* feat(steer): /steer <prompt> injects a mid-run note after the next tool call
Adds a new slash command that sits between /queue (turn boundary) and
interrupt. /steer <text> stashes the message on the running agent and
the agent loop appends it to the LAST tool result's content once the
current tool batch finishes. The model sees it as part of the tool
output on its next iteration.
No interrupt is fired, no new user turn is inserted, and no prompt
cache invalidation happens beyond the normal per-turn tool-result
churn. Message-role alternation is preserved — we only modify an
existing role:"tool" message's content.
Wiring
------
- hermes_cli/commands.py: register /steer + add to ACTIVE_SESSION_BYPASS_COMMANDS.
- run_agent.py: add _pending_steer state, AIAgent.steer(), _drain_pending_steer(),
_apply_pending_steer_to_tool_results(); drain at end of both parallel and
sequential tool executors; clear on interrupt; return leftover as
result['pending_steer'] if the agent exits before another tool batch.
- cli.py: /steer handler — route to agent.steer() when running, fall back to
the regular queue otherwise; deliver result['pending_steer'] as next turn.
- gateway/run.py: running-agent intercept calls running_agent.steer(); idle-agent
path strips the prefix and forwards as a regular user message.
- tui_gateway/server.py: new session.steer JSON-RPC method.
- ui-tui: SessionSteerResponse type + local /steer slash command that calls
session.steer when ui.busy, otherwise enqueues for the next turn.
Fallbacks
---------
- Agent exits mid-steer → surfaces in run_conversation result as pending_steer
so CLI/gateway deliver it as the next user turn instead of silently dropping it.
- All tools skipped after interrupt → re-stashes pending_steer for the caller.
- No active agent → /steer reduces to sending the text as a normal message.
Tests
-----
- tests/run_agent/test_steer.py — accept/reject, concatenation, drain,
last-tool-result injection, multimodal list content, thread safety,
cleared-on-interrupt, registry membership, bypass-set membership.
- tests/gateway/test_steer_command.py — running agent, pending sentinel,
missing steer() method, rejected payload, empty payload.
- tests/gateway/test_command_bypass_active_session.py — /steer bypasses
the Level-1 base adapter guard.
- tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py — session.steer RPC paths.
72/72 targeted tests pass under scripts/run_tests.sh.
* feat(steer): register /steer in Discord's native slash tree
Discord's app_commands tree is a curated subset of slash commands (not
derived from COMMAND_REGISTRY like Telegram/Slack). /steer already
works there as plain text (routes through handle_message → base
adapter bypass → runner), but registering it here adds Discord's
native autocomplete + argument hint UI so users can discover and
type it like any other first-class command.
Live turn rendering used to show the streaming assistant text as one
blob with tool calls pooled in a separate section below, so the live
view drifted from the reload view (which threads tool rows inline via
toTranscriptMessages). Model now mirrors reload:
- turnStore gains streamSegments (completed assistant chunks, each
with any tool rows that landed between its predecessor and itself)
and streamPendingTools (tool rows waiting for the next chunk)
- turnController.flushStreamingSegment() seals the current bufRef into
a segment when a new tool.start fires; pending tools get attached to
that next chunk so order matches reload hydration
- recordMessageComplete returns finalMessages instead of one payload,
so appendMessage gets the same shape for live-ending turns as for
reloaded ones
- appLayout renders segments before the progress/streaming area, and
the streaming message + pending-tools fallback carry whatever tools
arrived after the last assistant chunk
- useVirtualHistory: track last-seen ScrollBox metrics in a ref inside
the post-layout effect and bump ver when sticky/top/vp change — the
subscribe-based rearm was sufficient for fresh clicks but not for the
"hydrated mid-commit, measured empty, then metrics settle" path where
nothing re-triggered the hook until the next unrelated keystroke
- useSessionLifecycle: resume scrollToBottom from queueMicrotask to
setTimeout(..., 0) so the fresh transcript has a full task turn to
commit + measure before we try to land at the newest content
useVirtualHistory set up its useSyncExternalStore subscription during
the first render, when scrollRef.current was still null (the ScrollBox
ref attaches during commit, after render). Its useCallback for
subscribe had a stable scrollRef identity as its only dep, so it never
re-subscribed once the ref actually attached — the hook stayed stuck
with vp=0, top=0, no scroll subscription. Small sessions fit entirely
in cold-start so you didn't notice; big /resume sessions got sliced to
the last 40 items with a huge topSpacer and the viewport sat on empty
space until some unrelated state change (e.g. a keystroke) re-rendered
and finally read a real vp.
