vars at gateway startup
(gateway/run.py now uses a dynamic bridged-keys set instead of
a hardcoded per-task dict)
- Gets plugin-declared defaults (timeout, extra_body, etc.) layered
underneath user config so unconfigured plugin tasks still work
(agent/auxiliary_client._get_auxiliary_task_config)
- Resets to auto via 'Reset all to auto' alongside built-ins
Validation:
- Rejects shadowing of built-in keys (vision, compression, etc.)
- Rejects invalid key shapes (must match [A-Za-z0-9_]+)
- Rejects cross-plugin collisions (clear error)
- Allows same-plugin re-registration (idempotent updates)
Plugin discovery failures (rare) fall back gracefully — the aux
config UI still shows built-in tasks if get_plugin_auxiliary_tasks()
raises, and gateway env-var bridging keeps working for built-ins.
Built-in tasks remain hardcoded in _AUX_TASKS for stability — they're
the baseline UX, and DEFAULT_CONFIG already ships their defaults.
Plugin tasks layer on top.
Tests: 15 new tests in test_plugin_auxiliary_tasks.py covering API
validation, manager state lifecycle, helper sort order, _all_aux_tasks
merge semantics, _reset_aux_to_auto inclusion of plugin tasks, and
default-layering in auxiliary_client.
Updates the gateway-bridge code-parity test (test_auxiliary_config_bridge)
to assert the new dynamic shape rather than the hardcoded literal env
var names which no longer appear post-refactor.
Motivation: this unblocks PR #20262 (hindsight smart retain pipeline)
and similar plugins that need a dedicated aux task slot. The change
is non-breaking — built-in env vars (AUXILIARY_VISION_PROVIDER, etc.)
keep working since they're produced by the same f-string template
that built the hardcoded names.
