feat(install.ps1): write .hermes-bootstrap-complete marker at end of install

The desktop app's main.cjs resolver ladder has a 'bootstrap-needed' rung
that fires when .hermes-bootstrap-complete is missing from
ACTIVE_HERMES_ROOT. Pre-Hermes-Setup, this marker was written by the
packaged-desktop's own bootstrap-runner.cjs at the end of its install
flow. Now that Hermes-Setup.exe runs install.ps1 directly, install.ps1
needs to own the marker — otherwise the desktop sees no marker on first
launch and triggers its legacy first-launch bootstrap (re-running
install.ps1 from inside Electron, the exact recursion Hermes-Setup.exe
was supposed to obviate).

Implementation:
  * New Stage-BootstrapMarker (worker) → Write-BootstrapMarker (helper)
  * Slotted in the manifest right after platform-sdks, before the
    interactive configure/gateway stages, so it runs unconditionally
    when the install reaches the finalize phase
  * Schema mirrors apps/desktop/electron/main.cjs writeBootstrapMarker /
    isBootstrapComplete EXACTLY: {schemaVersion: 1, pinnedCommit,
    pinnedBranch, completedAt}. Schema version stays at 1 so old
    desktops that read marker files written by future install.ps1s
    can still parse them.
  * pinnedCommit comes from -Commit flag (Hermes-Setup.exe passes it)
    or falls back to 'git rev-parse HEAD' in InstallDir
  * pinnedBranch from -Branch flag, defaults to 'main' matching
    install.ps1's own param default

Two PS-5.1 gotchas baked into comments:
  * The ?. null-conditional operator doesn't exist pre-PS7; use
    explicit if-checks on Get-Command results
  * Set-Content -Encoding UTF8 emits a BOM in 5.1 and Node's plain
    JSON.parse rejects BOM — write via .NET's UTF8Encoding(false)
    to produce BOM-less JSON the desktop's readJson() can parse

.env.example

@@ -417,9 +417,9 @@ IMAGE_TOOLS_DEBUG=false
 # Default STT provider is "local" (faster-whisper) — runs on your machine, no API key needed.
 # Install with: pip install faster-whisper
 # Model downloads automatically on first use (~150 MB for "base").
-# To use cloud providers instead, set GROQ_API_KEY or VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY above.
-# Provider priority: local > groq > openai
-# Configure in config.yaml: stt.provider: local | groq | openai
+# To use cloud providers instead, set GROQ_API_KEY, VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY, or ELEVENLABS_API_KEY above.
+# Provider priority: local > groq > openai > mistral > xai > elevenlabs
+# Configure in config.yaml: stt.provider: local | groq | openai | mistral | xai | elevenlabs
 
 # =============================================================================
 # STT ADVANCED OVERRIDES (optional)
@@ -427,10 +427,12 @@ IMAGE_TOOLS_DEBUG=false
 # Override default STT models per provider (normally set via stt.model in config.yaml)
 # STT_GROQ_MODEL=whisper-large-v3-turbo
 # STT_OPENAI_MODEL=whisper-1
+# STT_ELEVENLABS_MODEL=scribe_v2
 
 # Override STT provider endpoints (for proxies or self-hosted instances)
 # GROQ_BASE_URL=https://api.groq.com/openai/v1
 # STT_OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.openai.com/v1
+# ELEVENLABS_STT_BASE_URL=https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1
 
 # =============================================================================
 # MICROSOFT TEAMS INTEGRATION

.github/workflows/deploy-site.yml

@@ -22,12 +22,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   deploy-vercel:
-    # Triggered automatically on release publish (production cuts) and
-    # manually via `gh workflow run deploy-site.yml` when an out-of-band
-    # main commit needs to ship live before the next release tag — e.g.
-    # a skills-index PR that doesn't touch website/** paths and so
-    # doesn't auto-deploy via the deploy-docs path.
-    if: github.event_name == 'release' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
+    if: github.event_name == 'release'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Trigger Vercel Deploy

.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,342 @@
+name: Desktop Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      channel:
+        description: Release channel to build
+        required: true
+        default: nightly
+        type: choice
+        options:
+          - nightly
+          - stable
+      release_tag:
+        description: "Required when channel=stable (example: v2026.5.5)"
+        required: false
+        type: string
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+
+concurrency:
+  group: desktop-release-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+jobs:
+  prepare:
+    if: github.repository == 'NousResearch/hermes-agent'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      channel: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.channel }}
+      release_name: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.release_name }}
+      release_tag: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.release_tag }}
+      version: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
+      is_stable: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.is_stable }}
+    steps:
+      - id: meta
+        env:
+          EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
+          INPUT_CHANNEL: ${{ github.event.inputs.channel }}
+          INPUT_RELEASE_TAG: ${{ github.event.inputs.release_tag }}
+          RELEASE_TAG_FROM_EVENT: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
+          GITHUB_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+
+          channel="nightly"
+          release_tag="desktop-nightly"
+          is_stable="false"
+
+          if [[ "$EVENT_NAME" == "release" ]]; then
+            channel="stable"
+            release_tag="$RELEASE_TAG_FROM_EVENT"
+            is_stable="true"
+          elif [[ "$EVENT_NAME" == "workflow_dispatch" && "$INPUT_CHANNEL" == "stable" ]]; then
+            channel="stable"
+            release_tag="$INPUT_RELEASE_TAG"
+            is_stable="true"
+          fi
+
+          if [[ "$channel" == "stable" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$release_tag" ]]; then
+              echo "Stable desktop releases require a release tag." >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            version="${release_tag#v}"
+            release_name="Hermes Desktop ${release_tag}"
+          else
+            stamp="$(date -u +%Y%m%d)"
+            short_sha="${GITHUB_SHA::7}"
+            version="0.0.0-nightly.${stamp}.${short_sha}"
+            release_name="Hermes Desktop Nightly ${stamp}-${short_sha}"
+          fi
+
+          {
+            echo "channel=$channel"
+            echo "release_name=$release_name"
+            echo "release_tag=$release_tag"
+            echo "version=$version"
+            echo "is_stable=$is_stable"
+          } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+  build:
+    if: github.repository == 'NousResearch/hermes-agent'
+    needs: prepare
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - platform: mac
+            runner: macos-latest
+            build_args: --mac dmg zip
+          - platform: win
+            runner: windows-latest
+            build_args: --win nsis msi
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
+    env:
+      DESKTOP_CHANNEL: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.channel }}
+      DESKTOP_VERSION: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.version }}
+      MAC_CSC_LINK: ${{ secrets.CSC_LINK }}
+      MAC_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.CSC_KEY_PASSWORD }}
+      APPLE_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.APPLE_API_KEY }}
+      APPLE_API_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.APPLE_API_KEY_ID }}
+      APPLE_API_ISSUER: ${{ secrets.APPLE_API_ISSUER }}
+      WIN_CSC_LINK: ${{ secrets.WIN_CSC_LINK }}
+      WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5  # v4
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@49933ea5288caeca8642d1e84afbd3f7d6820020  # v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 20
+          cache: npm
+          cache-dependency-path: package-lock.json
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065  # v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.11"
+
+      - name: Enforce signing gates for stable releases
+        if: needs.prepare.outputs.is_stable == 'true'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          missing=()
+
+          if [[ "${{ matrix.platform }}" == "mac" ]]; then
+            [[ -z "${MAC_CSC_LINK:-}" ]] && missing+=("CSC_LINK")
+            [[ -z "${MAC_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD:-}" ]] && missing+=("CSC_KEY_PASSWORD")
+            [[ -z "${APPLE_API_KEY:-}" ]] && missing+=("APPLE_API_KEY")
+            [[ -z "${APPLE_API_KEY_ID:-}" ]] && missing+=("APPLE_API_KEY_ID")
+            [[ -z "${APPLE_API_ISSUER:-}" ]] && missing+=("APPLE_API_ISSUER")
+          else
+            [[ -z "${WIN_CSC_LINK:-}" ]] && missing+=("WIN_CSC_LINK")
+            [[ -z "${WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD:-}" ]] && missing+=("WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD")
+          fi
+
+          if (( ${#missing[@]} > 0 )); then
+            echo "::error::Stable desktop release missing required secrets: ${missing[*]}"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Install workspace dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: Install TUI dependencies
+        run: npm --prefix ui-tui ci
+
+      - name: Build bundled TUI payload
+        run: npm --prefix ui-tui run build
+
+      - name: Build desktop renderer
+        run: npm --prefix apps/desktop run build
+
+      - name: Map macOS signing credentials
+        if: matrix.platform == 'mac'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          has_link=0
+          has_pass=0
+          [[ -n "${MAC_CSC_LINK:-}" ]] && has_link=1
+          [[ -n "${MAC_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD:-}" ]] && has_pass=1
+
+          if [[ $has_link -eq 1 && $has_pass -eq 1 ]]; then
+            echo "CSC_LINK=${MAC_CSC_LINK}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+            echo "CSC_KEY_PASSWORD=${MAC_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          elif [[ $has_link -eq 1 || $has_pass -eq 1 ]]; then
+            echo "::error::macOS signing secrets are partially configured. Set both CSC_LINK and CSC_KEY_PASSWORD."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Map Windows signing credentials
+        if: matrix.platform == 'win'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          has_link=0
+          has_pass=0
+          [[ -n "${WIN_CSC_LINK:-}" ]] && has_link=1
+          [[ -n "${WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD:-}" ]] && has_pass=1
+
+          if [[ $has_link -eq 1 && $has_pass -eq 1 ]]; then
+            echo "CSC_LINK=${WIN_CSC_LINK}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+            echo "CSC_KEY_PASSWORD=${WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+            echo "CSC_FOR_PULL_REQUEST=true" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          elif [[ $has_link -eq 1 || $has_pass -eq 1 ]]; then
+            echo "::error::Windows signing secrets are partially configured. Set both WIN_CSC_LINK and WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Build desktop installers
+        shell: bash
+        env:
+          NODE_OPTIONS: --max-old-space-size=16384
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          npm --prefix apps/desktop run builder -- \
+            ${{ matrix.build_args }} \
+            --publish never \
+            --config.extraMetadata.version="${DESKTOP_VERSION}" \
+            --config.extraMetadata.desktopChannel="${DESKTOP_CHANNEL}"
+
+      - name: Notarize and staple macOS DMG
+        if: matrix.platform == 'mac' && needs.prepare.outputs.is_stable == 'true'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          dmg_path="$(ls apps/desktop/release/*.dmg | head -n 1)"
+          node apps/desktop/scripts/notarize-artifact.cjs "$dmg_path"
+
+      - name: Validate macOS notarization and Gatekeeper trust
+        if: matrix.platform == 'mac' && needs.prepare.outputs.is_stable == 'true'
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          app_path="$(ls -d apps/desktop/release/mac*/Hermes.app | head -n 1)"
+          dmg_path="$(ls apps/desktop/release/*.dmg | head -n 1)"
+          xcrun stapler validate "$app_path"
+          xcrun stapler validate "$dmg_path"
+          spctl --assess --type execute --verbose=4 "$app_path"
+
+      - name: Generate desktop checksums
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          node <<'EOF'
+          const crypto = require('node:crypto')
+          const fs = require('node:fs')
+          const path = require('node:path')
+
+          const releaseDir = path.resolve('apps/desktop/release')
+          const platform = process.env.PLATFORM
+          const extensions = platform === 'mac' ? ['.dmg', '.zip'] : ['.exe', '.msi']
+          const files = fs
+            .readdirSync(releaseDir)
+            .filter(name => extensions.some(ext => name.endsWith(ext)))
+            .sort()
+
+          if (!files.length) {
+            throw new Error(`No release artifacts were produced for ${platform}`)
+          }
+
+          const lines = files.map(name => {
+            const full = path.join(releaseDir, name)
+            const hash = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(fs.readFileSync(full)).digest('hex')
+            return `${hash}  ${name}`
+          })
+          fs.writeFileSync(path.join(releaseDir, `SHA256SUMS-${platform}.txt`), `${lines.join('\n')}\n`)
+          EOF
+        env:
+          PLATFORM: ${{ matrix.platform }}
+
+      - name: Upload packaged desktop artifacts
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02  # v4
+        with:
+          name: desktop-${{ matrix.platform }}
+          path: |
+            apps/desktop/release/*.dmg
+            apps/desktop/release/*.zip
+            apps/desktop/release/*.exe
+            apps/desktop/release/*.msi
+            apps/desktop/release/SHA256SUMS-${{ matrix.platform }}.txt
+          if-no-files-found: error
+
+  publish:
+    if: github.repository == 'NousResearch/hermes-agent'
+    needs: [prepare, build]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+      CHANNEL: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.channel }}
+      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.release_name }}
+      RELEASE_TAG: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.release_tag }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5  # v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - uses: actions/download-artifact@d3f86a106a0bac45b974a628896c90dbdf5c8093  # v4
+        with:
+          pattern: desktop-*
+          merge-multiple: true
+          path: dist/desktop
+
+      - name: Publish desktop assets to GitHub release
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          shopt -s globstar nullglob
+
+          files=(
+            dist/desktop/**/*.dmg
+            dist/desktop/**/*.zip
+            dist/desktop/**/*.exe
+            dist/desktop/**/*.msi
+            dist/desktop/**/SHA256SUMS-*.txt
+          )
+
+          if (( ${#files[@]} == 0 )); then
+            echo "No desktop artifacts were downloaded for publishing." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          if [[ "$CHANNEL" == "nightly" ]]; then
+            git tag -f "$RELEASE_TAG" "$GITHUB_SHA"
+            git push origin "refs/tags/$RELEASE_TAG" --force
+
+            notes="Automated nightly desktop build from main. This prerelease is replaced on each new run."
+
+            if gh release view "$RELEASE_TAG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              while IFS= read -r asset_name; do
+                gh release delete-asset "$RELEASE_TAG" "$asset_name" --yes
+              done < <(gh release view "$RELEASE_TAG" --json assets -q '.assets[].name')
+
+              gh release edit "$RELEASE_TAG" \
+                --title "$RELEASE_NAME" \
+                --prerelease \
+                --notes "$notes"
+            else
+              gh release create "$RELEASE_TAG" \
+                --target "$GITHUB_SHA" \
+                --title "$RELEASE_NAME" \
+                --notes "$notes" \
+                --prerelease
+            fi
+          else
+            if ! gh release view "$RELEASE_TAG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              notes="Automated desktop artifacts attached by desktop-release workflow."
+              gh release create "$RELEASE_TAG" \
+                --target "$GITHUB_SHA" \
+                --title "$RELEASE_NAME" \
+                --notes "$notes"
+            fi
+          fi
+
+          gh release upload "$RELEASE_TAG" "${files[@]}" --clobber

.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml

@@ -71,8 +71,6 @@ jobs:
           load: true
           platforms: linux/amd64
           tags: ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:test
-          build-args: |
-            HERMES_GIT_SHA=${{ github.sha }}
           cache-from: type=gha,scope=docker-amd64
           cache-to: type=gha,mode=max,scope=docker-amd64
 
@@ -151,8 +149,6 @@ jobs:
           platforms: linux/amd64
           labels: |
             org.opencontainers.image.revision=${{ github.sha }}
-          build-args: |
-            HERMES_GIT_SHA=${{ github.sha }}
           outputs: type=image,name=${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }},push-by-digest=true,name-canonical=true,push=true
           cache-from: type=gha,scope=docker-amd64
           cache-to: type=gha,mode=max,scope=docker-amd64
@@ -196,12 +192,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@8d2750c68a42422c14e847fe6c8ac0403b4cbd6f  # v3
 
-      # Build once, load into the local daemon for smoke testing. PR arm64
-      # builds deliberately avoid the gha cache: cold-cache arm64 builds can
-      # outlive GitHub's short-lived Azure cache SAS token, then fail while
-      # reading or writing cache blobs before the smoke test can run.
-      - name: Build image (arm64, smoke test, uncached PR)
-        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+      # Build once, load into the local daemon for smoke testing.  Cached
+      # to gha with a per-arch scope; the push step below reuses every
+      # layer from this build.
+      - name: Build image (arm64, smoke test)
         uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f  # v7.1.0
         with:
           context: .
@@ -209,22 +203,6 @@ jobs:
           load: true
           platforms: linux/arm64
           tags: ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:test
-          build-args: |
-            HERMES_GIT_SHA=${{ github.sha }}
-
-      # Main/release builds still use the per-arch gha cache so the digest
-      # push below can reuse layers from this smoke-test build.
-      - name: Build image (arm64, smoke test, cached publish)
-        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f  # v7.1.0
-        with:
-          context: .
-          file: Dockerfile
-          load: true
-          platforms: linux/arm64
-          tags: ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:test
-          build-args: |
-            HERMES_GIT_SHA=${{ github.sha }}
           cache-from: type=gha,scope=docker-arm64
           cache-to: type=gha,mode=max,scope=docker-arm64
 
