The old CWD heuristic was fooled by:
1. TERMINAL_CWD persisted to .env by `hermes config set terminal.cwd`
2. Inherited TERMINAL_CWD from parent hermes processes
3. Only resolved when config had a placeholder value (not explicit paths)
Fix:
- load_cli_config() unconditionally uses os.getcwd() for local backend
- TERMINAL_CWD always force-exported in CLI mode (overrides stale values)
- Gateway sets _HERMES_GATEWAY=1 marker so lazy cli.py imports don't clobber
- Remove terminal.cwd from config-set .env sync map (prevents re-poisoning)
- Clarify setup wizard label as 'Gateway working directory'
Closes#19214
CLI/TUI sessions on the local backend now unconditionally use
os.getcwd() as the working directory. The terminal.cwd config value is
only consumed by gateway/cron/delegation modes (where there's no shell
to cd from).
Previously, 'hermes setup' would write an absolute path (e.g. $HOME)
into terminal.cwd which then pinned the CLI to that directory regardless
of where the user launched hermes from. This was a silent foot-gun —
the user's 'cd' was being ignored.
Changes:
1. cli.py: Restructured CWD resolution — if TERMINAL_CWD is not already
set by the gateway, and the backend is local, always use os.getcwd().
Config terminal.cwd is irrelevant for interactive CLI/TUI sessions.
2. setup.py: Moved the cwd prompt from setup_terminal_backend() to
setup_gateway(). It now only appears when configuring messaging
platforms and is labeled 'Gateway working directory'.
3. Tests: Rewrote test_cwd_env_respect.py to validate the new behavior:
explicit config paths are ignored for CLI, gateway pre-set values are
preserved, non-local backends keep their config paths.
4. Docs: Updated configuration.md, profiles.md, and
environment-variables.md to clarify that terminal.cwd only affects
gateway/cron mode on local backend.
Closes#19214
config.yaml terminal.cwd is now the single source of truth for working
directory. MESSAGING_CWD and TERMINAL_CWD in .env are deprecated with a
migration warning.
Changes:
1. config.py: Remove MESSAGING_CWD from OPTIONAL_ENV_VARS (setup wizard
no longer prompts for it). Add warn_deprecated_cwd_env_vars() that
prints a migration hint when deprecated env vars are detected.
2. gateway/run.py: Replace all MESSAGING_CWD reads with TERMINAL_CWD
(which is bridged from config.yaml terminal.cwd). MESSAGING_CWD is
still accepted as a backward-compat fallback with deprecation warning.
Config bridge skips cwd placeholder values so they don't clobber
the resolved TERMINAL_CWD.
3. cli.py: Guard against lazy-import clobbering — when cli.py is
imported lazily during gateway runtime (via delegate_tool), don't
let load_cli_config() overwrite an already-resolved TERMINAL_CWD
with os.getcwd() of the service's working directory. (#10817)
4. hermes_cli/main.py: Add 'hermes memory reset' command with
--target all/memory/user and --yes flags. Profile-scoped via
HERMES_HOME.
Migration path for users with .env settings:
Remove MESSAGING_CWD / TERMINAL_CWD from .env
Add to config.yaml:
terminal:
cwd: /your/project/path
Addresses: #10225, #4672, #10817, #7663
