hermes-agent/tools
Teknium 3dfb357001 feat(cross-platform): psutil for PID/process management + Windows footgun checker
## Why

Hermes supports Linux, macOS, and native Windows, but the codebase grew up
POSIX-first and has accumulated patterns that silently break (or worse,
silently kill!) on Windows:

- `os.kill(pid, 0)` as a liveness probe — on Windows this maps to
  CTRL_C_EVENT and broadcasts Ctrl+C to the target's entire console
  process group (bpo-14484, open since 2012).
- `os.killpg` — doesn't exist on Windows at all (AttributeError).
- `os.setsid` / `os.getuid` / `os.geteuid` — same.
- `signal.SIGKILL` / `signal.SIGHUP` / `signal.SIGUSR1` — module-attr
  errors at runtime on Windows.
- `open(path)` / `open(path, "r")` without explicit encoding= — inherits
  the platform default, which is cp1252/mbcs on Windows (UTF-8 on POSIX),
  causing mojibake round-tripping between hosts.
- `wmic` — removed from Windows 10 21H1+.

This commit does three things:

1. Makes `psutil` a core dependency and migrates critical callsites to it.
2. Adds a grep-based CI gate (`scripts/check-windows-footguns.py`) that
   blocks new instances of any of the above patterns.
3. Fixes every existing instance in the codebase so the baseline is clean.

## What changed

### 1. psutil as a core dependency (pyproject.toml)

Added `psutil>=5.9.0,<8` to core deps. psutil is the canonical
cross-platform answer for "is this PID alive" and "kill this process
tree" — its `pid_exists()` uses `OpenProcess + GetExitCodeProcess` on
Windows (NOT a signal call), and its `Process.children(recursive=True)`
+ `.kill()` combo replaces `os.killpg()` portably.

### 2. `gateway/status.py::_pid_exists`

Rewrote to call `psutil.pid_exists()` first, falling back to the
hand-rolled ctypes `OpenProcess + WaitForSingleObject` dance on Windows
(and `os.kill(pid, 0)` on POSIX) only if psutil is somehow missing —
e.g. during the scaffold phase of a fresh install before pip finishes.

### 3. `os.killpg` migration to psutil (7 callsites, 5 files)

- `tools/code_execution_tool.py`
- `tools/process_registry.py`
- `tools/tts_tool.py`
- `tools/environments/local.py` (3 sites kept as-is, suppressed with
  `# windows-footgun: ok` — the pgid semantics psutil can't replicate,
  and the calls are already Windows-guarded at the outer branch)
- `gateway/platforms/whatsapp.py`

### 4. `scripts/check-windows-footguns.py` (NEW, 500 lines)

Grep-based checker with 11 rules covering every Windows cross-platform
footgun we've hit so far:

1. `os.kill(pid, 0)` — the silent killer
2. `os.setsid` without guard
3. `os.killpg` (recommends psutil)
4. `os.getuid` / `os.geteuid` / `os.getgid`
5. `os.fork`
6. `signal.SIGKILL`
7. `signal.SIGHUP/SIGUSR1/SIGUSR2/SIGALRM/SIGCHLD/SIGPIPE/SIGQUIT`
8. `subprocess` shebang script invocation
9. `wmic` without `shutil.which` guard
10. Hardcoded `~/Desktop` (OneDrive trap)
11. `asyncio.add_signal_handler` without try/except
12. `open()` without `encoding=` on text mode

Features:
- Triple-quoted-docstring aware (won't flag prose inside docstrings)
- Trailing-comment aware (won't flag mentions in `# os.kill(pid, 0)` comments)
- Guard-hint aware (skips lines with `hasattr(os, ...)`,
  `shutil.which(...)`, `if platform.system() != 'Windows'`, etc.)
- Inline suppression with `# windows-footgun: ok — <reason>`
- `--list` to print all rules with fixes
- `--all` / `--diff <ref>` / staged-files (default) modes
- Scans 380 files in under 2 seconds

### 5. CI integration

A GitHub Actions workflow that runs the checker on every PR and push is
staged at `/tmp/hermes-stash/windows-footguns.yml` — not included in this
commit because the GH token on the push machine lacks `workflow` scope.
A maintainer with `workflow` permissions should add it as
`.github/workflows/windows-footguns.yml` in a follow-up. Content:

```yaml
name: Windows footgun check
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with: {python-version: "3.11"}
      - run: python scripts/check-windows-footguns.py --all
```

### 6. CONTRIBUTING.md — "Cross-Platform Compatibility" expansion

Expanded from 5 to 16 rules, each with message, example, and fix.
Recommends psutil as the preferred API for PID / process-tree operations.