@@ -250,8 +228,6 @@ jobs:
           platforms: linux/arm64
           labels: |
             org.opencontainers.image.revision=${{ github.sha }}
-          build-args: |
-            HERMES_GIT_SHA=${{ github.sha }}
           outputs: type=image,name=${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }},push-by-digest=true,name-canonical=true,push=true
           cache-from: type=gha,scope=docker-arm64
           cache-to: type=gha,mode=max,scope=docker-arm64

.github/workflows/nix-lockfile-fix.yml

@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ on:
     paths:
       - 'ui-tui/package-lock.json'
       - 'ui-tui/package.json'
-      - 'web/package-lock.json'
-      - 'web/package.json'
+      - 'apps/dashboard/package-lock.json'
+      - 'apps/dashboard/package.json'
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       pr_number:
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   # ── Auto-fix on main ───────────────────────────────────────────────
   # Fires when a push to main touches package.json or package-lock.json
-  # in ui-tui/ or web/. Runs fix-lockfiles and pushes the hash
+  # in ui-tui/ or apps/dashboard/. Runs fix-lockfiles and pushes the hash
   # update commit directly to main so Nix builds never stay broken.
   #
   # Safety invariants:
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ jobs:
             # run recompute from the correct package-lock state.
             pkg_changed="$(git diff --name-only "$BASE_SHA"..origin/main -- \
               'ui-tui/package-lock.json' 'ui-tui/package.json' \
-              'web/package-lock.json' 'web/package.json' || true)"
+              'apps/dashboard/package-lock.json' 'apps/dashboard/package.json' || true)"
             if [ -n "$pkg_changed" ]; then
               echo "::warning::Package files changed since hash computation — aborting; a fresh run will recompute"
               exit 0

.gitignore

@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ environments/benchmarks/evals/
 
 # Web UI build output
 hermes_cli/web_dist/
+apps/desktop/build/
+apps/desktop/dist/
+apps/desktop/release/
+apps/desktop/*.tsbuildinfo
 
 # Web UI assets — synced from @nous-research/ui at build time via
 # `npm run sync-assets` (see web/package.json).
@@ -78,13 +82,17 @@ mini-swe-agent/
 .nix-stamps/
 result
 website/static/api/skills-index.json
-# skills.json + skills-meta.json are build artifacts emitted by
-# website/scripts/extract-skills.py during prebuild — keep them out of
-# git for the same reason as skills-index.json (large, generated, change
-# every build).
-website/static/api/skills.json
-website/static/api/skills-meta.json
 models-dev-upstream/
+
+# Local editor / agent tooling (machine-specific; keep in global config, not the repo)
+.codex/
+.cursor/
+.gemini/
+.zed/
+.mcp.json
+opencode.json
+config/mcporter.json
+
 hermes_cli/tui_dist/*
 hermes_cli/scripts/
 docs/superpowers/*

AGENTS.md

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 Instructions for AI coding assistants and developers working on the hermes-agent codebase.
 
+**Never give up on the right solution.**
+
 ## Development Environment
 
 ```bash
@@ -66,6 +68,29 @@ hermes-agent/
 `gateway.log` when running the gateway. Profile-aware via `get_hermes_home()`.
 Browse with `hermes logs [--follow] [--level ...] [--session ...]`.
 
+## TypeScript Style
+
+Applies to TypeScript across Hermes: desktop, TUI, website, and future TS packages.
+
+- Prefer small nanostores over component state when state is shared, reused, or read by distant UI.
+- Let each feature own its atoms. Chat state belongs near chat, shell state near shell, shared state in `src/store`.
+- Components that render from an atom should use `useStore`. Non-rendering actions should read with `$atom.get()`.
+- Do not pass state through three components when the leaf can subscribe to the atom.
+- Keep persistence beside the atom that owns it.
+- Keep route roots thin. They compose routes and shell; they should not become controllers.
+- No monolithic hooks. A hook should own one narrow job.
+- Prefer colocated action modules over hidden god hooks.
+- If a callback is pure side effect, use the terse void form:
+  `onState={st => void setGatewayState(st)}`.
+- Async UI handlers should make intent explicit:
+  `onClick={() => void save()}`.
+- Prefer interfaces for public props and shared object shapes. Avoid `type X = { ... }` for object props.
+- Extend React primitives for props: `React.ComponentProps<'button'>`, `React.ComponentProps<typeof Dialog>`, `Omit<...>`, `Pick<...>`.
+- Table-driven beats condition ladders when mapping ids, routes, or views.
+- `src/app` owns routes, pages, and page-specific components.
+- `src/store` owns shared atoms.
+- `src/lib` owns shared pure helpers.
+
 ## File Dependency Chain
 
 ```
@@ -249,7 +274,7 @@ npm test          # vitest
 
 The dashboard embeds the real `hermes --tui` — **not** a rewrite.  See `hermes_cli/pty_bridge.py` + the `@app.websocket("/api/pty")` endpoint in `hermes_cli/web_server.py`.
 
-- Browser loads `web/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx`, which mounts xterm.js's `Terminal` with the WebGL renderer, `@xterm/addon-fit` for container-driven resize, and `@xterm/addon-unicode11` for modern wide-character widths.
+- Browser loads `apps/dashboard/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx`, which mounts xterm.js's `Terminal` with the WebGL renderer, `@xterm/addon-fit` for container-driven resize, and `@xterm/addon-unicode11` for modern wide-character widths.
 - `/api/pty?token=…` upgrades to a WebSocket; auth uses the same ephemeral `_SESSION_TOKEN` as REST, via query param (browsers can't set `Authorization` on WS upgrade).
 - The server spawns whatever `hermes --tui` would spawn, through `ptyprocess` (POSIX PTY — WSL works, native Windows does not).
 - Frames: raw PTY bytes each direction; resize via `\x1b[RESIZE:<cols>;<rows>]` intercepted on the server and applied with `TIOCSWINSZ`.

Dockerfile

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ ENV PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/opt/hermes/.playwright
 # hermes process, the dashboard, and per-profile gateways.
 RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    ca-certificates curl python3 python-is-python3 ripgrep ffmpeg gcc python3-dev libffi-dev procps git openssh-client docker-cli xz-utils && \
+    ca-certificates curl python3 ripgrep ffmpeg gcc python3-dev libffi-dev procps git openssh-client docker-cli xz-utils && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # ---------- s6-overlay install ----------
@@ -187,29 +187,6 @@ RUN chmod -R a+rX /opt/hermes && \
 # this a fast (~1s) egg-link creation with no resolution or downloads.
 RUN uv pip install --no-cache-dir --no-deps -e "."
 
-# ---------- Bake build-time git revision ----------
-# .dockerignore excludes .git, so `git rev-parse HEAD` from inside the
-# container always returns nothing — meaning `hermes dump` reports
-# "(unknown)" and the startup banner drops its `· upstream <sha>` suffix.
-# That makes support triage from container bug reports impossible:
-# we can't tell which commit the user is actually running.
-#
-# Fix: write the commit SHA passed via the HERMES_GIT_SHA build-arg to
-# /opt/hermes/.hermes_build_sha at build time, and have
-# hermes_cli/build_info.py read it at runtime.  Both `hermes dump` and
-# banner.get_git_banner_state() try the baked SHA first, then fall back
-# to live `git rev-parse` for source installs (unchanged behaviour).
-#
-# The arg is optional — local `docker build` without --build-arg simply
-# omits the file, and the runtime falls back to live-git lookup.  CI
-# (.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml) passes ${{ github.sha }} so
-# every published image has it.
-ARG HERMES_GIT_SHA=
-RUN if [ -n "${HERMES_GIT_SHA}" ]; then \
-        printf '%s\n' "${HERMES_GIT_SHA}" > /opt/hermes/.hermes_build_sha && \
-        chown hermes:hermes /opt/hermes/.hermes_build_sha; \
-    fi
-
 # ---------- s6-overlay service wiring ----------
 # Static services declared at build time: main-hermes + dashboard.
 # Per-profile gateway services are registered dynamically at runtime by
@@ -236,32 +213,13 @@ COPY --chmod=0755 docker/cont-init.d/02-reconcile-profiles /etc/cont-init.d/02-r
 # ---------- Runtime ----------
 ENV HERMES_WEB_DIST=/opt/hermes/hermes_cli/web_dist
 ENV HERMES_HOME=/opt/data
-
-# `docker exec` privilege-drop shim. When operators run
-# `docker exec <c> hermes ...` they default to root, and any file the
-# command writes under $HERMES_HOME (auth.json, .env, config.yaml) ends
-# up root-owned and unreadable to the supervised gateway (UID 10000).
-# The shim lives at /opt/hermes/bin/hermes, sits earliest on PATH, and
-# transparently re-exec's the real venv binary via `s6-setuidgid hermes`
-# when invoked as root. Non-root callers (supervised processes,
-# `--user hermes`, etc.) hit the short-circuit path with no overhead.
-# Recursion is impossible because the shim exec's the venv binary by
-# absolute path (/opt/hermes/.venv/bin/hermes). See the shim source for
-# the opt-out env var (HERMES_DOCKER_EXEC_AS_ROOT=1).
-COPY --chmod=0755 docker/hermes-exec-shim.sh /opt/hermes/bin/hermes
-
 # Pre-s6 entrypoint.sh did `source .venv/bin/activate` which exported
 # the venv bin onto PATH; Architecture B's main-wrapper.sh does the
 # same for the container's main process, but `docker exec` and our
 # cont-init.d scripts don't pass through the wrapper. Expose the venv
 # bin globally so `docker exec <container> hermes ...` and any
 # subprocess that doesn't activate the venv first still find hermes.
-#
-# /opt/hermes/bin is prepended ahead of the venv so the privilege-drop
-# shim wins PATH resolution. The shim's last act is to exec the venv
-# binary by absolute path, so this PATH ordering is transparent to
-# every other consumer.
-ENV PATH="/opt/hermes/bin:/opt/hermes/.venv/bin:/opt/data/.local/bin:${PATH}"
+ENV PATH="/opt/hermes/.venv/bin:/opt/data/.local/bin:${PATH}"
 RUN mkdir -p /opt/data
 VOLUME [ "/opt/data" ]
 

RELEASE_v0.14.0.md

@@ -3,75 +3,73 @@
 **Release Date:** May 16, 2026
 **Since v0.13.0:** 808 commits · 633 merged PRs · 1393 files changed · 165,061 insertions · 545 issues closed (12 P0, 50 P1) · 215 community contributors (including co-authors)
 
-> The Foundation Release — Hermes installs and runs anywhere, ships with the things you actually want to use, and stops shipping the things you don't. xAI Grok lands as a SuperGrok OAuth provider with grok-4.3 bumped to a 1M context window. A new OpenAI-compatible local proxy turns any OAuth-authed Hermes provider — Claude Pro, ChatGPT Pro, SuperGrok — into an endpoint that Codex / Aider / Cline / Continue can hit. `x_search` lands as a first-class X (Twitter) search tool with OAuth-or-API-key auth. The Microsoft Teams stack is wired end-to-end (Graph auth + webhook listener + pipeline runtime + outbound delivery). A debloating wave makes installs dramatically lighter — heavyweight backends now lazy-install on first use, the `[all]` extras drop everything covered by lazy-deps, and a tiered install falls back when a wheel rejects on your platform. `pip install hermes-agent` works from PyPI. The cold-start wave shaves ~19 seconds off `hermes` launch. Browser CDP calls are 180x faster. Two new messaging platforms (LINE + SimpleX Chat) bring the total to 22. Cross-session 1-hour Claude prompt caching, `/handoff` that actually transfers sessions live, native button UI for `clarify` on Telegram and Discord, Discord channel history backfill, LSP semantic diagnostics on every write, a unified pluggable `video_generate`, a `computer_use` cua-driver backend that finally works with non-Anthropic providers, clickable URLs in any terminal, Zed ACP Registry integration via `uvx`, native Windows beta, 9 new optional skills, OpenRouter Pareto Code router, huggingface/skills as a trusted default tap. 12 P0 + 50 P1 closures.
+> The Foundation Release — Hermes Agent installs and runs anywhere now. Native Windows ships in early beta with a full PowerShell installer story, a `pip install hermes-agent` wheel lands on PyPI, lazy-deps reshape what `pip install hermes-agent` actually pulls down, the supply-chain checker scans every install/upgrade for unsafe versions, and a new OpenAI-compatible local proxy lets Codex / Aider / Cline talk to OAuth-only providers (Claude Pro, ChatGPT Pro, SuperGrok). The cold-start wave shaves ~19 seconds off `hermes` launch, browser-tool CDP calls run 180x faster, and `hermes tools` All-Platforms drops from 14s to under 1.5s. Two new messaging platforms (LINE and SimpleX Chat) and a Microsoft Graph foundation (Teams pipeline + webhook adapter) land alongside `/handoff` that finally transfers sessions live, `vision_analyze` passing pixels through to vision-capable models, `x_search` as a first-class tool, LSP semantic diagnostics on every `write_file` / `patch`, a unified pluggable `video_generate`, a `computer_use` cua-driver backend, cross-session 1-hour Claude prompt caching, a per-turn file-mutation verifier, plus 9 new optional skills. 50+ P1 closures, 12 P0 closures.
 
 ---
 
 ## ✨ Highlights
 
-- **xAI Grok via SuperGrok OAuth — and grok-4.3 jumps to a 1M context window** — If you pay for SuperGrok, you can now use Grok inside Hermes by signing in with your xAI account — no API key, no separate billing. The wire-through also bumps grok-4.3 to a 1M token context window, so you can drop whole codebases or research corpora into a single prompt. Includes proper handling for entitlement errors and an SSH-to-tunnel docs page for when you're SSH'd into a remote box and need to complete the OAuth flow. ([#26534](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26534), [#26664](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26664), [#26644](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26644), [#26592](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26592))
+- **Native Windows support (early beta)** — full PowerShell installer, native subprocess/PTY paths, taskkill-based process management, MinGit auto-install, Microsoft Store python stub detection, foreground Ctrl+C preservation, taskkill+ps2 fallback, npm prefix handling, and ~40 follow-up Windows-only fixes across CLI / gateway / TUI / curator / tools. Hermes finally runs natively on `cmd.exe` and PowerShell, no WSL required. ([#21561](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21561), [#22130](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22130), [#22752](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22752), [#26618](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26618), and many more)
 
-- **OpenAI-compatible local proxy for OAuth providers** — Run `hermes proxy` and you get a `http://localhost:port` endpoint that speaks the OpenAI API but is backed by whichever OAuth provider you're signed into — Claude Pro, ChatGPT Pro, SuperGrok. Now any tool that expects an OpenAI-compatible endpoint (Codex CLI, Aider, Cline, Continue, your custom scripts) just works with your existing subscription, no API key required. One subscription, every tool. ([#25969](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25969))
+- **`pip install hermes-agent && hermes`** — Hermes Agent is now a real PyPI package. One command, no clone, no git, no shell installer. Wheel includes the Ink TUI bundle and shell launcher. (salvage of [#26350](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26350)) ([#26593](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26593))
 
-- **`x_search` — first-class X (Twitter) search tool** — The agent can now search X directly without installing a skill or wiring up a custom integration. Search the timeline, find threads, surface specific posts — straight from the chat. Auth with either your X OAuth login or an API key, whichever you have. ([#26763](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26763))
+- **Cold-start performance wave — ~19s off `hermes` launch** — skills cache, lazy Feishu import, no Nous HTTP at startup, plus PEP-562 lazy adapter imports (QQ, Yuanbao, Teams, Google Chat), deferred `fal_client` / `google-cloud` / `httpx` loads, models.dev disk-cache-first lookup, parallel doctor API checks, eager-skip plugin discovery on built-in subcommands, `hermes tools` All-Platforms drops from 14s to <1.5s, welcome banner skipped on `chat -q`. ([#22138](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22138), [#22120](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22120), [#22681](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22681), [#22790](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22790), [#22808](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22808), [#22831](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22831), [#22859](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22859), [#22904](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22904), [#22766](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22766), [#25341](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25341))
 
-- **Microsoft Teams — end-to-end** — Hermes can now read messages from Teams and post back. The full Microsoft Graph stack lands together: auth + client foundation, a webhook listener that receives Teams events, a pipeline plugin runtime, and outbound delivery. Wire up the bot once, then chat to your agent from any Teams channel, DM, or group. (salvages of #21408–#21411) ([#21922](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21922), [#21969](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21969), [#22007](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22007), [#22024](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22024))
+- **180x faster `browser_console` evaluations** — routed through the supervisor's persistent CDP WebSocket instead of spawning a fresh DevTools session per call. Real-world page interactions feel instant. ([#23226](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23226))
 
