hermes-agent/plugins/platforms/photon/README.md
Teknium 4615e08d3d
feat(photon): wire outbound media via spectrum-ts attachment() (#42397)
Photon now exposes attachment send (Ray Sun, photon-nousresearch), so
the Photon plugin gains outbound media to match the BlueBubbles iMessage
channel.

- sidecar: new /send-attachment endpoint wrapping space.send(attachment())
  / space.send(voice()); caption sent as a trailing text bubble.
- adapter: override send_image/send_image_file/send_voice/send_video/
  send_document/send_animation. URL helpers cache to a local path first
  (cache_image_from_url), file helpers pass through. Defense-in-depth
  path re-validation before the path reaches the Node sidecar.
- _standalone_send (cron): send text first, then each media_file as a
  /send-attachment call (is_voice -> voice builder).
- docs/README: flip the 'outbound attachments not wired' note.
2026-06-08 15:29:16 -07:00

123 lines
5.8 KiB
Markdown

# Photon iMessage platform plugin
This plugin connects Hermes Agent to iMessage (and WhatsApp Business +
future Spectrum interfaces) through [Photon][photon] — a managed
service that handles the iMessage line allocation, delivery, and
abuse-prevention layer so users don't have to run their own Mac
relay.
The free tier uses Photon's shared iMessage line pool (`type: shared`)
and is the path we recommend for everyone who doesn't already pay for a
dedicated number.
## Architecture
```
┌─────────────────────────┐ HMAC-signed POSTs ┌──────────────────┐
│ Photon Spectrum cloud │ ──────────────────────► │ Hermes Agent │
│ (iMessage line owner) │ │ (Python) │
└─────────────────────────┘ JSON over loopback │ │
▲ ◄────────────────────── │ PhotonAdapter │
│ │ + aiohttp recv │
│ spectrum-ts │ │
│ SDK (Node) │ spawns + super- │
▼ │ vises ▼ │
┌─────────────────────────┐ ├──────────────────┤
│ Node sidecar │ ◄──── X-Hermes- ─ │ Node sidecar │
│ (plugins/.../sidecar) │ Sidecar-Token │ child process │
└─────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────┘
```
Inbound traffic is webhook-only — Hermes runs an aiohttp listener
that verifies `X-Spectrum-Signature` and dedupes on `message.id`.
Outbound traffic goes through a tiny Node sidecar that runs the
`spectrum-ts` SDK. Photon does not currently expose an HTTP
send-message endpoint; their own docs say:
> Pass `space.id` to `Space.send(...)` from a separate `spectrum-ts`
> SDK instance to reply. **No public HTTP send endpoint exists today.**
> — https://photon.codes/docs/webhooks/events
When Photon ships an HTTP send endpoint, `_sidecar_send` is the one
function that swaps and the sidecar disappears. The rest of the
plugin stays the same.
## First-time setup
```bash
# 1. One-shot setup: device login (opens browser) + project + user + sidecar deps
hermes photon setup --phone +15551234567
# 2. Expose your webhook URL to the public internet
# (cloudflared, ngrok, your gateway's public hostname, etc.)
# Then register it with Photon:
hermes photon webhook register https://your-host.example.com/photon/webhook
# 3. Save the signing secret it prints to ~/.hermes/.env
# as PHOTON_WEBHOOK_SECRET=...
# Photon only returns it ONCE.
# 4. Start the gateway
hermes gateway start --platform photon
```
`hermes photon setup` runs the RFC 8628 device-code login as its first
step — it opens `https://app.photon.codes/` for approval, then
provisions the Spectrum project + iMessage line. There is no separate
`login` command; like every other Hermes channel, onboarding goes
through one setup surface. Re-running `setup` reuses an existing token
and project, so it's safe to run again to finish a partial setup.
## Credentials
Stored in `~/.hermes/auth.json` under `credential_pool`:
```jsonc
{
"credential_pool": {
"photon": [
{ "access_token": "<dashboard-bearer>", "issued_at": ... }
],
"photon_project": [
{ "project_id": "...", "project_secret": "...", "name": "Hermes Agent" }
]
}
}
```
The per-URL webhook signing secret is treated like an API key and
lives in `~/.hermes/.env` as `PHOTON_WEBHOOK_SECRET`.
## Configuration knobs
All env vars are documented in `plugin.yaml`. The most important are:
| Env var | Default | Meaning |
|--------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| `PHOTON_PROJECT_ID` | from auth.json | Spectrum project ID |
| `PHOTON_PROJECT_SECRET` | from auth.json | Spectrum project secret (HTTP Basic) |
| `PHOTON_WEBHOOK_SECRET` | (unset) | Signing secret returned at register |
| `PHOTON_WEBHOOK_PORT` | 8788 | Local port for the aiohttp listener |
| `PHOTON_WEBHOOK_PATH` | /photon/webhook | Path under which the listener mounts |
| `PHOTON_SIDECAR_PORT` | 8789 | Loopback port for sidecar control |
| `PHOTON_HOME_CHANNEL` | (unset) | Default space ID for cron delivery |
| `PHOTON_ALLOWED_USERS` | (unset) | Comma-separated E.164 allowlist |
## Limitations (current Photon API)
- **Inbound attachments are metadata only.** Inbound webhooks include the
filename + MIME type but no download URL. The plugin surfaces a
text marker (`[Photon attachment received: …]`) so the agent knows
something arrived, but cannot read the bytes. Photon's docs note
an attachment retrieval endpoint is on the roadmap.
- **Outbound attachments are supported.** Images, voice notes, video,
and documents are sent via `space.send(attachment(...))` /
`space.send(voice(...))` through the sidecar's `/send-attachment`
endpoint. A caption is delivered as a separate text bubble after the
media.
- **Reactions, message effects, polls** — not exposed yet; the
`spectrum-ts` SDK supports them, and the sidecar is the natural
place to add them when the agent has reason to use them.
[photon]: https://photon.codes/