- flip a hasScrollRef flag in useLayoutEffect once the ref attaches and
add it to the subscribe useCallback deps so useSyncExternalStore
rearms with a real subscription
- on resume, scrollToBottom() after history hydrates so the ScrollBox
lands at the newest messages instead of scrollTop=0 (stickyScroll
doesn't auto-engage on the initial empty→full dump)
- drop inline `import()` type annotation in useSessionLifecycle (import
`PanelSection` at the top like everything else)
- include `panel` and `session.resumeById` in the useMainApp useMemo
deps now that the event handler depends on them
- wrap the derived `selected` range in a useMemo so it has stable
identity and stops invalidating the TextInput `rendered` memo every
render
- prettier re-sorting of a couple of export/import lines
- hermes-ink: export `withInkSuspended()` + `useExternalProcess()` that
pause/resume Ink around an arbitrary external process (built on the
existing enterAlternateScreen/exitAlternateScreen plumbing)
- tui: `launchHermesCommand(args)` spawns the `hermes` binary with
inherited stdio, with `HERMES_BIN` override for non-standard launches
- tui: `/model` and `/setup` slash commands invoke the CLI wizards
in-place, then re-preflight `setup.status` and auto-start a session on
success — no more exit-and-relaunch to finish first-run setup
- setup panel now advertises those slashes instead of only pointing
users back at the shell
- tui_gateway: new `setup.status` RPC that reuses CLI's
`_has_any_provider_configured()`, so the TUI can ask the same question
the CLI bootstrap asks before launching a session
- useSessionLifecycle: preflight `setup.status` before both `newSession`
and `resumeById`, and render a clear "Setup Required" panel when no
provider is configured instead of booting a session that immediately
fails with `agent init failed`
- createGatewayEventHandler: drop duplicate startup resume logic in
favor of the preflighted `resumeById`, and special-case the
no-provider agent-init error as a last-mile fallback to the same
setup panel
- add regression tests for both paths
- tui_gateway: route approvals through gateway callback (HERMES_GATEWAY_SESSION/
HERMES_EXEC_ASK) so dangerous commands emit approval.request instead of
silently falling through the CLI input() path and auto-denying
- approval UX: dedicated PromptZone between transcript and composer, safer
defaults (sel=0, numeric quick-picks, no Esc=deny), activity trail line,
outcome footer under the cost row
- text input: Ctrl+A select-all, real forward Delete, Ctrl+W always consumed
(fixes Ctrl+Backspace at cursor 0 inserting literal w)
- hermes-ink selection: swap synchronous onRender() for throttled
scheduleRender() on drag, and only notify React subscribers on presence
change — no more per-cell paint/subscribe spam
- useConfigSync: silence config.get polling failures instead of surfacing
'error: timeout: config.get' in the transcript
Sticky prompt:
The loop was skipping `first` (the first row in the viewport) when
looking for a user message scrolled above the top edge. If `first`
itself was a user row that had just ticked above the viewport, we'd
fall through the early-return guard (`role === 'user' && !above`),
then walk from `first - 1` backward — never rechecking `first`, never
finding anything, returning '' and leaving the sticky empty. This is
why it felt "stuck" at the start: one-turn sessions with the user row
exactly at/near the top never surfaced the breadcrumb.
Collapsed the two branches into one loop starting at `first`: nearest
user wins — still-on-screen → empty (redundant to echo), already
above → text. Same semantics, covers the gap.
Scrollbar:
`useSyncExternalStore` snapshot was `scrollTop:vp:scrollHeight` —
scrollHeight ticks up by ~1 row on every streamed chunk, forcing a
re-render per chunk. Quantized snapshot to the displayed values
(`thumbTop:thumbSize:vp`) so we only re-render when the bar actually
changes. Drops render count per turn by ~100x during streaming and
stops the "constantly resizes" flicker.
Two improvements:
1. The progress ToolTrail and the streaming MessageLine were two
sibling JSX blocks in appLayout with hand-rolled margin glue
between them. Extracted into `<StreamingAssistant>`, a single
component that owns both the trail and the streaming body plus
the 1-row gap between them. appLayout just hands it `progress`
and theme; the layout logic lives in one place, matching the
mental model that these two pieces are one live assistant turn.