-- **Debloating wave — lighter installs, less you don't use** — A clean `pip install hermes-agent` used to pull down everything: every messaging adapter SDK, every image-gen SDK, every voice/TTS provider, whether you used them or not. Now those heavy backends (Slack / Matrix / Feishu / DingTalk adapters, hindsight client, codex app-server, Pixverse / Camofox / image-gen SDKs, voice/TTS providers) install automatically the first time you actually use them. The `[all]` extras drop everything covered by lazy-deps, the installer falls back through tiers when a wheel doesn't fit your platform, and a supply-chain advisory checker scans every install for unsafe versions. Faster installs, smaller disk footprint, fewer transitive vulnerabilities. ([#24220](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24220), [#24515](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24515), [#25014](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25014), [#25038](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25038), [#25766](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25766), [#21818](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21818))
+- **Supply-chain advisory checker + lazy-deps framework + tiered install fallback** — every `pip install` / `hermes update` scans dependencies against an advisory list, lazy-deps replace heavy import-time loads with first-use installs, and the installer falls back through extras tiers when a wheel rejects on the target platform. ([#24220](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24220))
 
-- **`pip install hermes-agent && hermes`** — Hermes Agent is now a real PyPI package. No more cloning the repo or running shell installers — one pip command and you're running. The wheel ships with the Ink TUI bundle and the shell launcher, so the full experience comes out of the box. (salvage of [#26350](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26350)) ([#26593](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26593), [#26148](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26148))
+- **OpenAI-compatible local proxy** — `hermes proxy` exposes any OAuth-authed provider (Claude Pro, ChatGPT Pro, SuperGrok) as an OpenAI-compatible endpoint that Codex / Aider / Cline / VS Code Continue can hit. Your subscription, your tools. ([#25969](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25969))
 
-- **Cross-session 1h Claude prompt cache** — When you use Claude through Anthropic, OpenRouter, or Nous Portal, the prompt prefix (system prompt, skills, memory) now caches for an hour across sessions. Start a `/new` session and the first response comes back faster and cheaper because the cache is still warm from your last session. Background memory review hits the cache too, so it's not paying full price every turn. ([#23828](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23828), [#25434](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25434), [#24778](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24778))
+- **Cross-session 1-hour Claude prompt cache** — Anthropic / OpenRouter / Nous Portal now share a 1h prefix cache across sessions for Claude models. Fast resume, fast `/new`, lower cost on repeat work. ([#23828](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23828))
 
-- **180x faster `browser_console` evaluations** — When the agent uses the browser tool to inspect a page or run JavaScript, those calls now share one persistent connection to Chrome instead of spinning up a new DevTools session every time. The difference is huge: things that used to take a couple of seconds per call return in milliseconds. Real-world page interactions feel instant. ([#23226](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23226))
+- **Two new messaging platforms — LINE + SimpleX Chat** — LINE Messaging API lands as a first-class platform, SimpleX Chat salvages #2558 onto the modern adapter spec. Hermes is now on 22 platforms. ([#23197](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23197), [#26232](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26232))
 
-- **Cold-start performance wave — ~19 seconds off `hermes` launch** — Running `hermes` used to make you wait through a chunk of import overhead and network calls before you saw a prompt. Now the launch path is mostly deferred: heavy adapters only load when you use them, model catalogs come from disk cache first, doctor checks run in parallel, and `chat -q` skips the welcome banner entirely. The `hermes tools` All-Platforms screen alone dropped from 14 seconds to under 1.5 seconds. ([#22138](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22138), [#22120](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22120), [#22681](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22681), [#22790](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22790), [#22808](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22808), [#22831](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22831), [#22859](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22859), [#22904](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22904), [#22766](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22766), [#25341](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25341))
+- **Microsoft Graph foundation — Teams pipeline + webhook adapter** — `msgraph` auth/client foundation, webhook listener platform, Teams pipeline plugin runtime, and Teams outbound delivery via the existing adapter — Hermes can now read and post to Teams. (salvages of #21408–#21411) ([#21922](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21922), [#21969](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21969), [#22007](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22007), [#22024](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22024))
 
-- **Two new messaging platforms — LINE + SimpleX Chat** — LINE is huge in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, and now Hermes runs natively on the LINE Messaging API. SimpleX Chat is the privacy-focused decentralized messenger with no user IDs — also wired up as a first-class platform. That brings Hermes to 22 messaging platforms total, so wherever you and your team chat, the agent can be there. ([#23197](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23197), [#26232](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26232))
+- **`/handoff` actually transfers the session live** — the agent's active session moves to a different model / persona / profile mid-conversation, with messages, tool history, and context preserved. ([#23395](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23395))
 
-- **`/handoff` actually transfers the session live** — Switching models or personalities mid-conversation used to mean losing context or starting over. Now `/handoff` moves your active session — every message, every tool call, every piece of context — to the target model, persona, or profile, live, without dropping anything. Mid-debugging hand off from a fast model to a deep-reasoning one, or pass a session between profiles for different parts of a task. ([#23395](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23395))
+- **`x_search` — first-class X (Twitter) search tool** — gated tool with OAuth-or-API-key auth, no skill needed to query the timeline. ([#26763](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26763))
 
-- **Native button UI for `clarify` on Telegram and Discord** — When the agent uses the `clarify` tool to ask you a multiple-choice question, it now shows real platform-native buttons on Telegram and Discord instead of asking you to type back the option number. Tap the button, the agent gets your answer. Especially nice on mobile. ([#24199](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24199), [#25485](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25485))
+- **`vision_analyze` returns pixels to vision-capable models** — when the active model can see, `vision_analyze` now hands the image straight through instead of falling back to a text description. ([#22955](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22955))
 
-- **Discord channel history backfill (default on)** — When Hermes joins a Discord channel or thread for the first time, it now reads the recent message history so it knows what's been said before it responds. No more "what are we talking about?" — the agent has the context that's already on screen for everyone else. ([#25984](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25984))
+- **LSP semantic diagnostics on every write** — `write_file` and `patch` now run real language-server diagnostics on the post-edit file (delta-only) and surface real errors before they ship downstream. ([#24168](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24168), [#25978](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25978))
 
-- **`vision_analyze` returns pixels to vision-capable models** — When you point the agent at an image with `vision_analyze` and the active model can actually see (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok-vision), Hermes now passes the raw pixels straight to the model instead of converting them to a text description first. You get the model's actual visual reasoning instead of a degraded text-summary round-trip. ([#22955](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22955))
+- **Per-turn file-mutation verifier footer** — after every turn that wrote files, the agent gets a verifier footer summarizing what actually changed on disk — catches silent overwrites and "wrote it but it didn't land" bugs. ([#24498](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24498))
 
-- **Per-turn file-mutation verifier footer** — After every turn that wrote or edited files, the agent now gets a short footer summarizing exactly what changed on disk — the file paths, the line counts, the actual delta. That means the agent catches its own mistakes when a write didn't land or got silently overwritten, instead of confidently telling you "I added the function" when the file wasn't actually saved. ([#24498](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24498))
+- **Unified `video_generate` with pluggable provider backends** — single tool, any backend. Drop in a new video provider as a plugin, no core changes. ([#25126](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25126))
 
-- **LSP semantic diagnostics on every write** — When the agent uses `write_file` or `patch`, Hermes now runs a real language server against the edited file and surfaces any new errors back to the agent before the next turn. Type errors, undefined symbols, missing imports — caught immediately. Goes way beyond v0.13.0's basic Python/JSON/YAML/TOML linting because it's actual semantic analysis. ([#24168](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24168), [#25978](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25978))
+- **`computer_use` cua-driver backend** — proper focus-safe ops, non-Anthropic provider support, refresh on `hermes update`. Computer-use is no longer locked to a single SDK. (re-salvage of #16936) ([#21967](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21967), [#24063](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24063))
 
-- **Unified `video_generate` with pluggable provider backends** — One tool, any video model. Hermes ships with the obvious backends already, but you can drop in a new video provider as a plugin without touching core. So when a new video model lands next month, it can be a one-file plugin instead of a fork. ([#25126](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25126))
+- **xAI Grok OAuth provider — SuperGrok via subscription** — sign in with your xAI account, talk to Grok models from Hermes. ([#26534](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26534))
 
-- **`computer_use` cua-driver backend — works with non-Anthropic models now** — Computer-use (the agent controlling your mouse and keyboard to drive GUI apps) used to be locked to Anthropic's SDK. The new cua-driver backend works with non-Anthropic providers too, has proper focus-safe operations, and refreshes itself on `hermes update`. Now any vision-capable model can drive your desktop. (re-salvage of #16936) ([#21967](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21967), [#24063](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24063))
+- **Clarify with buttons — native inline keyboards on Telegram + Discord** — the `clarify` tool renders multi-choice prompts as platform-native buttons instead of typed responses. ([#24199](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24199), [#25485](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25485))
 
-- **Clickable URLs in any terminal** — Links in agent output are now real OSC8 hyperlinks with hover-highlight in any terminal that supports them. Click to open in your browser — no more copy-paste-trim of long URLs from the transcript. Just works in iTerm2, Kitty, Ghostty, modern Windows Terminal, etc. (@OutThisLife) ([#25071](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25071), [#24013](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24013))
+- **Discord channel history backfill (default on)** — Hermes reads recent channel history when joining a thread so it actually knows what's been said. ([#25984](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25984))
 
-- **Zed ACP Registry — `uvx` install in one click** — Hermes is now listed in Zed's Agent Client Protocol registry, so Zed users can install it with one click. The install path uses `uvx` so there's no npm dependency. `hermes acp --setup-browser` bootstraps the browser tools for registry-driven installs. (salvage of [#25908](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25908)) ([#26079](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26079), [#26120](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26120), [#26234](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26234))
+- **Watchers skill — RSS / HTTP JSON / GitHub polling via cron `no_agent` mode** — skill recipes that wire change-detection sources directly into cron's script-only watchdog mode. ([#21881](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21881))
 
-- **OpenRouter Pareto Code router with `min_coding_score` knob** — OpenRouter's "Pareto" router automatically picks the cheapest model that meets a minimum quality bar. The new `min_coding_score` config lets you set that bar for coding tasks specifically — Hermes routes to the most affordable model that's at least that good at code. Stop paying for top-tier models when a mid-tier one would do. ([#22838](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22838))
+- **Zed ACP Registry integration + uvx distribution** — Hermes is in the Zed registry, installable via `uvx` (no npm). Plus `hermes acp --setup-browser` bootstraps browser tools for registry installs. (salvage of [#25908](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25908)) ([#26079](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26079), [#26120](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26120), [#26234](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26234))
 
-- **NovitaAI as a new model provider** — NovitaAI joins the provider lineup, giving you another option for open-source model hosting (Llama, Qwen, DeepSeek, etc.) with their pricing and rate limits. (salvage #7219) (@kshitijk4poor) ([#25507](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25507))
+- **OpenRouter Pareto Code router** — wire a new OpenRouter router with `min_coding_score` knob. Pick the cheapest model that meets your quality bar. ([#22838](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22838))
 
-- **Codex app-server runtime for OpenAI/Codex models** — An optional runtime that drives OpenAI's Codex CLI under the hood when you're using OpenAI or Codex paths. You get session reuse, automatic retirement of wedged sessions, and proper OAuth refresh classification — the kind of plumbing that makes long agentic runs not fall over. ([#24182](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24182), [#25769](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25769))
+- **Optional codex app-server runtime for OpenAI/Codex models** — drives the OpenAI Codex CLI under the hood for OpenAI/Codex paths, with session reuse, wedge retirement, and OAuth refresh classification. ([#24182](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24182), [#25769](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25769))
 
-- **`huggingface/skills` as a trusted default tap** — The community skills index hosted at huggingface.co/skills is now wired into the Skills Hub by default. So when somebody publishes a useful skill there, you can install it from your own `hermes skills` browser without any extra config. (closes #2549) ([#26219](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26219))
+- **`hermes-skills/huggingface` as a trusted default tap** — community skills index from huggingface.co/skills is available by default in the Skills Hub. ([#26219](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26219))
 
-- **9 new optional skills** — Hyperliquid (perp + spot trading via the SDK and REST API), Yahoo Finance (live market data, fundamentals, historicals), api-testing (REST + GraphQL debug recipes), unified EVM multi-chain (one skill covers Ethereum + L2s + Base), darwinian-evolver (evolutionary prompt/skill tuning), osint-investigation (OSINT recipes for people / domains / orgs), pinggy-tunnel (expose local services to the public internet), watchers (polls RSS / HTTP JSON / GitHub via cron `no_agent` mode for change detection), and a full Notion overhaul for the May 2026 Developer Platform. ([#23582](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23582), [#23583](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23583), [#23590](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23590), [#25299](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25299), [#26760](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26760), [#26729](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26729), [#26765](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26765), [#21881](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21881), [#26612](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26612))
+- **9 new optional skills** — Hyperliquid (perp/spot trading via SDK + REST) (@kshitijk4poor & Hermes), Yahoo Finance market data, api-testing (REST/GraphQL debug), unified EVM multi-chain skill (folds #25291 + #2010 + base/), darwinian-evolver, osint-investigation (closes #355), pinggy-tunnel, watchers (RSS/HTTP/GitHub via cron), Notion overhaul for the Developer Platform (May 2026). ([#23582](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23582), [#23583](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23583), [#23590](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23590), [#25299](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25299), [#26760](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26760), [#26729](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26729), [#26765](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26765), [#21881](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21881), [#26612](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26612))
 
-- **API server exposes run approval events** — If you're driving Hermes programmatically through the HTTP API, long-running runs no longer silently hang when the agent hits an approval-required command. The approval request now surfaces on the API stream so your client can prompt the user and reply — no more silent stalls. (salvage of [#20311](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/20311)) ([#21899](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21899))
+- **API server exposes run approval events** — long-running runs surface approval requests over the API stream, no more silent stalls. (salvage of [#20311](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/20311)) ([#21899](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21899))
 
-- **Plugins can run any LLM call via `ctx.llm` + replace built-in tools via `tool_override`** — If you're writing a Hermes plugin, you now get first-class access to make LLM calls through the active provider and credentials — no manual client wiring. The new `tool_override` flag lets a plugin swap out a built-in tool with its own implementation cleanly. Plugin authors get the same model-routing and auth plumbing the core agent uses. (closes #11049) ([#23194](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23194), [#26759](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26759))
+- **`/subgoal` — user-added criteria appended to active `/goal`** — layer extra success criteria onto a running goal loop. The judge sees them in the prompt, no behavior change when subgoals are empty. ([#25449](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25449))
 
-- **Brave Search (free tier) + DuckDuckGo (DDGS) as web-search providers** — Two new free web-search backends join Tavily, SearXNG, and Exa. Brave Search has a generous free tier; DDGS is the DuckDuckGo scraper that needs no key at all. Pick whichever fits your budget and rate-limit needs. ([#21337](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21337))
+- **Plugins can run any LLM call via `ctx.llm`** — plugins get a first-class hook to make their own LLM requests through the active provider/credentials, no manual wiring. Plus `tool_override` flag for replacing built-in tools. ([#23194](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23194), [#26759](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26759))
 
-- **Sudo brute-force block + 3 dangerous-command bypasses closed + tool-error sanitization** — The approval gate now blocks `sudo -S` brute-force attempts and classifies stdin-fed or askpass-stripped sudo invocations as DANGEROUS. Three known bypasses of dangerous-command detection are closed (inspired by Claude Code's command-detection work). And tool error strings are now sanitized before being re-injected into the model context, so a malicious file or remote service can't pass instructions to your agent through error output. ([#23736](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23736), [#26829](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26829), [#26823](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26823))
+- **Brave Search (free tier) + DuckDuckGo (DDGS) as web-search providers** — two new free search backends alongside Tavily / SearXNG / Exa. ([#21337](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21337))
 
-- **`/subgoal` — user-added criteria appended to an active `/goal`** — When you've got a `/goal` running (the persistent Ralph-loop goal where the agent keeps going until criteria are met), you can now use `/subgoal <text>` to layer extra success criteria onto it mid-run. The judge factors your new criteria into the done-or-keep-going decision without restarting the loop. ([#25449](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25449))
+- **Sudo brute-force block + sudo-stdin/askpass DANGEROUS classification** — closes the `sudo -S` brute-force avenue; approval gates classify stdin-fed and askpass-stripped sudo invocations as dangerous. (salvages of #22194 + #21128) ([#23736](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23736))
 