### 7. Baseline cleanup (91 → 0 findings)

- 14 `open()` sites → added `encoding='utf-8'` (internal logs/caches) or
  `encoding='utf-8-sig'` (user-editable files that Notepad may BOM)
- 23 POSIX-only callsites in systemd helpers, pty_bridge, and plugin
  tool subprocess management → annotated with
  `# windows-footgun: ok — <reason>`
- 7 `os.killpg` sites → migrated to psutil (see §3 above)

## Verification

```
$ python scripts/check-windows-footguns.py --all
✓ No Windows footguns found (380 file(s) scanned).

$ python -c "from gateway.status import _pid_exists; import os
> print('self:', _pid_exists(os.getpid())); print('bogus:', _pid_exists(999999))"
self: True
bogus: False
```

Proof-of-repro that `os.kill(pid, 0)` was actually killing processes
before this fix — see commit `1cbe39914` and bpo-14484. This commit
removes the last hand-rolled ctypes path from the hot liveness-check
path and defers to the best-maintained cross-platform answer.
2026-05-08 12:57:33 -07:00
..
browser_providers feat: ungate Tool Gateway — subscription-based access with per-tool opt-in 2026-04-16 12:36:49 -07:00
environments feat(cross-platform): psutil for PID/process management + Windows footgun checker 2026-05-08 12:57:33 -07:00
neutts_samples refactor(tts): replace NeuTTS optional skill with built-in provider + setup flow 2026-03-17 02:33:12 -07:00
web_providers feat(web): add Brave Search (free tier) and DDGS search providers 2026-05-07 09:59:17 -07:00
__init__.py Merge branch 'main' into rewbs/tool-use-charge-to-subscription 2026-03-31 08:48:54 +09:00
ansi_strip.py fix: strip ANSI at the source — clean terminal output before it reaches the model 2026-03-23 07:43:12 -07:00
approval.py feat(i18n): add display.language for static message translation (zh/ja/de/es) (#20231) 2026-05-05 08:03:07 -07:00
binary_extensions.py fix(tools): address PR review — remove _extract_raw_output, BudgetConfig everywhere, read_file hardening 2026-04-08 02:24:32 -07:00
browser_camofox.py refactor(config): add cfg_get() helper; migrate 20 nested-get call sites (#17304) 2026-04-28 23:17:39 -07:00
browser_camofox_state.py feat(browser): add persistent Camofox sessions and VNC URL discovery (salvage #4400) (#4419) 2026-04-01 04:18:50 -07:00
browser_cdp_tool.py chore: remove unused imports and dead locals (ruff F401, F841) (#17010) 2026-04-28 06:46:45 -07:00
browser_dialog_tool.py feat(browser): CDP supervisor — dialog detection + response + cross-origin iframe eval (#14540) 2026-04-23 22:23:37 -07:00
browser_supervisor.py fix(browser_supervisor): verify thread and loop health before returning cached supervisor 2026-04-30 20:33:33 -07:00
browser_tool.py fix(windows): os.kill(pid, 0) is NOT a no-op on Windows — route through new _pid_exists helper 2026-05-08 12:34:27 -07:00
budget_config.py fix: preserve existing thresholds, remove pre-read byte guard 2026-04-08 02:24:32 -07:00
checkpoint_manager.py feat(checkpoints): v2 single-store rewrite with real pruning + disk guardrails (#20709) 2026-05-06 05:44:35 -07:00
clarify_tool.py refactor: add tool_error/tool_result helpers + read_raw_config, migrate 129 callsites 2026-04-07 13:36:38 -07:00
code_execution_tool.py feat(cross-platform): psutil for PID/process management + Windows footgun checker 2026-05-08 12:57:33 -07:00