2. Thinking token label was hidden when `reasoningTokens === 0` even
if the live reasoning text was already populated (the
scheduleReasoning timer hadn't ticked, or the model sent no
reasoning but the text was coming in via reasoning.delta).
Changed the tokenCount fallback from `reasoningTokens !==
undefined ? reasoningTokens : estimate` to `reasoningTokens > 0 ?
... : estimate` so the label appears the moment text exists.
`appLayout` was passing `busy={ui.busy && !progress.streaming}` into
ToolTrail, so the moment `message.delta` fired and streaming began,
the panel internally saw `busy=false`. With the prior fix in place
(hasThinking = !!cot || reasoningActive || busy), that flipped
hasThinking to false and the Thinking expander vanished mid-turn —
reappearing only after message.complete when the finalized row
rendered with its own internal expander.
The `!progress.streaming` override was a defensive guard against the
panel implying "still thinking" once the response text was streaming.
But that's already handled inside ToolTrail — `streaming` prop on the
Thinking component uses `busy && reasoningStreaming`, and
reasoningStreaming is already falsey once recordMessageDelta calls
endReasoningPhase.
Pass plain `busy={ui.busy}`. Panel stays up start-to-finish; handoff
to the finalized-message row is continuous.
Finalized assistant messages rendered the thinking/tools trail inside
MessageLine with marginBottom=1 before the response body — giving a
clean blank line above the text. The streaming path rendered the
progress ToolTrail and the streaming MessageLine as two separate
siblings with no margin between, so the in-progress response butted
right up against the thinking panel. That's the "newline appears
after it's done" jank.
Wrap the streaming MessageLine in a Box with marginTop=1 whenever the
progress area is visible above it. Same spacing as the finalized
version, continuous through the handoff.
Previously `hasThinking = !!cot || reasoningActive || (busy && !hasTools)`
so the moment a tool started streaming (`hasTools` → true) the expander
vanished mid-turn. If the model also produced no `reasoning.delta`
events (reasoning-less models, or reasoning arriving after tools), the
whole turn ran with no Thinking row — then `message.complete`
populated `msg.thinking` from the payload's post-hoc reasoning trace
and the expander suddenly appeared in the transcript AFTER the turn.
Drop the `!hasTools` restriction. The Thinking row now anchors for the
entire `busy` window; tools and thinking coexist as sibling sections
(they already did — the exclusion was a UX mistake). Reasoning-less
models show a dim empty header; streaming models show live content;
tool-interleaved turns keep the anchor visible throughout.
The status bar was showing stale lifecycle text ("running…") while the
face+verb stream flickered through the thinking panel as Python pushed
thinking.delta events. That's backwards — the face ticker is the
primary "I'm alive" signal, it belongs in the status bar; the thinking
panel is for substantive reasoning and tool activity.
Status bar now reads `ui.busy`: when true, renders a local `<FaceTicker>`
cycling FACES × VERBS on a 2.5s interval, unaffected by server events.
When false, the bar shows the actual status string (ready, starting
agent…, interrupted, etc.).
Side effect: `scheduleThinkingStatus` still patches `ui.status` with
Python's face text, but while busy the bar ignores that string and uses
the ticker instead. No server-side changes needed — Python keeps
emitting thinking.delta as a liveness heartbeat, the TUI just doesn't
let it fight the status bar.
Python (tui_gateway/server.py):
- hoist `_wait_agent` next to `_sess` so `_sess` no longer forward-refs
- simplify `_wait_agent`: `ready.wait()` already returns True when set,
no separate `.is_set()` check, collapse two returns into one expr
- factor `_sess_nowait` for handlers that don't need the agent (currently
`terminal.resize` + `input.detect_drop`) — DRY up the duplicated
`_sessions.get` + "session not found" dance
- inline `session = _sessions[sid]` in the session.create build thread so
agent/worker writes don't re-look-up the dict each time
- rename inline `ready_event` → `ready` (it's never ambiguous)
TS:
- `useSessionLifecycle.newSession`: hoist `r.info ?? null` into `info`
so it's one lookup, drop ceremonial `{ … }` blocks around single-line
bodies
- `createGatewayEventHandler.session.info`: wrap the case in a block,
hoist `ev.payload` into `info`, tighten comments
- `useMainApp` flush effect: collapse two guard returns into one
- `bootBanner.ts`: lift `TAGLINE` + `FALLBACK` to module constants, make
`GRADIENT` readonly, one-liner return via template literal
- `theme.ts`: group `selectionBg` inside the status* block (it's a UI
surface bg, same family), trim the comment
Selection was falling back to SGR-7 inverse (fg ↔ bg per cell), which
fragments over syntax-highlighted content — each amber/gold/dim/cornsilk
fg turned into a different bg stripe, producing the staircase look.