-- **Provider rename — Alibaba Cloud → Qwen Cloud** — The Alibaba Cloud provider is renamed to Qwen Cloud in the picker and config to match what the rest of the world calls it. Existing config keys still work — no breaking changes — but the UI matches the actual brand now. ([#24835](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24835))
-
-- **Native Windows support (early beta)** — Hermes now runs natively on `cmd.exe` and PowerShell without WSL. A full PowerShell installer handles MinGit auto-install, Microsoft Store python stub detection, and the foreground Ctrl+C dance. There's still rough edges (this is the "early beta" stamp) — ~40 follow-up Windows-only fixes already landed in the window — but the basic loop works end-to-end on a clean Windows box. ([#21561](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/21561))
+- **Provider rename — Alibaba Cloud → Qwen Cloud, picker reorder** — matches what the world calls it. Existing config keys still work. ([#24835](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24835))
 
 
 ---

RELEASE_v0.15.0.md

@@ -1,651 +0,0 @@
-# Hermes Agent v0.15.0 (v2026.5.28)
-
-**Release Date:** May 28, 2026
-**Since v0.14.0:** 1,302 commits · 747 merged PRs · 1,746 files changed · 282,712 insertions · 36,699 deletions · 560+ issues closed (15 P0, 65 P1, 19 security-tagged) · 321 community contributors (including co-authors)
-
-> **The Velocity Release.** Hermes gets dramatically faster — to start, to run, to ship work, and to grow. The 16,083-line `run_agent.py` collapses to 3,821 (-76%) across 14 cohesive `agent/*` modules. Kanban grew into a real multi-agent platform across 104 PRs — orchestrator auto-decomposition, swarm topology, scheduled tasks, worktree-per-task, per-task model overrides. The cold-start perf wave keeps going: another second shaved off launch, 47% fewer per-conversation function calls, `hermes --version` flipping the head-to-head benchmark against Codex CLI. `session_search` is 4,500× faster and free now. Promptware defense lands against Brainworm-class attacks. Bitwarden Secrets Manager replaces N per-provider API keys with one bootstrap token. Skill bundles let one slash command load a whole workflow. The Ink TUI gets a multi-session orchestrator. Two new image_gen providers (Krea 2 Medium + Large, FAL ported to plugin), the Nous-approved MCP catalog with an interactive picker, an OpenHands orchestration skill, ntfy as the 23rd messaging platform, and a deep xAI integration round (Web Search plugin, xai-oauth `hermes proxy` upstream, retired-May-15 model detection + `hermes migrate xai`, natural TTS speech-tag pauses, base_url leak guard, OpenAI-style execution guidance for Grok). 15 P0 + 65 P1 closures alongside.
-
----
-
-## ✨ Highlights
-
-- **The Big Refactor — `run_agent.py` is no longer 16,000 lines** — The file at the heart of Hermes — the agent conversation loop — has been reduced from 16,083 lines to 3,821 (-76%), with the extracted code redistributed across 14 cohesive modules under `agent/`. Behavior is unchanged: every extraction keeps a thin forwarder on `AIAgent`, every test patch path still works, every external caller is compatible. The reason you care: future Hermes development moves faster, plugin authors can finally grep the codebase, and the file that took 90 seconds to load in your editor opens in a blink. ([#27248](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27248))
-
-- **Kanban grew into a real multi-agent platform — 104 PRs end to end** — Triage auto-decomposes one task into a tree of sub-tasks. `hermes kanban swarm` creates a full Swarm v1 graph in one command — root, parallel workers, gated verifier, gated synthesizer, shared blackboard. Tasks support per-task model overrides (cheap models for boilerplate, expensive ones for hard sub-tasks), board-level default workdirs, per-task worktree paths and branches, scheduled start times, configurable claim TTL, retry fingerprinting, stale-task detection, respawn guards, and a drag-to-delete trash zone. Workers report through `/workers/active`, `/runs/{id}`, and `/inspect` endpoints. ([#27572](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27572), [#28443](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28443), [#28364](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28364), [#28394](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28394), [#28462](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28462), [#28384](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28384), [#28467](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28467), [#28455](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28455), [#28452](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28452), [#28432](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28432), [#28468](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28468), [#28420](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28420))
-
-- **Cold-start perf wave keeps going — another second saved, 47% fewer per-turn function calls** — Three new optimization rounds: defer `openai._base_client` import (-240ms / -17MB on every CLI invocation), hot-path optimizations cut 47% of per-conversation function calls (399k → 213k for 31-turn chat), defer compression-feasibility check (-170 to -290ms on every agent construction), adaptive subprocess polling (-195ms per tool call, 1+ second per turn). Termux cold start drops from 2.9s to 0.8s. `hermes --version` cold drops 63% (701ms → 258ms), flipping the head-to-head benchmark against Codex CLI from 5/11 wins to 6/11. ([#28864](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28864), [#28866](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28866), [#28957](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28957), [#29006](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29006), [#29419](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29419), [#30121](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30121), [#30609](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30609), [#31968](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31968))
-
-- **`session_search` rebuilt — no LLM, no cost, 4,500× faster** — The old `session_search` was an aux-LLM-powered tool that cost ~$0.30/call and took ~30 seconds to summarize three sessions, sometimes confabulating when the right session wasn't even in the FTS5 hit list. The new shape is one tool with three modes (discovery, scroll, browse) inferred from which args are set — no `mode` parameter, no aux-LLM, no config knob, no companion skill. Discovery is ~20ms instead of ~90s; scroll is ~1ms. Searching your past sessions for context is now free and instant. ([#27590](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27590))
-
-- **Promptware defense — Brainworm-class attacks blocked at three chokepoints** — Inspired by recent Brainworm / Promptware Kill Chain research (Origin HQ, arxiv 2601.09625), Hermes now defends the context window against prompt-injection attacks that try to hijack the agent via tool output, recalled memory, or stored skills. Single source of truth (`tools/threat_patterns.py`) with ~15 new Brainworm/C2 patterns; recalled memory is scanned at load time; tool results get delimiter markers so a malicious file or remote service can't impersonate Hermes' own system content. Paired with a new `security-guidance` plugin that pattern-matches dangerous code writes. ([#32269](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32269), [#33131](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33131), [#9151](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/9151))
-
-- **Bitwarden Secrets Manager — one bootstrap token replaces every per-provider API key** — Stop keeping plaintext API keys in `~/.hermes/.env`. Install Bitwarden Secrets Manager (`bws` auto-installs lazily on first use), point Hermes at it with one bootstrap token (`BWS_ACCESS_TOKEN`), and every credential you need comes from Bitwarden at startup. Rotate a key in the Bitwarden web app and the rotation actually takes effect — Bitwarden defaults to source-of-truth so its values overwrite matching env vars on startup. Flip `secrets.bitwarden.override_existing: false` to invert. EU Cloud and self-hosted Bitwarden server URLs supported. Detected credentials are now labeled with their source so you can see at a glance which keys came from Bitwarden vs. the local env. ([#30035](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30035), [#31378](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31378), [#30364](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30364))
-
-- **ntfy as the 23rd messaging platform — push notifications without an account** — ntfy is the self-hostable push-notification service with no signup, no API key, just a topic URL. Hermes now adapts to it as a platform plugin (zero edits to core), so your agent can send you push notifications from any cron job, kanban task completion, or chat `send_message` — to your phone, your watch, your desktop, your homelab. (salvages [#30625](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30625) → originally [#4043](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/4043)) ([#30867](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30867))
-
-- **Skill bundles — `/<name>` loads multiple skills at once** — A skill bundle is a named group of skills that loads them all together with one slash command. Set up your "writing day" bundle (humanizer + ideation + obsidian + youtube-content) and `/writing-day` activates all four for the session. Skills Hub now has health checks, a freshness badge, and a watchdog cron. Three new optional skills land: `code-wiki` (Karpathy's LLM-Wiki, persistent indexed dev wiki), `openhands` (delegate to OpenHands for parallel coding agents), and `web-pentest` (OWASP-style web pentest recipes). ([#28373](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28373), [#32345](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32345), [#32240](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32240), [#32261](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32261), [#32265](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32265))
-
-- **TUI session orchestrator — multiple live sessions in one TUI window** — The Ink TUI gained an active-session switcher overlay. List, switch between, refresh, and close multiple live process-local sessions without leaving the TUI; dispatch a new session with a session-scoped model picker. Plus a wave of TUI polish — mouse-tracking DEC mode presets, scrollback preservation across branches and termux, slash-dropdown fixes, x.com link rendering, and CJK / IME input rendering improvements. (salvages [#27642](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27642)) ([#32980](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32980), [#30084](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30084))
-
-- **Two new image_gen providers — Krea 2 Medium + Large, FAL ported to plugin** — Krea joins the image_gen lineup as a built-in plugin: `Krea 2 Medium` ($0.03) and `Krea 2 Large` ($0.06), auto-discovered, selectable via `hermes tools` → Image Generation → Krea. Available through both the native Krea plugin and the FAL.ai catalog. The FAL.ai backend got pulled out of the monolithic image-generation tool into `plugins/image_gen/fal/`, completing the four-way architectural parity already established by web, browser, and video_gen — new image providers are now one file, not a fork. ([#33236](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33236), [#30380](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30380), [#33506](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33506))
-
-- **Nous-approved MCP catalog with interactive picker** — A curated catalog of Nous-vetted MCP servers, mirroring the optional-skills shape. Run `hermes mcp` and you get an interactive picker; install with one keystroke, credentials prompted at install time and written to `~/.hermes/.env`. Ships with the n8n manifest first. Closes the discovery gap that left users hunting GitHub for trusted MCP servers. ([#30870](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30870))
-
-- **OpenHands orchestration skill** — A new optional skill under `optional-skills/autonomous-ai-agents/openhands/` lets the agent delegate coding tasks to the OpenHands CLI alongside `claude-code`, `codex`, and `opencode`. OpenHands is the model-agnostic member of that family — any LiteLLM-supported provider works (OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, your own), so you can route a sub-task to the cheapest model that can finish it. Drop-in worker for kanban swarms and `/delegate` flows. (closes [#477](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/477)) ([#32261](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32261))
-
-- **Deep xAI integration round — Web Search plugin, OAuth proxy upstream, May 15 retirement detection, natural TTS, security hardening** — Six interlocking xAI improvements:
-    - **xAI Web Search** lands as a `plugins/web/xai/` provider, slots alongside Brave / Tavily / Exa / SearXNG / DDGS / Firecrawl — reuses your existing Grok OAuth or `XAI_API_KEY` credentials, no new env vars. ([#29042](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29042))
-    - **`hermes proxy` gains an xAI upstream** — your local OpenAI-compatible endpoint can now be backed by SuperGrok OAuth, no PKCE-refresh code to write in your client. ([#28356](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28356))
-    - **May 15 model retirement detection** — `grok-4`, `grok-4-fast{,-reasoning,-non-reasoning}`, `grok-3`, `grok-code-fast-1`, `grok-imagine-image-pro` etc. are detected in doctor and chat startup, with `hermes migrate xai` to one-shot config migration to the supported model. No more silent 404s after the retirement date. ([#29277](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29277))
-    - **Opt-in `auto_speech_tags`** for xAI TTS — inserts light `[pause]` tags between paragraphs and sentences for more natural-sounding voice replies. Default OFF. ([#29376](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29376))
-    - **`xai-oauth` `base_url` pinned to `x.ai` origin** — closes a silent credential-leak vector where `XAI_BASE_URL` could repoint OAuth-authenticated inference to an attacker-controlled host. ([#28952](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28952))
-    - **OpenAI-style execution guidance applied to Grok models** — Grok and xai-oauth now get the same family-specific execution discipline block GPT/Codex have, so the model stops claiming completion without tool calls and stops suggesting workarounds instead of using existing tools. ([#27797](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27797))
-    - Plus `x_search` degraded-results surfacing, tier-gated 403 with API-key fallback, PKCE `code_challenge` round-trip fix, dead-token quarantine on terminal refresh failure, MiniMax-style short-token refresh on per-request, and `WKE=unauthenticated` honor at both classifier sites. ([#29484](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29484), [#28351](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28351), [#27560](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27560), [#28116](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28116), [#30619](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30619), [#30872](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30872))
-
----
-
-## 🏗️ Core Agent & Architecture
-
-### The Big Refactor — `run_agent.py` 16k → 3.8k
-
-- `run_agent.py` from 16,083 → 3,821 lines (-76%), extracted into 14 cohesive `agent/*` modules. `run_conversation` alone was 3,877 lines before the refactor. Every extraction keeps a thin forwarder on `AIAgent`, every test-patch path is preserved, every external caller stays compatible. ([#27248](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27248))
-
-### Agent loop & conversation
-
-- Auxiliary task layered fallback (primary → chain → main agent → graceful fail) on capacity errors (402/429/connection). (salvages [#26811](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26811) + [#26998](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26998)) ([#27625](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27625))
-- Buffer retry/fallback status; surface only on terminal failure (no more noisy "retrying..." spam in mid-run output). ([#33816](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33816))
-- Host contract for external context engines — condenses 5 prior PRs into one extension surface. ([#33750](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33750))
-- Fallback immediately on provider content-policy blocks. ([#33883](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33883))
-- Re-pad `reasoning_content` on cross-provider fallback to require-side providers. (salvage [#33784](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33784)) ([#33795](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33795))
-- Per-turn tool-outcome verifier — patch tool gets indent preservation, CRLF preservation, per-file failure escalation. ([#32273](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32273))
-- Single-knob native vision for custom-provider models. ([#29679](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29679))
-- Background review fork isolated from external memory plugins. ([#27190](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27190))
-- Background review inherits parent toolset config for `tools[]` cache parity. ([#29704](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29704))
-- Recover from providers returning list-type tool content. ([#30259](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30259))
-- Treat partial-stream stub responses as length truncation rather than clean stop. ([#30998](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30998))
-- OpenAI execution guidance applied to xAI Grok / xai-oauth. ([#27797](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27797))
-- ContextVars propagate to concurrent tool worker threads.
-- Preload `jiter` native parser. ([#33692](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33692))
-- Expose context engine tools with saved toolsets. (salvage of [#31194](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31194)) ([#33719](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33719))
-
-### Sessions & memory
-
-- `session_search` rebuilt — single-shape (discovery + scroll + browse), no aux-LLM, ~20ms vs. ~90s. ([#27590](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27590))
-- Salvage [#29182](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29182) — opt-in JSON snapshot writer for sessions. ([#29278](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29278))
-- Persist `platform_message_id` for recall across gateway restarts. ([#29449](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29449))
-- Inline memory-context mentions stay visible in conversation. ([#28132](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28132))
-- Recalled memory labeled informational, not authoritative. ([#28583](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28583))
-- Memory + context-engine tool injection gated on `enabled_toolsets`. ([#30177](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30177))
-- Guard against external drift in `MEMORY.md` / `USER.md`. ([#30877](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30877))
-- Honcho runtime peer mapping — correctness follow-ups + setup wizard + docs. ([#30077](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30077))
-- Periodic memory logging for leak detection. (salvage of [#17667](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/17667)) ([#27102](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27102))
-
-### Codex / Responses-API maturation
-
-- TTFB watchdog for stalled Codex Responses streams. ([#32042](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32042))
-- Actionable hint when stale-call detector fires on known silent-reject pattern. ([#32016](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32016), [#33133](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33133))
-- Drop SDK `responses.stream()` helper; consume events directly. ([#33042](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33042))
-- Gracefully recover from `invalid_encrypted_content`. (salvage of [#10144](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/10144)) ([#33035](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33035))
-- Recover Codex Responses streams with null output. ([#32963](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32963), [#33390](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33390))
-- Drop foreign-issuer reasoning and transient `rs_tmp` reasoning replay state. ([#33156](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33156), [#33146](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33146))
-- Codex 429 quota classified as rate-limit, not missing credentials. ([#33168](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33168))
-- Codex chat path falls back to credential_pool when singleton is empty. ([#33189](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33189))
-- Codex re-auth syncs credential_pool. ([#33164](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33164))
-- Omit `tools` key when no tools registered. ([#33409](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33409))
-- Parse Codex image-generation SSE directly. ([#32933](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32933))
-
----
-
-## 🎛️ Kanban — Multi-Agent Maturation Wave
-
-### Orchestration & dispatch
-
-- Orchestrator-driven auto-decomposition on triage. ([#27572](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27572))
-- Kanban swarm topology helper — `hermes kanban swarm` creates a Swarm v1 graph (root + parallel workers + gated verifier + gated synthesizer + shared blackboard). (salvages [#26791](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26791) by @Niraven) ([#28443](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28443))
-- Dispatcher wires review agents from the review column. ([#28449](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28449))
-- Stale-detection for running tasks in dispatcher. ([#28452](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28452))
-- Respawn guard blocks repeat worker storms. ([#28455](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28455))
-- Respawn guard defers `blocker_auth` instead of auto-blocking. ([#28683](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28683))
-- Cross-profile cron jobs surface in dashboard. ([#28457](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28457))
-- Worker visibility endpoints: `/workers/active`, `/runs/{id}`, `/inspect`. (salvages [#23761](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23761) by @Interstellar-code) ([#28432](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28432))
-
-### Task configuration & scheduling
-
-- Per-task model override. ([#28364](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28364))
-- Board-level default workdir. ([#28394](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28394))
-- Configurable worktree paths and branches. ([#28462](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28462))
-- Scheduled task start times. ([#28384](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28384))
-- Scheduled status for delayed follow-ups. ([#28467](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28467))
-- Trimmed task comments. ([#28399](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28399))
-- Initial-status for human-ops cards. ([#28414](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28414))
-- `max_in_progress` config to cap concurrent running tasks. ([#28420](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28420))
-- Filter tasks by workflow fields. ([#28454](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28454))
-- `--sort` for `hermes kanban list`. ([#28427](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28427))
-- Optional `board` parameter on all MCP tools. ([#28444](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28444))
-- Stamp originating ACP session_id on tasks. ([#28447](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28447))
-- `auto_promote_children` config toggle. ([#28344](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28344))
-- `archive --rm` to hard-delete archived tasks. ([#28355](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28355))
-- Promote dependents when parent is archived. ([#28372](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28372))