credential_files.py fix(gateway): translate inbound document host paths to container paths for Docker backend 2026-05-07 05:02:26 -07:00
cronjob_tools.py feat(cron): add no_agent mode for script-only cron jobs (watchdog pattern) (#19709) 2026-05-04 12:31:01 -07:00
debug_helpers.py refactor: codebase-wide lint cleanup — unused imports, dead code, and inefficient patterns (#5821) 2026-04-07 10:25:31 -07:00
delegate_tool.py fix(delegate): expand composite toolsets before intersection in delegate_task 2026-05-07 06:41:42 -07:00
discord_tool.py feat: add Discord message deletion action 2026-05-07 05:11:09 -07:00
env_passthrough.py refactor(config): add cfg_get() helper; migrate 20 nested-get call sites (#17304) 2026-04-28 23:17:39 -07:00
feishu_doc_tool.py fix(feishu-comment): use get_hermes_home(); drop dead asyncio wrapper; AUTHOR_MAP 2026-04-17 19:04:11 -07:00
feishu_drive_tool.py fix(feishu-comment): use get_hermes_home(); drop dead asyncio wrapper; AUTHOR_MAP 2026-04-17 19:04:11 -07:00
file_operations.py fix(windows): %1 install error, patch CRLF false-negative, SOUL.md BOM 2026-05-07 18:11:43 -07:00
file_state.py feat(delegate): cross-agent file state coordination for concurrent subagents (#13718) 2026-04-21 16:41:26 -07:00
file_tools.py feat(file_tools): post-write delta lint on write_file + patch, add JSON/YAML/TOML/Python in-process linters (#20191) 2026-05-05 04:54:17 -07:00
fuzzy_match.py fix(patch): gate 'did you mean?' to no-match + extend to v4a/skill_manage 2026-04-21 02:03:46 -07:00
homeassistant_tool.py fix: clean up description escaping, add string-data tests 2026-04-13 04:45:07 -07:00
image_generation_tool.py feat(image-gen): honor image_gen.model from config.yaml in plugin dispatch 2026-05-07 06:24:24 -07:00
interrupt.py fix(interrupt): propagate to concurrent-tool workers + opt-in debug trace (#11907) 2026-04-17 20:39:25 -07:00
kanban_tools.py fix(kanban): heartbeat tool extends claim TTL, not just last_heartbeat_at 2026-05-07 05:05:20 -07:00
managed_tool_gateway.py fix(tools): add debug logging for token refresh and tighten domain check 2026-04-02 12:40:03 +11:00
mcp_oauth.py fix(mcp-oauth): persist OAuth server metadata across process restarts (#21226) 2026-05-07 05:35:33 -07:00
mcp_oauth_manager.py fix(mcp-oauth): persist OAuth server metadata across process restarts (#21226) 2026-05-07 05:35:33 -07:00
mcp_tool.py fix(windows): os.kill(pid, 0) is NOT a no-op on Windows — route through new _pid_exists helper 2026-05-08 12:34:27 -07:00
memory_tool.py feat(cross-platform): psutil for PID/process management + Windows footgun checker 2026-05-08 12:57:33 -07:00
mixture_of_agents_tool.py Fix (mixture_of_agents): replace deprecated Gemini model and forward max_tokens to OpenRouter (#6621) 2026-04-23 15:14:11 -07:00
neutts_synth.py fix(tts): document NeuTTS provider and align install guidance (#1903) 2026-03-18 02:55:30 -07:00
openrouter_client.py refactor: route ad-hoc LLM consumers through centralized provider router 2026-03-11 20:02:36 -07:00
osv_check.py feat: OSV malware check for MCP extension packages (#5305) 2026-04-05 12:46:07 -07:00
patch_parser.py fix(patch): gate 'did you mean?' to no-match + extend to v4a/skill_manage 2026-04-21 02:03:46 -07:00
path_security.py refactor: extract shared helpers to deduplicate repeated code patterns (#7917) 2026-04-11 13:59:52 -07:00