Now `useMainApp` calls `selection.setSelectionBgColor()` with a muted
navy (`#3a3a55`) on theme change. `setSelectionBg` in screen.ts replaces
just the bg cell-by-cell while preserving fg/bold/dim/italic, so the
highlight is one solid color across the whole drag range and the text
stays readable in its original color.
Skins can override via `selection_bg` in their color map.
Dynamic-importing @hermes/ink + App costs ~170ms on cold start — during
that window the terminal was blank. Now `entry.tsx` writes a raw-ANSI
banner to stdout immediately after the TTY check, using hardcoded
DEFAULT_THEME colors. Ink's `<AlternateScreen>` wipes the normal-screen
buffer when it mounts, so the boot banner is replaced seamlessly by the
real React render a moment later — no double-banner, no flash.
T=2ms banner visible (vs. ~170ms before)
T=~170ms React + Ink mounts
T=~200ms alt screen takes over, Banner component repaints
Palette drift between `bootBanner.ts` and the live theme is harmless —
the live render overrides after ~200ms. Narrow terminals (cols < 98)
fall back to the one-line "⚕ NOUS HERMES" marker.
Post-async-session.create, `session.create` returns in ~1ms with partial
info and the real agent fires `session.info` ~1s later. Previously the
status bar went straight to 'ready' right after the instant RPC return,
which was misleading — `prompt.submit` would block server-side waiting
for the agent to finish building.
Now:
- `newSession`: status = 'starting agent…' when info has no `version`,
else 'ready' (covers the fast resume path too)
- `session.info` event: flips status to 'ready' only if it was
'starting agent…', preserving running/interrupted/error states
Previously `session.create` blocked for ~1.2s on `_make_agent` (mostly
`run_agent` transitive imports + AIAgent constructor). The UI waited
through that whole window before sid became known and the banner/panel
could render.
Now `session.create` returns immediately with `{session_id, info:
{model, cwd, tools:{}, skills:{}}}` and spawns a background thread that
does the real `_make_agent` + `_init_session`. When the agent is live,
the thread emits `session.info` with the full payload.
Python side:
- `_sessions[sid]` gets a placeholder dict with `agent=None` and a
`threading.Event()` named `agent_ready`
- `_wait_agent(session, rid, timeout=30)` blocks until the event is set
(no-op when already set or absent, e.g. for `session.resume`)
- `_sess()` now calls `_wait_agent` — so every handler routed through it
(prompt.submit, session.usage, session.compress, session.branch,
rollback.*, tools.configure, etc.) automatically holds until the agent
is live, but only during the ~1s startup window
- `terminal.resize` and `input.detect_drop` bypass the wait via direct
dict lookup — they don't touch the agent and would otherwise block
the first post-startup RPCs unnecessarily
TS side:
- `session.info` event handler now patches the intro message's `info`
in-place so the seeded banner upgrades to the full session panel when
the agent finishes initializing
- `appLayout` gates `SessionPanel` on `info.version` being present
(only set by `_session_info(agent)`, not by the partial payload from
`session.create`) — so the panel only appears when real data arrives
Net effect on cold start:
T=~400ms banner paints (seeded intro)
T=~245ms ui.sid set (session.create responds in ~1ms after ready)
T=~1400ms session panel fills in (real session.info event)
Pre-session keystrokes queue as before (already handled by the flush
effect); `prompt.submit` will wait on `agent_ready` on the Python side
when the flush tries to send before the agent is live.
Before: entry.tsx imports @hermes/ink (394KB bundle) + App + GatewayClient
in declaration order, then calls `gw.start()` at ~T=220ms. Python fork +
server.py import starts then.
After: only `GatewayClient` is statically imported (5ms, node builtins
only). `gw.start()` fires at ~T=5ms. @hermes/ink + App load in parallel
via `Promise.all(import(...))`. Python gets ~215ms of free runway to do
its own module import before node even finishes loading.