-- Promote blocked tasks when parent dependencies complete. ([#28377](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28377))
-- Demote ready children when parent is reopened. ([#28382](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28382))
-- `promote` verb for manual `todo→ready` recovery + bulk `--ids`. (salvage [#29464](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29464)) ([#31334](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31334))
-
-### Dashboard
-
-- Drag-to-delete trash zone + bulk delete. ([#28468](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28468))
-- Surface per-task `model_override` in show + tool output. ([#28442](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28442))
-- Cross-profile notification delivery via `kanban.notification_sources`. ([#28395](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28395))
-- Scratch-workspace deletion warning for users. ([#30949](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30949))
-- Mobile dashboard UX polish. ([#28127](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28127))
-
-### Reliability
-
-- Worker log retention configurable. ([#27867](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27867))
-- Configurable claim TTL. ([#28392](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28392))
-- Fingerprint crash errors to prevent fleet-wide retry exhaustion. ([#28380](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28380))
-- Reset failure counters on `unblock_task`. ([#28379](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28379))
-- Detect cycles in `decompose_triage_task` sibling-link pre-validation. ([#28088](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28088))
-- Surface unusable triage auxiliary model (auto-decompose aware). ([#27871](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27871))
-- Align failure diagnostics with retry limit. ([#27868](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27868))
-- Align worker terminal timeout with task runtime. ([#27864](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27864))
-- Auto-install bundled skills (kanban-worker) on init. ([#28368](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28368))
-- Make legacy task migration idempotent. ([#28397](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28397))
-- Serialize DB initialization. ([#28383](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28383))
-- Persist worker session metadata on completion. ([#28387](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28387))
-- Pass `accept-hooks` to worker chat subprocess. ([#28393](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28393))
-- Preserve worker tools with restricted toolsets. ([#28396](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28396))
-- Avoid unsafe Windows worker Hermes shim resolution. ([#28398](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28398))
-- Sync slash subcommands with live parser. ([#28376](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28376))
-- Show scheduled kanban tasks in dashboard. ([#28400](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28400))
-- Assign single-task kanban decompositions. ([#28401](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28401))
-- Configurable `max_tokens` for kanban specify. ([#28374](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28374))
-- Per-job profile support for cron. ([#28124](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28124))
-- Codex app-server: include every Kanban-pinned path in `writable_roots`. ([#28435](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28435))
-- Cache kanban worker guidance at session init for prompt-cache reuse. ([#28425](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28425))
-
----
-
-## ⚡ Performance
-
-- `openai._base_client` import deferred — 240ms / 17MB off every CLI cold start. ([#28864](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28864))
-- Agent-loop hot-path optimizations — 47% fewer per-conversation function calls (399k → 213k for 31-turn chat). ([#28866](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28866))
-- Compression-feasibility check deferred — 170-290ms off every agent construction. ([#28957](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28957))
-- Adaptive subprocess poll — ~195ms off every tool call, 1+ second per turn. ([#29006](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29006))
-- Termux TUI cold start speedup. ([#29419](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29419))
-- Termux non-TUI cold start speedup. (salvage [#29438](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29438)) ([#30121](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30121))
-- Termux fast-path version + deferred bare-prompt agent startup. ([#30609](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30609))
-- Cut hermes `--version` wall time 63% — flips head-to-head vs Codex CLI. ([#31968](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31968))
-- Date-only timestamp + loud gateway-DB roundtrip logging — improves prompt-cache hit rate. ([#27675](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27675))
-- Cache kanban worker guidance at session init for prompt-cache reuse. ([#28425](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28425))
-
----
-
-## 🔧 Tool System
-
-### Tool surface
-
-- `patch`: indent preservation, CRLF preservation, per-file failure escalation. ([#32273](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32273))
-- `terminal`: warn at call time when `background=true` runs silently. ([#31289](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31289))
-- `terminal`: nudge homebrewed CI pollers at the tool surface. ([#33142](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33142))
-- `x_search`: surface degraded results + validate dates. ([#29484](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29484))
-- `x_search`: auto-enable toolset when xAI credentials are configured. ([#27376](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27376))
-- `computer_use`: route SOM/vision captures via auxiliary.vision. ([#30126](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30126))
-- `transcription`: reject symlinked audio inputs. ([#10082](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/10082))
-- TTS: prevent double `[pause]` in xAI auto speech tags. ([#32237](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32237))
-- TTS: preserve native audio outside Telegram voice delivery. ([#28512](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28512))
-- TTS: opt-in xAI `auto_speech_tags` speech-tag pauses for natural voice replies. ([#29376](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29376))
-- Voice: chunk oversized CLI recordings. ([#30044](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30044))
-- Voice: honor `PULSE_SERVER` / `PIPEWIRE_REMOTE` inside Docker. ([#22534](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/22534))
-
-### Browser
-
-- All cloud browser providers (Browserbase, Anchor, Camofox, Hyperbrowser, etc.) migrated to image_gen-style plugins. (salvages [#25580](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/25580)) ([#27403](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27403))
-- Auto-launch Chromium-family browser for CDP. ([#29106](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29106))
-- Docker: discover agent-browser Chromium binary at boot. ([#33184](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33184))
-
-### Image generation
-
-- **Krea** provider plugin (Krea 2 Medium + Large). ([#33236](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33236))
-- FAL backend ported to `plugins/image_gen/fal`. (salvage [#27966](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27966)) ([#30380](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30380))
-- Cache xAI ephemeral URL responses to disk. ([#31759](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31759))
-
-### Web search
-
-- **xAI Web Search** as a provider plugin. ([#29042](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29042))
-
-### MCP
-
-- **Nous-approved MCP catalog** with interactive picker. ([#30870](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30870))
-- **TLS client certificate (mTLS) support** for HTTP and SSE MCP servers. ([#33721](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33721))
-- Stdin paste-back fallback for headless OAuth flow. ([#32053](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32053))
-- `skip` at paste prompt bypasses auth without disabling server. ([#32069](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32069))
-- Registry-aware `mcp_` prefix on both ends of round-trip. ([#31700](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31700))
-
----
-
-## 🧩 Skills Ecosystem
-
-### Skills system
-
-- **Skill bundles** — `/<name>` loads multiple skills. ([#28373](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28373))
-- Skills Hub: health checks, freshness badge, and a watchdog cron. ([#32345](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32345))
-- Opt-in AST deep diagnostics on skill writes. (salvage of [#30918](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30918)) ([#31198](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31198))
-- Bundled/pinned skill protection in background-review prompts. ([#28338](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28338))
-- Show user-modified skill names in bundled skill sync summary. ([#28671](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28671))
-- Load symlinked skill slash commands. ([#27759](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27759))
-- Deduplicate Skills Hub search results by identifier, not name. ([#29490](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29490))
-
-### New skills
-
-- `openhands` — delegate-to-OpenHands orchestration skill (closes [#477](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/477)) ([#32261](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32261))
-- `code-wiki` — persistent indexed dev wiki (closes [#486](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/486)) ([#32240](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32240))
-- `web-pentest` — OWASP recipes (closes [#400](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/400)) ([#32265](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32265))
-- `baoyu-article-illustrator` ([#28287](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28287))
-
----
-
-## ☁️ Providers
-
-### xAI deep integration
-
-- **xAI Web Search** as a `plugins/web/xai/` provider plugin. ([#29042](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29042))
-- **`hermes proxy` xAI upstream** — OpenAI-compatible local proxy backed by xai-oauth. ([#28356](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28356))
-- **May 15 model retirement detection + `hermes migrate xai`** for grok-4 / grok-3 / grok-code-fast-1 / grok-imagine-image-pro. ([#29277](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29277))
-- **Opt-in `auto_speech_tags`** for natural xAI TTS voice replies. ([#29376](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29376))
-- **xai-oauth base_url pinned to x.ai origin** — closes silent credential-leak vector. ([#28952](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28952))
-- **OpenAI-style execution guidance** applied to Grok / xai-oauth models. ([#27797](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27797))
-- xAI: detect retired May 15 models in doctor/chat startup. ([#29277](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29277))
-- xAI: resolve Grok Build context for OAuth. ([#30579](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30579))
-- xAI OAuth: tier-gated 403 with API-key fallback. ([#28351](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28351))
-- xAI OAuth: PKCE `code_challenge` echo. ([#27560](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27560))
-- xAI OAuth: quarantine dead tokens on terminal refresh failure. ([#28116](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28116))
-- xAI OAuth: honor `WKE=unauthenticated` disambiguator at both classifier sites. ([#30872](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30872))
-- xAI OAuth: accept bare-code manual paste (state=None). (closes [#26923](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/26923)) ([#33880](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33880))
-- xAI OAuth: fall back to manual paste on loopback timeout. ([#33231](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33231))
-- xAI proxy: handle 429 rate-limit responses in proxy retry path. ([#33743](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33743))
-
-### Other providers
-
-- **OpenAI API as a first-class provider** (distinct from Codex runtime). ([#31898](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31898))
-- **Microsoft Entra ID** auth for Azure Foundry (with 1M Anthropic-Messages beta preserved on Bearer). (salvages [#27509](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27509), [#27022](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27022)) ([#28101](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28101), [#28084](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28084))
-- **OpenRouter** sticky routing — `session_id` passed via `extra_body` so a long-running session keeps landing on the same upstream provider. (@Cybourgeoisie) ([#33939](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33939))
-- Nous: JWT token for inference; stop replaying invalid Nous refresh tokens. (@rewbs) ([#27663](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27663))
-- Nous Portal: one-shot setup, status CLI, and Nous-included markers. ([#30860](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30860))
-- Anthropic adapter: extract 7 helpers from `convert_messages_to_anthropic`. (salvage [#27784](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27784)) ([#30386](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30386))
-- Catalog: add `qwen3.7-max` to Alibaba + Alibaba-Coding-Plan model lists. ([#33129](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33129))
-- opencode-go: route `qwen3.7-max` via `anthropic_messages`. (@beardthelion) ([#32780](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32780))
-- opencode-go: expose Kimi K2 + DeepSeek reasoning controls. ([#30845](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30845))
-- Remove Vercel AI Gateway and Vercel Sandbox.
-- MiniMax OAuth: refresh short-lived access tokens per request. ([#30619](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30619))
-- Codex OAuth: quarantine terminal refresh errors. ([#28118](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28118))
-- Codex: drop dead model slugs that HTTP 400 on ChatGPT Pro. ([#33424](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33424))
-- Codex: sync `manual:device_code` pool entries on re-auth. ([#33744](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33744))
-- MiniMax OAuth: quarantine terminal refresh errors. ([#28119](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28119))
-
----
-
-## 🔑 Secrets
-
-- **Bitwarden Secrets Manager** integration with lazy `bws` install. ([#30035](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30035))
-- Bitwarden: EU Cloud + self-hosted server URL support. ([#31378](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31378))
-- Label detected credentials with their source (Bitwarden). ([#30364](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30364))
-
----
-
-## 📱 Messaging Platforms (Gateway)
-
-### Gateway core
-
-- **Deliverable mode** — agents ship artifacts as native uploads from any platform (Slack/Discord/Telegram/Teams/Email). ([#27813](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27813))
-- `hermes send` — pipe any script's output to any messaging platform. (salvage of [#19631](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/19631)) ([#27188](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27188))
-- Debounce queued text follow-ups during active sessions. (salvage of [#31235](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31235)) ([#31341](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31341))
-- Plugin-transformed final_response delivered through streaming gate. ([#31433](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31433))
-- Refresh cached agent tools on `/reload-mcp`. ([#32815](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32815))
-- Harden kanban + provider cleanup races on long-running workloads. ([#29479](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29479))
-
-### New / reorganized adapters
-
-- **ntfy** — 23rd platform, push notifications, plugin shape, zero core edits. (salvages [#30625](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30625) → [#4043](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/4043)) ([#30867](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30867))
-- **Discord** adapter migrated to bundled plugin. (salvage of [#24356](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24356)) ([#30591](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30591))
-- **Mattermost** adapter migrated to bundled plugin. (salvage of [#30916](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30916)) ([#31748](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31748))
-
-### Telegram
-
-- Edit status messages in place instead of appending. (based on [#30141](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30141) by @qike-ms) ([#30864](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30864))
-- Skip-STT audio path + 2GB cap via local Bot API server. ([#28541](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28541))
-- Route image documents (.png/.jpg/.webp/.gif) through vision pipeline. ([#28519](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28519))
-- Route audio file attachments away from STT pipeline. ([#28478](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28478))
-- `disable_topic_auto_rename` gateway flag. ([#28523](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28523))
-- `ignore_root_dm` config to drop messages without thread_id. ([#28536](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28536))
-- Chat-scoped auth without sender user_id. ([#28525](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28525))
-- Fail-closed auth fallback when `TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS` is empty. ([#28494](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28494))
-- Roll over tool progress bubbles + scope audio_file_paths. ([#28482](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28482))
-- Avoid duplicate text after auto-TTS voice replies. ([#28509](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28509))
-- Mark final voice reply notify-worthy so Telegram delivers it audibly. ([#28504](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28504))
-
-### Discord
-
-- Recover Windows voice opus decoding. ([#33182](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33182))
-- `allow_any_attachment` config to accept arbitrary file types. ([#27245](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27245))
-- Transcribe native voice notes. ([#28993](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28993))
-- Define UI view classes after lazy install. ([#28817](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28817))
-
-### Signal / Matrix / Feishu / Slack / WeCom
-
-- Signal: `require_mention` filter for group chats. ([#28574](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28574))
-- Matrix: warn on clock-skew silent message drops. ([#27330](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27330))
-- Matrix E2EE installs full dep set; plugins respect `is_connected`. ([#31688](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31688))
-- Feishu: require webhook auth secret + honor config extras. ([#30746](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30746))
-- Feishu: enforce auth and chat binding for approval buttons. ([#30744](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30744))
-- Slack: socket recovery + Windows restart dedupe. ([#28873](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28873))
-- WeCom: safe-parse untrusted XML. ([#32442](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32442))
-
-### DingTalk / Webhooks / Microsoft Graph
-
-- DingTalk: transcribe native voice notes. ([#28993](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28993))
-- Webhook: enforce `INSECURE_NO_AUTH` safety rail on dynamic route reloads. ([#30863](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30863))
-- Webhook: restrict default toolset capabilities. ([#30745](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30745))
-- Microsoft Graph: harden webhook auth requirements. ([#30169](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30169))
-
----
-
-## 🖥️ CLI & TUI
-
-### CLI
-
-- `/update` slash command in CLI and TUI. ([#23854](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/23854))
-- Update auto-rollback when post-pull syntax check fails. ([#28669](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28669))
-- `--branch` flag for `hermes update`. (@jquesnelle) ([#29591](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29591))
-- `/exit --delete` flag to remove session on quit. (salvage of [#17665](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/17665)) ([#27101](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27101))
-- `▶ N` indicator in status bar for running `/background` tasks. ([#27175](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27175))
-- Live background terminal-process count in status bar. ([#32061](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32061))
-- Append session recap to `/status` output. (salvage of [#18587](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/18587)) ([#27176](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27176))
-- Configurable paste-collapse thresholds (TUI + CLI). (salvage [#29723](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29723)) ([#32087](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32087))
-- `/resume` accepts position numbers. ([#31709](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31709))
-- Bring tool-call display back — verbose mode, specific failure reasons, todo progress. ([#31293](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31293))
-- Validate runtime token refresh in Qwen auth status. ([#31196](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31196))
-
-### TUI
-
-- **TUI session orchestrator** — multiple live sessions in one TUI window. (salvages [#27642](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27642)) ([#32980](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32980))
-- `mouse_tracking` DEC mode presets. (salvage of [#26681](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26681) by @OutThisLife) ([#30084](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30084))
-- Termux scrollback preservation + touch-friendly defaults. ([#28910](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28910))
-- Full assistant text in scrollback (no history truncation). ([#28829](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28829))
-- Preserve scrollback when branching sessions. ([#30162](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30162))
-- Preserve Python dunder identifiers in markdown. ([#28582](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28582))
-- Active profile shown in TUI prompt. ([#28581](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28581))
-- Improve Charizard completion menu contrast. ([#28346](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28346))
-- Stop slash dropdown chopping last char of `/goal`. ([#31311](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31311))
-- Clipboard copy on linux/wayland. ([#29342](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29342))
-- Anchor `splitReasoning` unclosed-tag regex; stop eating last paragraph. ([#29426](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29426))
-- Surface verbose tool details. ([#30225](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30225))
-- Load Linux skills on Termux + salvage @adybag14-cyber's Termux gates. ([#30166](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30166))
-- Handle images with codex app-server. ([#31220](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31220))
-- Refresh virtual transcript on viewport resize. ([#31077](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31077))