process_registry.py feat(cross-platform): psutil for PID/process management + Windows footgun checker 2026-05-08 12:57:33 -07:00
registry.py perf(tools): memoize get_tool_definitions + TTL-cache check_fn results (#17098) 2026-04-28 18:20:17 -07:00
rl_training_tool.py codebase: add encoding='utf-8' to all bare open() calls (PLW1514) 2026-05-07 19:24:45 -07:00
schema_sanitizer.py fix: strip Codex-hostile top-level schema combinators 2026-05-07 07:03:21 -07:00
send_message_tool.py feat(gateway): support [[as_document]] directive for skill media routing 2026-05-07 05:20:10 -07:00
session_search_tool.py fix(session-search): report source from resolved parent, not FTS5 child session (#15909) 2026-05-04 05:07:40 -07:00
skill_manager_tool.py fix: exclude hidden and archive dirs from _find_skill rglob 2026-05-07 05:15:28 -07:00
skill_provenance.py fix(curator): only mark agent-created for background-review sediment (#19621) 2026-05-04 02:42:16 -07:00
skill_usage.py feat(cross-platform): psutil for PID/process management + Windows footgun checker 2026-05-08 12:57:33 -07:00
skills_guard.py feat(skills-guard): gate agent-created scanner on config.skills.guard_agent_created (default off) 2026-04-23 06:20:47 -07:00
skills_hub.py codebase: add encoding='utf-8' to all bare open() calls (PLW1514) 2026-05-07 19:24:45 -07:00
skills_sync.py refactor: consolidate symlink-safe atomic replace into shared helper 2026-04-28 04:58:22 -07:00
skills_tool.py fix(skills): support category-qualified local skill names 2026-05-05 10:15:31 -07:00
slash_confirm.py feat(gateway,cli): confirm /reload-mcp to warn about prompt cache invalidation 2026-04-29 21:56:47 -07:00
terminal_tool.py fix(terminal): skip sudo prompt when local NOPASSWD sudo works 2026-04-30 20:38:09 -07:00
tirith_security.py codebase: add encoding='utf-8' to all bare open() calls (PLW1514) 2026-05-07 19:24:45 -07:00
todo_tool.py fix(tools): enforce ID uniqueness in TODO store during replace operations 2026-04-11 16:22:50 -07:00
tool_backend_helpers.py fix(cli): coerce use_gateway config flags in tool routing 2026-04-26 19:02:55 -07:00
tool_output_limits.py feat(skills): add design-md skill for Google's DESIGN.md spec (#14876) 2026-04-23 21:51:19 -07:00
tool_result_storage.py fix(tools): neutralize shell injection in _write_to_sandbox via path quoting (#7940) 2026-04-11 14:26:11 -07:00
transcription_tools.py fix(ci): stabilize main test suite regressions (#17660) 2026-04-29 23:18:55 -07:00
tts_tool.py feat(cross-platform): psutil for PID/process management + Windows footgun checker 2026-05-08 12:57:33 -07:00
url_safety.py fix(browser): enforce cloud-metadata SSRF floor in hybrid routing (#16234) (#21228) 2026-05-07 05:38:05 -07:00
vision_tools.py fix(vision): guard user_prompt type in video_analyze_tool before debug_call_data construction 2026-05-03 15:28:04 -07:00
voice_mode.py codebase: add encoding='utf-8' to all bare open() calls (PLW1514) 2026-05-07 19:24:45 -07:00
web_tools.py feat(web): add Brave Search (free tier) and DDGS search providers 2026-05-07 09:59:17 -07:00
website_policy.py refactor: codebase-wide lint cleanup — unused imports, dead code, and inefficient patterns (#5821) 2026-04-07 10:25:31 -07:00
xai_http.py feat(xai): upgrade to Responses API, add TTS provider 2026-04-16 02:24:08 -07:00
yuanbao_tools.py chore: remove unused imports and dead locals (ruff F401, F841) (#17010) 2026-04-28 06:46:45 -07:00