Net: session.info arrives ~150ms earlier in cold start. First React frame
timing is unchanged (still ~240ms — still gated by ink+app imports).
Removed a previously-tried warm-thread in server.py that pre-imported
`run_agent` in the background. Measured variance showed occasional
5-10s outliers (GIL thrashing); median gain was <100ms. Not worth the
non-determinism.
The TUI is fully interactive from the first frame but `session.create`
(agent + tools + MCP) takes ~2s. Plain-text messages typed before the
session is live used to fail with "session not ready yet"; slash and
shell commands worked but agent prompts were dropped.
Now:
- `dispatchSubmission` enqueues plain text when `sid` is null (slash/shell
still short-circuit first)
- `useMainApp` tracks sid transitions and kicks off one `sendQueued()`
when the session first becomes ready; subsequent queued messages drain
on `message.complete` as before
- Fixed pre-existing double-Enter bug that dequeued without sid check
User flow: type `hello` → shows in `queuedDisplay` preview → 2s later
agent wakes → message auto-sends → reply streams. Zero wasted input.
Previously `historyItems` was seeded empty and the intro (with Banner +
SessionPanel) was only pushed after Python's `session.create` returned —
~1.8s of agent + tools + MCP init with nothing on screen. Base CLI feels
instant because it prints the banner as its first action.
Seed `historyItems` with an info-less intro on mount. `appLayout` now
renders the Banner unconditionally for `kind === 'intro'` and gates only
the SessionPanel on `info` being present. Gateway.ready swaps the skin
(~200ms) and session.info fills in the panel when the agent is ready.
Net: first usable frame drops from ~2s to ~300ms (node + module graph +
React mount). No behavior change — intro message is replaced in place
by `introMsg(info)` when `newSession()` / `resumeById()` resolve.
Python's slash worker already prints every echo/panel command through Rich.
TS was reformatting the same data client-side for 23 commands. Delete those
shadows; let the `slash.exec` fallback in `createSlashHandler` route the
worker's text (via `<Ansi>`) and page-wrap long output.
TS registry now contains 23 commands (down from 45) — only those that:
- mutate React-local state (composer, transcript, overlays, uiStore)
- touch the terminal (OSC52 copy, `$EDITOR`, clipboard)
- open pickers (`/model`, `/resume`)
- trigger history surgery (`/undo`, `/retry`, `/compress`, `/personality`)
- need TS-only composition (`/help` merges HOTKEYS + catalog)
Deleted shadows:
session: yolo, skin, verbose, reasoning, provider, stop, reload-mcp,
save, title, insights, debug, fast, platforms, snapshot,
usage, history, profile
ops: plugins, rollback, agents, tasks, cron, config, toolsets,
browser, skills (list/browse only; `/tools configure` kept
for its history-reset side effect)
Side effects:
- Drops `slash/shared.ts` + `SlashShared` + `shared`/`SLASH_OUTPUT_PAGE` —
generic slash.exec fallback handles titled paging via `createSlashHandler`.
- Prunes 17 now-unreferenced `*Response` interfaces from gatewayTypes.ts.
- `createSlashHandler` fallback now pages long output (len>180 || lines>2)
and uses the command name as title.
session.ts: 670 -> 199 (-70%)
ops.ts: 460 -> 52 (-88%)
gatewayTypes.ts: 450 -> 302 (-33%)
Hoist turn state from a 286-line hook into $turnState atom + turnController
singleton. createGatewayEventHandler becomes a typed dispatch over the
controller; its ctx shrinks from 30 fields to 5. Event-handler refs and 16
threaded actions are gone.
Fold three createSlash*Handler factories into a data-driven SlashCommand[]
registry under slash/commands/{core,session,ops}.ts. Aliases are data;
findSlashCommand does name+alias lookup. Shared guarded/guardedErr combinator
in slash/guarded.ts.
Split constants.ts + app/helpers.ts into config/ (timing/limits/env),
content/ (faces/placeholders/hotkeys/verbs/charms/fortunes), domain/ (roles/
details/messages/paths/slash/viewport/usage), protocol/ (interpolation/paste).
Type every RPC response in gatewayTypes.ts (26 new interfaces); drop all
`(r: any)` across slash + main app.
Shrink useMainApp from 1216 -> 646 lines by extracting useSessionLifecycle,
useSubmission, useConfigSync. Add <Fg> themed primitive and strip ~50
`as any` color casts.
Tests: 50 passing. Build + type-check clean.