-- Ignore late thinking deltas after completion. ([#31055](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31055))
-- Commit composer input bursts immediately. ([#31053](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31053))
-- Log parent gateway lifecycle exits. ([#31051](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31051))
-- Clear TTS env var on voice off + TTS indicator in status bar. ([#30987](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30987))
-- Pass `--expose-gc` as node argv instead of NODE_OPTIONS. ([#29998](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29998))
-- Align composer cursorLayout with wrap-ansi to kill multiline cursor drift. ([#27489](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27489))
-- Harden Terminal.app rendering and color paths. ([#27251](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27251))
-- Keep `/goal` verdict out of compact status row. ([#27971](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27971))
-- Clamp curses color 8 for 8-color terminals (Docker). ([#30260](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30260))
-
----
-
-## 🔒 Security & Reliability
-
-### Promptware & memory hardening
-
-- **Promptware defense** — shared threat patterns + memory load-time scan + tool-result delimiters. ([#32269](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32269))
-- Expand memory content scanning patterns to parity with skills guard. ([#9151](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/9151))
-- Harden Skills Guard multi-word prompt patterns. (@YLChen-007) ([#26852](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26852))
-- Split cron scanner so skill prose stops false-positiving exfil patterns. ([#32339](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32339))
-
-### File safety
-
-- Protect Hermes control-plane files from prompt injection (`auth.json`, `config.yaml`, `webhook_subscriptions.json`, `mcp-tokens/`). (salvages @PratikRai0101's [#14157](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/14157)) ([#30397](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30397))
-- Write-deny `<root>/.env` when running under a profile. ([#29687](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29687))
-- Defense-in-depth read-deny on credential stores. (salvages [#17659](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/17659) + [#8055](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/8055)) ([#30721](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30721))
-- TTS `output_path` traversal + update ZIP symlink reject. (salvage [#6693](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/6693) + [#15881](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/15881)) ([#32056](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32056))
-- Reject symlinked audio inputs. ([#10082](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/10082))
-
-### Credential safety
-
-- Avoid persisting borrowed credential secrets — runtime env-sourced keys no longer leak into `auth.json`. ([#31416](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31416))
-- Validate Nous Portal `inference_base_url` against host allowlist. (salvages [#27612](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27612)) ([#30611](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30611))
-- Harden API server key placeholder handling. ([#30738](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30738))
-- Harden Google Chat OAuth credential persistence. (@Zyrixtrex) ([#24788](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/24788))
-- xAI OAuth: pin inference `base_url` to x.ai origin. ([#28952](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28952))
-- Quarantine dead OAuth tokens on terminal refresh failure (xAI, Codex, MiniMax). ([#28116](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28116), [#28118](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28118), [#28119](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28119))
-
-### Supply-chain
-
-- **On-demand supply-chain audit via OSV.dev** — `hermes audit`. ([#31460](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31460))
-- `hermes update` syntax-validates critical files post-pull, auto-rollback on failure. ([#28669](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28669))
-- Quarantine `hermes.exe` vs concurrent Windows instance. ([#26677](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26677))
-
-### Other hardening
-
-- Restrict default webhook toolset capabilities. ([#30745](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30745))
-- Harden Microsoft Graph webhook auth requirements. ([#30169](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30169))
-- Require source CIDR allowlisting for public msgraph webhook binds. ([#33722](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33722))
-- Require `API_SERVER_KEY` before dispatching API server work. ([#33232](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33232))
-- env_passthrough: apply GHSA-rhgp-j443-p4rf filter to config.yaml path. (@roadhero) ([#27794](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27794))
-- Dashboard + WeCom: restrict markdown link schemes; safe-parse untrusted XML. ([#32442](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32442))
-- Salvage project-plugin RCE bypass fix from PR [#29311](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29311) (GHSA-5qr3-c538-wm9j). ([#30837](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30837))
-- Cross-profile soft guard on file-write tools + system-prompt hint. ([#31290](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31290))
-- Reject unsafe tar members in Android psutil compatibility installer. ([#33742](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33742))
-- Reject non-regular tar members during tirith auto-install. ([#33786](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33786))
-
----
-
-## 🪟 Native Windows (Beta Continued)
-
-- Complete Windows bootstrap — `dep_ensure` + `install.ps1` + detection. (@alt-glitch) ([#27845](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27845))
-- `install.ps1`: strip BOM, `-Commit`/`-Tag` pin params, harden git ops. (@jquesnelle) ([#28169](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28169))
-- Consolidate ACP browser bootstrap into `install.{sh,ps1}`. (@alt-glitch) ([#27851](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27851))
-- `hermes update` quarantines live `hermes.exe`. ([#26677](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26677))
-- Discord voice opus decoding on Windows. ([#33182](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33182))
-- Windows Docker Desktop compatible compose file. (@Sunil123135) ([#31031](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31031))
-
----
-
-## 🖥️ Web Dashboard
-
-- Hardened Slack socket recovery + Windows restart dedupe. ([#28873](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28873))
-- Web dashboard: migrate checkboxes to `@nous-research/ui` + design-system polish. (@austinpickett) ([#28814](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28814))
-- Web dashboard: collapsible sidebar. (@austinpickett) ([#33421](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33421))
-- Dashboard typography & contrast pass. (salvage of [#28832](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28832)) ([#30714](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30714))
-- Skills page: lazy-fetch catalog instead of bundling 34MB into JS. ([#33809](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33809))
-
----
-
-## 🐳 Docker
-
-- **s6-overlay container supervision** — abstract `ServiceManager` protocol (systemd/launchd/Windows/s6 backends), per-profile gateway supervision in-container, container-restart reconciliation, hadolint/shellcheck CI. (salvage of [#30136](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30136), @benbarclay) ([#31760](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31760))
-- Auto-redirect `gateway run` to supervised mode inside the s6 image. (@benbarclay) ([#33583](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33583))
-- Tee supervised gateway stdout to docker logs. (@benbarclay) ([#33621](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33621))
-- Drop `docker exec` to hermes uid before invoking the CLI. (@benbarclay) ([#33628](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33628))
-- Align HOME for dashboard and s6 gateway services. (@Dusk1e) ([#33481](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33481))
-- Bake build-time git SHA into image so `hermes dump` reports it. (@benbarclay) ([#33655](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33655))
-- `hermes update` prints `docker pull` guidance instead of bogus git error. (@benbarclay) ([#33659](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33659))
-- Upgrade Node to 22 LTS via multi-stage from `node:22-bookworm-slim`. (@benbarclay) ([#33060](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33060))
-- Drop `build-essential` from apt install. (@benbarclay) ([#33028](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33028))
-- Propagate env through s6 to cont-init and main CMD. ([#32412](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32412))
-- Targeted chown to preserve host file ownership in `HERMES_HOME`. ([#33033](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33033))
-- `mkdir HERMES_HOME` as root in stage2 before chown / privilege drop. ([#33078](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33078))
-- chown `ui-tui` and `node_modules` on UID remap so TUI esbuild works. ([#33045](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33045))
-- Include `anthropic`, `bedrock`, `azure-identity` extras in image. ([#30504](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30504))
-- Stop pushing per-commit SHA tags to Docker Hub. ([#29387](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29387))
-- Simplify Docker tagging — push both `:main` and `:latest` on main push. ([#33225](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33225))
-- Test slicing across GH actions jobs. (@ethernet8023) ([#30575](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30575))
-- Discover agent-browser Chromium binary at boot. ([#33184](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33184))
-
----
-
-## 🌐 API Server
-
-- **Session control API** — `/api/sessions/*` (list/create/read/patch/delete/fork) + SSE-streaming chat. (salvages [#29302](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29302) by @Codename-11 + multimodal followup by @Schwartz10) ([#33134](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33134))
-- `GET /v1/skills` and `/v1/toolsets`. ([#33016](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33016))
-- Coerce stringified booleans in stream/store/approval payloads. (salvage [#26639](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26639)) ([#27293](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27293))
-- Honor `key_env` in auth-failure fallback resolution. ([#30840](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30840))
-
----
-
-## 🎟️ ACP (VS Code / Zed / JetBrains)
-
-- Session edit auto-approval modes. (salvage of [#27034](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27034)) ([#27862](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27862))
-- Enrich Zed permission cards — command in title + `reject_always`. ([#28148](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28148))
-- Replay session history before responding to `session/load`. ([#26957](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26957), [#26943](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26943))
-- Plugin-transformed final_response delivered through streaming gate. ([#31433](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31433))
-
----
-
-## 🔌 Plugin Surface
-
-- `register_tts_provider()` plugin hook. (salvage of [#30420](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30420)) ([#31745](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31745))
-- `register_transcription_provider()` hook + `stt.providers` command-provider registry. (salvage of [#30493](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30493)) ([#31907](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31907))
-- `register_auxiliary_task()` in PluginContext API. (salvage [#29817](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29817)) ([#31177](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31177))
-- Bundled `security-guidance` plugin. ([#33131](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33131))
-- Discord and Mattermost migrated to bundled plugins. ([#30591](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30591), [#31748](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31748))
-- ntfy as platform plugin. ([#30867](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30867))
-- Surface category-namespaced plugins in `hermes plugins list`. ([#27187](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27187))
-- Plugin discovery failures raised to WARNING level. ([#28318](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28318))
-- `hermes_plugins` included in gateway.log component filter. ([#28313](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28313))
-- Seed plugin extras before `is_connected` gate. ([#31703](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31703))
-- Dashboard: allowlist plugin assets + denylist subprocess-influencing env vars. ([#32277](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32277))
-
----
-
-## 📦 Distribution & Install
-
-- Install-method stamping + Docker detection. (@alt-glitch) ([#27843](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27843))
-- Nix `#messaging` and `#full` package variants. (@alt-glitch) ([#33108](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33108))
-- Pre-load messaging gateway deps via `--extra messaging`. (salvage [#26394](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/26394)) ([#27558](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27558))
-- Avoid piping installer directly into `iex` (Windows). ([#28347](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28347))
-- Ship bundled skills in wheel. ([#28421](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28421))
-- Ship dashboard plugin assets in wheel. ([#28406](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28406))
-- Make Camofox lazy-installed instead of eager. ([#27055](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27055))
-- Wire STT lazy-install into transcription_tools.py. ([#30256](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30256))
-
----
-
-## 🐛 Notable Bug Fixes (highlights only)
-
-- Match bare custom provider by active base URL in `hermes model`. ([#28908](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28908))
-- Route `auxiliary.vision.provider=openai` to api.openai.com, skip text-only main. ([#31452](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31452))
-- Lint: skip per-file shell linter when LSP will handle the file. ([#29054](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29054))
-- Treat empty credential pool entries as unauthenticated in `/model` picker. ([#28312](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28312))
-- Reverted within window: Firecrawl integration tag, send_message @username auto-mentions, Telegram quick-command-only menus, Telegram pin-on-turn.
-
----
-
-## 🧪 Testing
-
-- Disarm lazy-install probe so `_HAS_FASTER_WHISPER` patches work. ([#30334](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30334))
-- Cover default board dashboard pin. ([#28361](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28361))
-- Cover `_task_dict` `task_age` fallback. ([#28365](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28365))
-- Allowlist `tmp_path` for `kanban_notify` artifact delivery tests. ([#30851](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30851), [#30852](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30852))
-- Cover null output stream terminal events in Codex. ([#33137](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33137))
-
----
-
-## 📚 Documentation
-
-- **30-day docs overhaul** — full correctness audit, every PR in the window covered, Nous Portal weave, sidebar reorg. ([#33782](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33782))
-- Dedicated Nous Portal integration page and setup guide. ([#31296](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31296))
-- Providers: move Nous Portal first, Google Gemini OAuth last. ([#31287](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/31287))
-- `session_search` rewrite for single-shape tool. ([#27840](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/27840))
-- Kanban: document failure_limit, max_retries, inline create shortcuts, goals & kanban settings. ([#28357](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28357), [#28358](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28358), [#28359](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28359), [#28360](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28360), [#28362](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28362))
-- Kanban Codex lane skill. ([#28430](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28430))
-- xAI OAuth: note X Premium+ also unlocks Grok OAuth. ([#29055](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/29055))
-- Docs site: Docker audio bridge notes, "Installing more tools in the container", xurl auth HOME in Docker.
-- Email: clarify gateway vs Himalaya setup. (@helix4u) ([#33634](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33634))
-- Auth docs: replace stale `hermes login` references with `hermes auth add`. ([#32859](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/32859))
-
----
-
-## 👥 Contributors
-
-### Core
-- @teknium1 (lead)
-
-### Notable salvages & cherry-picks
-
-- **@benbarclay** — s6-overlay container supervision (29 commits salvaged), Node 22 LTS upgrade, build-essential cleanup, `gateway run` auto-redirect in s6, tee supervised stdout to docker logs, `hermes update` Docker guidance, build-time SHA stamping
-- **@OutThisLife** — `mouse_tracking` DEC mode presets
-- **@jquesnelle** — Windows installer hardening, `--branch` flag for `hermes update`, install.ps1 BOM strip / commit-pin
-- **@alt-glitch** — Windows `dep_ensure` bootstrap, Nix package variants (`.#messaging`, `.#full`), install-method stamping, ACP browser bootstrap consolidation
-- **@austinpickett** — `/update` slash command, dashboard checkboxes → `@nous-research/ui`, mobile dashboard polish, collapsible sidebar
-- **@ethernet8023** — CI test slicing across GH Actions jobs, TUI clipboard copy fix
-- **@kshitijk4poor** — doctor section banner + fail-and-issue helpers extraction, post-tag salvage cluster (curator-fallout, kanban SQLite hardening, install world-readable uv dirs, xAI bare-code paste)
-- **@rewbs** — Nous JWT inference switch + refresh-token replay fix
-- **@Codename-11** + **@Schwartz10** — session control API (REST + SSE + multimodal followup)
-- **@Niraven** — kanban swarm topology helper
-- **@Interstellar-code** — kanban worker visibility endpoints
-- **@adybag14-cyber** — termux cold-start optimizations (multiple PRs)
-- **@qike-ms** — Telegram in-place status edits design
-- **@sprmn24** — ntfy adapter
-- **@Jaaneek** — xAI Web Search provider plugin
-- **@yannsunn** — xAI upstream adapter for `hermes proxy`
-- **@Cybourgeoisie** — OpenRouter sticky routing via session_id
-- **@memosr** — Nous Portal base_url allowlist validation
-- **@Sunil123135** — Windows Docker Desktop compose file
-- **@Dusk1e** — Docker HOME alignment for dashboard + s6 gateway services
-- **@beardthelion** — opencode-go anthropic_messages routing
-- **@YLChen-007** — Skills Guard multi-word prompt patterns
-- **@roadhero** — env_passthrough GHSA-rhgp-j443-p4rf filter
-- **@Zyrixtrex** — Google Chat OAuth credential persistence hardening
-- **@briandevans**, **@tomqiaozc** — defense-in-depth read-deny on credential stores
-- **@PratikRai0101** — control-plane file write protection
-- **@helix4u**, **@Bartok9**, **@zccyman** — auxiliary fallback ladder components
-- **@ms-alan**, **@ticketclosed-wontfix**, **@donovan-yohan** — TUI session orchestrator + follow-ups
-- **@daimon-nous[bot]** — cron per-job profile support
-- **@bisko** — re-pad `reasoning_content` on cross-provider fallback
-
-### All Contributors
-
-@02356abc, @0xchainer, @0xDevNinja, @0xjackyang, @0xsir0000, @0z1-ghb, @8bit64k, @aaronlab, @AceWattGit,
-@ACR27, @adam91holt, @AdamPlatin123, @Ade5954, @AdityaRajeshGadgil, @adybag14-cyber, @AhmetArif0, @ai-hana-ai,
-@alaamohanad169-ship-it, @alber70g, @albert748, @alt-glitch, @aqilaziz, @argabor, @asdlem, @austinpickett,
-@avifenesh, @awizemann, @B0Tch1, @Bartok9, @BaxBit, @Beandon13, @beardthelion, @benbarclay, @bensargotest-sys,
-@binhnt92, @bird, @bisko, @BlackishGreen33, @booker1207, @bradhallett, @briandevans, @Brixyy, @brndnsvr,
-@BROCCOLO1D, @btorresgil, @burjorjee, @carltonawong, @Carry00, @chaconne67, @chdlc, @chromalinx, @ChyuWei,
-@CipherFrame, @cmullins70, @CNSeniorious000, @codeblackhole1024, @Codename-11, @colin-chang, @counterposition,
-@cresslank, @CryptoByz, @cyb0rgk1tty, @Cybourgeoisie, @daizhonggeng, @darvsum, @davidcampbelldc, @deas,
-@dgians, @dillweed, @DoGMaTiiC, @donovan-yohan, @draplater, @Drexuxux, @dskwe, @dsr-restyn, @Dusk1e,
-@dusterbloom, @duyua9, @egilewski, @el-analista, @eliteworkstation94-ai, @eloklam, @EloquentBrush0x, @emonty,
-@emozilla, @erhnysr, @erikengervall, @Erosika, @ether-btc, @ethernet8023, @EvilHumphrey, @fabiosiqueira,
-@falasi, @falconexe, @fardoche6, @felix-windsor, @Fewmanism, @ffr31mr, @flamiinngo, @flanny7, @flooryyyy,
-@fonhal, @francip, @fujinice, @gianfrancopiana, @glennc, @Glucksberg, @godlin-gh, @Grogger, @guillaumemeyer,
-@Gutslabs, @H-Ali13381, @hanzckernel, @haran2001, @hawknewton, @hayka-pacha, @hehehe0803, @helix4u, @HenkDz,
-@Hermes, @hermesagent26, @Hinotoi-agent, @hongchen1993, @honor2030, @houenyang-momo, @ht1072, @hueilau,
-@iamfoz, @ilonagaja509-glitch, @InB4DevOps, @indigokarasu, @Interstellar-code, @iqdoctor, @iRonin, @Jaaneek,
-@JabberELF, @jacevys, @jackey8616, @jackjin1997, @jdelmerico, @jfuenmayor, @Jiahui-Gu, @JimLiu, @joe102084,
-@JohnC1009, @jonpol01, @Jpalmer95, @Julientalbot, @justemu, @justincc, @jvinals, @karthikeyann, @kasunvinod,
-@kchuang1015, @kenyonxu, @khungate, @kiranvk-2011, @kjames2001, @konsisumer, @kpadilha, @kriscolab,
-@krislidimo, @kronexoi, @kshitijk4poor, @kunci115, @Kylejeong2, @kylekahraman, @LaPhilosophie, @leeseoki0,
-@lemassykoi, @Lempkey, @LeonJS, @LeonSGP43, @lidge-jun, @LifeJiggy, @liuhao1024, @LizerAIDev, @loicnico96,
-@loongfay, @m0n3r0, @malaiwah, @matthewlai, @mavrickdeveloper, @maxmilian, @McClean-Edison, @memosr,
-@Mind-Dragon, @momowind, @MoonJuhan, @MoonRay305, @moortekweb-art, @MorAlekss, @ms-alan, @Nami4D,
-@nehaaprasaad, @nekwo, @nftpoetrist, @NickLarcombe, @nidhi-singh02, @Niraven, @nnnet, @noctilust, @novax635,
-@nthrow, @nv-kasikritc, @nycomar, @OCWC22, @oemtalks, @OmX, @ooovenenoso, @orcool, @oseftg, @outsourc-e,
-@OutThisLife, @Paperclip, @PaTTeeL, @pepelax, @phoenixshen, @Pluviobyte, @pnascimento9596, @pochi-gio, @pr7426,
-@PratikRai0101, @Prithvi1994, @psionic73, @ptichalouf, @Que0x, @QuenVix, @quocanh261997, @qWaitCrypto, @Qwinty,
-@r266-tech, @rak135, @rdasilva1016-ui, @rewbs, @roadhero, @rodrigoeqnit, @RonHillDev, @roycepersonalassistant,
-@rudi193-cmd, @RyanRana, @sadiksaifi, @samahn0601, @samggggflynn, @SamuelZ12, @sanghyuk-seo-nexcube,
-@Saurav0989, @savanne-kham, @Schrotti77, @Schwartz10, @SerenityTn, @sgtworkman, @sharziki, @shaun0927,
-@shellybotmoyer, @shunsuke-hikiyama, @SimbaKingjoe, @SimoKiihamaki, @sir-ad, @Slimydog21, @slowtokki0409,
-@Soju06, @someaka, @soynchux, @sprmn24, @Stark-X, @steezkelly, @stepanov1975, @stephenschoettler,
-@stevehq26-bot, @steveonjava, @Strontvod, @subtract0, @Sunil123135, @superearn-fisher, @Sylw3ster, @tchanee,
-@that-ambuj, @thedavidmurray, @TheOnlyMika, @therahul-yo, @thewillhuang, @ticketclosed-wontfix, @Timur00Kh,
-@tomqiaozc, @Tosko4, @Tranquil-Flow, @tw2818, @uzunkuyruk, @vaddisrinivas, @vanthinh6886, @vgocoder,
-@victorGPT, @vynxevainglory-ai, @waefrebeorn, @walli, @wangpuv, @wanwan2qq, @wesleysimplicio, @worlldz,
-@wpengpeng168, @WuKongAI-CMU, @wuli666, @Wysie, @wysie, @xxxigm, @yannsunn, @YanzhongSu, @YarrowQiao, @ygd58,
-@YLChen-007, @yoniebans, @yu-xin-c, @YuanHanzhong, @zapabob, @zccyman, @ziliangpeng, @zwolniony, @Zyrixtrex
-
----
-
-**Full Changelog**: [v2026.5.16...v2026.5.28](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/compare/v2026.5.16...v2026.5.28)

RELEASE_v0.15.1.md

@@ -1,110 +0,0 @@
-# Hermes Agent v0.15.1 (v2026.5.29)
-
-**Release Date:** May 29, 2026
-**Since v0.15.0:** 28 commits · 21 merged PRs · hotfix release · 9 contributors
-
-> **The Patch Release.** A same-day hotfix for v0.15.0. Headline fix: the dashboard infinite-reload loop that hit anyone running v0.15.0 in loopback mode (Docker, hosted Hermes, fresh installs). A handful of other v0.15.0 follow-ups go along for the ride — kanban worker SIGTERM, `/model` picker unification, `/yolo` session bypass, the full 19,932-entry skills.sh catalog, `.md` media delivery restoration, gateway probe-stepdown safety, web-URL redaction passthrough, kanban worker vision on referenced images, hindsight observation-default. Docker users get an explicit `--insecure` opt-in env var (no more bind-host inference), MCP server bare-command PATH resolution, and arm64 PR-build cache fixes.
-
----
-
-## ✨ Highlights
-
-- **Dashboard 401 reload loop fixed** — In loopback mode the dashboard's identity probe (`/api/auth/me`) returns 401 by design, but v0.15.0's stale-token reload guard treated every 401 as a rotated session token and full-page-reloaded to pick up a fresh one. Every successful sibling call cleared the one-shot reload guard, so the page reload-looped forever (Firefox: "Navigated to /sessions" storm; Chrome: React re-render storm). Fix adds an `allowUnauthorized` opt-out to `fetchJSON` that skips only the loopback stale-token reload — 401 still throws so `AuthWidget` swallows it, gated-mode `login_url` redirects are unaffected. Closes [#34206](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/34206), [#34202](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/34202). ([#30698](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30698) — @austinpickett)
-
-- **Docker dashboard `--insecure` is now an explicit env opt-in, never derived from bind host** — Previously the Docker entrypoint inferred `--insecure` when the dashboard bound to a non-loopback host. That conflated "I want LAN access" with "I want to disable the same-origin guard." The fix splits them: bind host is bind host, and disabling the dashboard's loopback auth requires an explicit `HERMES_DASHBOARD_INSECURE=1`. Existing setups that genuinely wanted insecure binding must now set the env var. ([#34188](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34188), [#34204](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34204) — @benbarclay)
-
-- **MCP bare command resolution under Docker** — MCP servers configured with bare commands (`npx`, `npm`, `node`) now resolve against `/usr/local/bin` so they actually launch inside the Docker image where those binaries live. v0.15.0 left these failing silently in containers when the agent's effective PATH didn't include the Node toolchain location. ([#34186](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34186) — @benbarclay)
-
-- **Skills page sidebar / source pills restored** — A stale `useMemo` dependency in the new dashboard skills page collapsed the source pills and category sidebar to "All" only. Fixed; both surfaces now reflect the live catalog state. ([#34194](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34194))
-
-- **Kanban worker can be killed again** — `SIGTERM` on a kanban worker was being absorbed by an intermediate process and the worker stayed running. Closes [#28181](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/28181). ([#34045](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34045))
-
-- **Full skills.sh catalog (858 → 19,932 entries)** — The skills hub page was pulling a partial paginated catalog. The fetch now walks the sitemap, so all 19,932 skills.sh entries surface in the picker instead of just the first 858. ([#34025](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34025))
-
----
-
-## 🐛 Bug Fixes
-
-### Dashboard / Web
-
-- **`/api/auth/me` 401 no longer triggers reload loop** in loopback mode — ([#30698](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/30698) — @austinpickett)
-- **Skills page source pills + category sidebar restored** — stale `useMemo` dep ([#34194](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34194))
-
-### Docker
-
-- **`--insecure` is now explicit opt-in via env var**, not derived from bind host ([#34188](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34188) — @benbarclay)
-- **Dashboard test suite repaired** to match the insecure-opt-in fix ([#34204](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34204) — @benbarclay)
-- **arm64 PR builds skip the GHA cache** to avoid cache-thrash on cross-arch builders ([#33704](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33704) — @BROCCOLO1D)
-
-### MCP
-
-- **Bare `npx`/`npm`/`node` resolve against `/usr/local/bin`** for Docker compatibility ([#34186](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34186) — @benbarclay)
-
-### Kanban
-
-- **Worker SIGTERM actually terminates the process** ([#34045](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34045))
-- **Workers receive images referenced in task bodies** for vision-capable models ([#34210](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34210))
-
-### Gateway
-
-- **`.md` files deliver again** — media-delivery validation defaults to denylist-only instead of an overly-narrow allowlist ([#34022](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34022))
-- **Probe stepdown safety** — on a context-overflow without an explicit provider context limit, the agent no longer steps down to a smaller model based on an unknown ceiling (salvage of [#33673](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33673)) ([#33826](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33826))
-
-### CLI
-
-- **`/yolo` mid-session enables the per-session bypass** instead of just toggling the env var (which the running agent had already snapshotted) ([#33931](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33931) — @kshitijk4poor)
-- **`/model` and `hermes model` show the same list**, plus disk cache for picker startup ([#33867](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33867))
-
-### Skills
-
-- **Full skills.sh catalog via sitemap** — 858 → 19,932 entries ([#34025](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34025))
-
-### Redaction
-
-- **Web URLs pass through unchanged** — the redactor was eating query parameters that looked credential-shaped ([#34029](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34029))
-
----
-
-## ✨ Small Features
-
-- **Hindsight default narrowed to observation-only** for `recall_types` — tool path is also narrowed ([#34079](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34079) — @nicoloboschi, follow-up [#34091](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/4df62d239e38bf8c212a595721c9c01e176f6c3a) — @kshitijk4poor)
-- **Memory providers receive completed-turn message context** — salvage of [#28065](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/28065) ([#34097](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34097) — @kshitijk4poor, credit to @devwdave)
-
----
-
-## 📚 Documentation
-
-- **`--no-supervise` / `HERMES_GATEWAY_NO_SUPERVISE` documented** in the reference docs (follow-up to [#33583](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33583)) ([#33751](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/33751) — @r266-tech)
-
----
-
-## 🛠️ Infrastructure
-
-- **Vercel deploy workflow accepts `workflow_dispatch`** so docs deploys can be manually triggered ([#34081](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34081))
-- **`@nous-research/ui` bumped to 0.18.2** (Nix `npmDepsHash` also updated to match) ([#34193](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34193) follow-ups — @austinpickett)
-
----
-
-## 👥 Contributors
-
-### Core
-- @teknium1
-
-### Community
-- @austinpickett — dashboard 401 reload-loop fix (the headline), `@nous-research/ui` bump, Nix `npmDepsHash` updates
-- @benbarclay — Docker `--insecure` opt-in, MCP bare-command resolution, dashboard test repair
-- @kshitijk4poor — `/yolo` session bypass, completed-turn memory context salvage, hindsight follow-up docs
-- @nicoloboschi — hindsight `recall_types` observation default
-- @BROCCOLO1D — arm64 PR build cache fix
-- @r266-tech — `--no-supervise` reference docs
-- @yangguangjin — probe stepdown safety (salvage of @yanghd's #33673)
-- @devwdave — completed-turn memory context (credited via salvage)
-- @andrewhosf — co-author
-
-### Issue Reporters (the 401 loop)
-- @routesmith ([#34206](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/34206))
-- @beeaton ([#34202](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/34202))
-
----
-
-**Full Changelog**: [v2026.5.28...v2026.5.29](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/compare/v2026.5.28...v2026.5.29)

acp_registry/agent.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "hermes-agent",
   "name": "Hermes Agent",
-  "version": "0.15.1",
+  "version": "0.14.0",
   "description": "Self-improving open-source AI agent by Nous Research with ACP editor integration, persistent memory, skills, and rich tool support.",
   "repository": "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent",
   "website": "https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/acp",
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   "license": "MIT",
   "distribution": {
     "uvx": {
-      "package": "hermes-agent[acp]==0.15.1",
+      "package": "hermes-agent[acp]==0.14.0",
       "args": ["hermes-acp"]
     }
   }

agent/__init__.py

@@ -4,5 +4,3 @@ These modules contain pure utility functions and self-contained classes
 that were previously embedded in the 3,600-line run_agent.py. Extracting
 them makes run_agent.py focused on the AIAgent orchestrator class.
 """
-
-from . import jiter_preload as _jiter_preload  # noqa: F401

agent/agent_init.py

@@ -1522,7 +1522,6 @@ def init_agent(
                 platform=agent.platform or "cli",
                 model=agent.model,
                 context_length=getattr(agent.context_compressor, "context_length", 0),
-                conversation_id=getattr(agent, "_gateway_session_key", None),
             )
         except Exception as _ce_err:
             _ra().logger.debug("Context engine on_session_start: %s", _ce_err)

agent/agent_runtime_helpers.py

@@ -1994,36 +1994,6 @@ def copy_reasoning_content_for_api(agent, source_msg: dict, api_msg: dict) -> No
     api_msg.pop("reasoning_content", None)
 
 
-def reapply_reasoning_echo_for_provider(agent, api_messages: list) -> int:
-    """Re-pad assistant turns with reasoning_content for the active provider.
-
-    ``api_messages`` is built once, before the retry loop, while the *primary*
-    provider is active.  If a mid-conversation fallback then switches to a
-    require-side provider (DeepSeek / Kimi / MiMo thinking mode), assistant
-    turns that were built when the prior provider did NOT need the echo-back go
-    out without ``reasoning_content`` and the new provider rejects them with
-    HTTP 400 ("The reasoning_content in the thinking mode must be passed back").
-
-    Calling this immediately before building the request kwargs re-applies the
-    pad against the *current* provider.  It is idempotent and a no-op unless
-    ``_needs_thinking_reasoning_pad()`` is True for the active provider, so it
-    is safe to call every iteration and covers every fallback path.
-
-    Returns the number of assistant turns that gained reasoning_content.
-    """
-    if not agent._needs_thinking_reasoning_pad():
-        return 0
-    padded = 0
-    for api_msg in api_messages:
-        if api_msg.get("role") != "assistant":
-            continue
-        if api_msg.get("reasoning_content"):
-            continue
-        copy_reasoning_content_for_api(agent, api_msg, api_msg)
-        if api_msg.get("reasoning_content"):
-            padded += 1
-    return padded
-
 
 def _iter_pool_sockets(client: Any):
     """Yield raw sockets reachable from an OpenAI/httpx client pool.

agent/anthropic_adapter.py

@@ -77,16 +77,16 @@ ADAPTIVE_EFFORT_MAP = {
 # xhigh as a distinct level between high and max; older adaptive-thinking
 # models (4.6) reject it with a 400.  Keep this substring list in sync with
 # the Anthropic migration guide as new model families ship.
-_XHIGH_EFFORT_SUBSTRINGS = ("4-7", "4.7", "4-8", "4.8")
+_XHIGH_EFFORT_SUBSTRINGS = ("4-7", "4.7")
 
 # Models where extended thinking is deprecated/removed (4.6+ behavior: adaptive
 # is the only supported mode; 4.7 additionally forbids manual thinking entirely
 # and drops temperature/top_p/top_k).
-_ADAPTIVE_THINKING_SUBSTRINGS = ("4-6", "4.6", "4-7", "4.7", "4-8", "4.8")
+_ADAPTIVE_THINKING_SUBSTRINGS = ("4-6", "4.6", "4-7", "4.7")
 
 # Models where temperature/top_p/top_k return 400 if set to non-default values.
 # This is the Opus 4.7 contract; future 4.x+ models are expected to follow it.
-_NO_SAMPLING_PARAMS_SUBSTRINGS = ("4-7", "4.7", "4-8", "4.8")
+_NO_SAMPLING_PARAMS_SUBSTRINGS = ("4-7", "4.7")
 _FAST_MODE_SUPPORTED_SUBSTRINGS = ("opus-4-6", "opus-4.6")
 
 # ── Max output token limits per Anthropic model ───────────────────────
@@ -94,8 +94,6 @@ _FAST_MODE_SUPPORTED_SUBSTRINGS = ("opus-4-6", "opus-4.6")
 # max_tokens as a mandatory field.  Previously we hardcoded 16384, which
 # starves thinking-enabled models (thinking tokens count toward the limit).
 _ANTHROPIC_OUTPUT_LIMITS = {
-    # Claude 4.8
-    "claude-opus-4-8":   128_000,
     # Claude 4.7
     "claude-opus-4-7":   128_000,
     # Claude 4.6

agent/auxiliary_client.py

@@ -2244,15 +2244,11 @@ def _is_payment_error(exc: Exception) -> bool:
     # but sometimes wrap them in 429 or other codes.
     # Daily quota exhaustion from Bedrock, Vertex AI, and similar providers
     # uses different language but is semantically identical to credit exhaustion.
-    if status in {402, 404, 429, None}:
+    if status in {402, 429, None}:
         if any(kw in err_lower for kw in (
             "credits", "insufficient funds",
             "can only afford", "billing",
             "payment required",
-            "out of funds", "run out of funds",
-            "balance_depleted", "no usable credits",
-            "model_not_supported_on_free_tier",
-            "not available on the free tier",
             # Daily / monthly / weekly quota exhaustion keywords
             "quota exceeded", "quota_exceeded",
             "too many tokens per day", "daily limit",
@@ -2264,18 +2260,6 @@ def _is_payment_error(exc: Exception) -> bool:
     return False
 
 
-def _nous_portal_account_has_fresh_paid_access() -> bool:
-    """Return True only when the fresh Nous account API says paid access is allowed."""
-    try:
-        from hermes_cli.nous_account import get_nous_portal_account_info
-
-        account_info = get_nous_portal_account_info(force_fresh=True)
-        return account_info.paid_service_access is True
-    except Exception as exc:
-        logger.debug("Auxiliary Nous paid-entitlement refresh check failed: %s", exc)
-        return False
-
-
 def _is_rate_limit_error(exc: Exception) -> bool:
     """Detect rate-limit errors that warrant provider fallback.
 
@@ -2304,10 +2288,6 @@ def _is_rate_limit_error(exc: Exception) -> bool:
         if not any(kw in err_lower for kw in (
             "credits", "insufficient funds", "billing",
             "payment required", "can only afford",
-            "out of funds", "run out of funds",
-            "balance_depleted", "no usable credits",
-            "model_not_supported_on_free_tier",
-            "not available on the free tier",
         )):
             return True
     return False
@@ -4957,41 +4937,6 @@ def call_llm(
             resolved_provider == "nous"
             or base_url_host_matches(_base_info, "inference-api.nousresearch.com")
         )
-        if (
-            _is_payment_error(first_err)
-            and client_is_nous
-            and _nous_portal_account_has_fresh_paid_access()
-        ):
-            refreshed_client, refreshed_model = _refresh_nous_auxiliary_client(
-                cache_provider=resolved_provider or "nous",
-                model=final_model,
-                async_mode=False,
-                base_url=resolved_base_url,
-                api_key=resolved_api_key,
-                api_mode=resolved_api_mode,
-                main_runtime=main_runtime,
-                is_vision=(task == "vision"),
-            )
-            if refreshed_client is not None:
-                logger.info(
-                    "Auxiliary %s: refreshed Nous runtime credentials after paid account check, retrying",
-                    task or "call",
-                )
-                if refreshed_model and refreshed_model != kwargs.get("model"):
-                    kwargs["model"] = refreshed_model
-                try:
-                    return _validate_llm_response(
-                        refreshed_client.chat.completions.create(**kwargs), task)
-                except Exception as retry_err:
-                    if not (
-                        _is_auth_error(retry_err)
-                        or _is_payment_error(retry_err)
-                        or _is_connection_error(retry_err)
-                        or _is_rate_limit_error(retry_err)
-                    ):
-                        raise
-                    first_err = retry_err
-
         if _is_auth_error(first_err) and client_is_nous:
             refreshed_client, refreshed_model = _refresh_nous_auxiliary_client(
                 cache_provider=resolved_provider or "nous",
@@ -5394,40 +5339,6 @@ async def async_call_llm(
             resolved_provider == "nous"
             or base_url_host_matches(_client_base, "inference-api.nousresearch.com")
         )
-        if (
-            _is_payment_error(first_err)
-            and client_is_nous
-            and _nous_portal_account_has_fresh_paid_access()
-        ):
-            refreshed_client, refreshed_model = _refresh_nous_auxiliary_client(
-                cache_provider=resolved_provider or "nous",
-                model=final_model,
-                async_mode=True,
-                base_url=resolved_base_url,
-                api_key=resolved_api_key,
-                api_mode=resolved_api_mode,
-                is_vision=(task == "vision"),
-            )
-            if refreshed_client is not None:
-                logger.info(
-                    "Auxiliary %s (async): refreshed Nous runtime credentials after paid account check, retrying",
-                    task or "call",
-                )
-                if refreshed_model and refreshed_model != kwargs.get("model"):
-                    kwargs["model"] = refreshed_model
-                try:
-                    return _validate_llm_response(
-                        await refreshed_client.chat.completions.create(**kwargs), task)
-                except Exception as retry_err:
-                    if not (
-                        _is_auth_error(retry_err)
-                        or _is_payment_error(retry_err)
-                        or _is_connection_error(retry_err)
-                        or _is_rate_limit_error(retry_err)
-                    ):
-                        raise
-                    first_err = retry_err
-
         if _is_auth_error(first_err) and client_is_nous:
             refreshed_client, refreshed_model = _refresh_nous_auxiliary_client(
                 cache_provider=resolved_provider or "nous",

agent/background_review.py

@@ -483,11 +483,6 @@ def _run_review_in_thread(
             finally:
                 clear_thread_tool_whitelist()
 
-            # Snapshot review actions before teardown. close() is allowed to
-            # clean per-session state, but the user-visible self-improvement
-            # summary still needs the completed review agent's tool results.
-            review_messages = list(getattr(review_agent, "_session_messages", []))
-
             # Tear down memory providers while stdout is still
             # redirected so background thread teardown (Honcho flush,
             # Hindsight sync, etc.) stays silent.  The finally block
@@ -500,6 +495,7 @@ def _run_review_in_thread(
                 review_agent.close()
             except Exception:
                 pass
+            review_messages = list(getattr(review_agent, "_session_messages", []))
             review_agent = None
 
         # Scan the review agent's messages for successful tool actions

agent/chat_completion_helpers.py

@@ -403,13 +403,13 @@ def interruptible_api_call(agent, api_kwargs: dict):
                 _elapsed, _ttfb_timeout, api_kwargs.get("model", "unknown"),
             )
             if _silent_hint:
-                agent._buffer_status(
+                agent._emit_status(
                     f"⚠️ No first byte from provider in {int(_elapsed)}s "
                     f"(codex stream, model: {api_kwargs.get('model', 'unknown')}). "
                     f"Reconnecting. {_silent_hint}"
                 )
             else:
-                agent._buffer_status(
+                agent._emit_status(
                     f"⚠️ No first byte from provider in {int(_elapsed)}s "
                     f"(codex stream, model: {api_kwargs.get('model', 'unknown')}). "
                     f"Reconnecting."
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ def interruptible_api_call(agent, api_kwargs: dict):
                 api_kwargs.get("model", "unknown"),
                 f"{_est_tokens_for_codex_watchdog:,}",
             )
-            agent._buffer_status(
+            agent._emit_status(
                 f"⚠️ Codex stream sent no events for {int(_event_stale_elapsed)}s "
                 f"after first byte (model: {api_kwargs.get('model', 'unknown')}). "
                 f"Reconnecting."
@@ -493,13 +493,13 @@ def interruptible_api_call(agent, api_kwargs: dict):
                 api_kwargs.get("model", "unknown"), f"{_est_ctx:,}",
             )
             if _silent_hint:
-                agent._buffer_status(
+                agent._emit_status(
                     f"⚠️ No response from provider for {int(_elapsed)}s "
                     f"(non-streaming, model: {api_kwargs.get('model', 'unknown')}). "
                     f"{_silent_hint}"
                 )
             else:
-                agent._buffer_status(
+                agent._emit_status(
                     f"⚠️ No response from provider for {int(_elapsed)}s "
                     f"(non-streaming, model: {api_kwargs.get('model', 'unknown')}). "
                     f"Aborting call."
@@ -1262,7 +1262,7 @@ def try_activate_fallback(agent, reason: "FailoverReason | None" = None) -> bool
                 api_mode=agent.api_mode,
             )
 
-        agent._buffer_status(
+        agent._emit_status(
             f"🔄 Primary model failed — switching to fallback: "
             f"{fb_model} via {fb_provider}"
         )
@@ -2251,7 +2251,7 @@ def interruptible_streaming_api_call(agent, api_kwargs: dict, *, on_first_delta=
                             mid_tool_call=False,
                             diag=request_client_holder.get("diag"),
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_status(
+                        agent._emit_status(
                             "❌ Provider returned malformed streaming data after "
                             f"{_max_stream_retries + 1} attempts. "
                             "The provider may be experiencing issues — "
@@ -2358,7 +2358,7 @@ def interruptible_streaming_api_call(agent, api_kwargs: dict, *, on_first_delta=
                 _stale_elapsed, _stream_stale_timeout,
                 api_kwargs.get("model", "unknown"), f"{_est_ctx:,}",
             )
-            agent._buffer_status(
+            agent._emit_status(
                 f"⚠️ No response from provider for {int(_stale_elapsed)}s "
                 f"(model: {api_kwargs.get('model', 'unknown')}, "
                 f"context: ~{_est_ctx:,} tokens). "

agent/context_compressor.py

@@ -221,114 +221,6 @@ def _truncate_tool_call_args_json(args: str, head_chars: int = 200) -> str:
     return json.dumps(shrunken, ensure_ascii=False)
 
 
-_IMAGE_PART_TYPES = frozenset({"image_url", "input_image", "image"})
-
-
-def _is_image_part(part: Any) -> bool:
-    """True if ``part`` is a multimodal image content block.
-
-    Recognizes all three shapes the agent handles:
-      - OpenAI chat.completions: ``{"type": "image_url", "image_url": ...}``
-      - OpenAI Responses API:    ``{"type": "input_image", "image_url": "..."}``
-      - Anthropic native:        ``{"type": "image", "source": {...}}``
-    """
-    if not isinstance(part, dict):
-        return False
-    return part.get("type") in _IMAGE_PART_TYPES
-
-
-def _content_has_images(content: Any) -> bool:
-    """True if a message's ``content`` is a multimodal list with image parts."""
-    if not isinstance(content, list):
-        return False
-    return any(_is_image_part(p) for p in content)
-
-
-def _strip_images_from_content(content: Any) -> Any:
-    """Return a copy of ``content`` with every image part replaced by a
-    short text placeholder.
-
-    - String content is returned unchanged.
-    - Non-list, non-string content is returned unchanged.
-    - List content: image parts become ``{"type": "text", "text": "[Attached
-      image — stripped after compression]"}``; other parts are preserved as-is.
-
-    Input is never mutated.
-    """
-    if not isinstance(content, list):
-        return content
-    if not any(_is_image_part(p) for p in content):
-        return content
-
-    new_parts: List[Any] = []
-    for p in content:
-        if _is_image_part(p):
-            new_parts.append({
-                "type": "text",
-                "text": "[Attached image — stripped after compression]",
-            })
-        else:
-            new_parts.append(p)
-    return new_parts
-
-
-def _strip_historical_media(messages: List[Dict[str, Any]]) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
-    """Replace image parts in older messages with placeholder text.
-
-    The anchor is the *last* user message that has any image content. Every
-    message before that anchor gets its image parts replaced with a short
-    placeholder so the outgoing request stops re-shipping the same multi-MB
-    base-64 image blobs on every turn.
-
-    If no user message carries images, the list is returned unchanged.
-    If the only user message with images is the very first one (nothing
-    earlier to strip), the list is returned unchanged.
-
-    Shallow copies of touched messages only; input is never mutated.
-    Port of Kilo-Org/kilocode#9434 (adapted for the OpenAI-style message
-    shape the hermes compressor emits).
-    """
-    if not messages:
-        return messages
-
-    # Find the newest user message that carries at least one image part.
-    # We anchor on image-bearing user messages (not all user messages) so
-    # a plain text follow-up after a big-image turn still strips the old
-    # image — matching the problem kilocode#9434 set out to solve.
-    anchor = -1
-    for i in range(len(messages) - 1, -1, -1):
-        msg = messages[i]
-        if not isinstance(msg, dict):
-            continue
-        if msg.get("role") != "user":
-            continue
-        if _content_has_images(msg.get("content")):
-            anchor = i
-            break
-
-    if anchor <= 0:
-        # No image-bearing user message, or it's the very first message —
-        # nothing before it to strip.
-        return messages
-
-    changed = False
-    result: List[Dict[str, Any]] = []
-    for i, msg in enumerate(messages):
-        if i >= anchor or not isinstance(msg, dict):
-            result.append(msg)
-            continue
-        content = msg.get("content")
-        if not _content_has_images(content):
-            result.append(msg)
-            continue
-        new_msg = msg.copy()
-        new_msg["content"] = _strip_images_from_content(content)
-        result.append(new_msg)
-        changed = True
-
-    return result if changed else messages
-
-
 def _summarize_tool_result(tool_name: str, tool_args: str, tool_content: str) -> str:
     """Create an informative 1-line summary of a tool call + result.
 
@@ -1717,14 +1609,6 @@ The user has requested that this compaction PRIORITISE preserving all informatio
 
         compressed = self._sanitize_tool_pairs(compressed)
 
-        # Replace image parts in all compressed messages before the newest
-        # image-bearing user turn with a short text placeholder. Without
-        # this, tail messages keep their original multi-MB base-64 image
-        # payloads forever, which can push every subsequent API request
-        # past the provider's body-size limit and wedge the session.
-        # Port of Kilo-Org/kilocode#9434.
-        compressed = _strip_historical_media(compressed)
-
         new_estimate = estimate_messages_tokens_rough(compressed)
         saved_estimate = display_tokens - new_estimate
 

agent/context_engine.py

@@ -71,12 +71,7 @@ class ContextEngine(ABC):
     def update_from_response(self, usage: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
         """Update tracked token usage from an API response.
 
-        Called after every LLM call with a normalized usage dict. The legacy
-        keys ``prompt_tokens``, ``completion_tokens``, and ``total_tokens``
-        are always present. Newer hosts also include canonical buckets:
-        ``input_tokens``, ``output_tokens``, ``cache_read_tokens``,
-        ``cache_write_tokens``, and ``reasoning_tokens``. Engines should
-        treat those fields as optional for compatibility with older hosts.
+        Called after every LLM call with the usage dict from the response.
         """
 
     @abstractmethod

agent/conversation_compression.py

@@ -421,7 +421,6 @@ def compress_context(
                 agent.session_id or "",
                 boundary_reason="compression",
                 old_session_id=_old_sid,
-                conversation_id=getattr(agent, "_gateway_session_key", None),
             )
     except Exception as _ce_err:
         logger.debug("context engine on_session_start (compression): %s", _ce_err)

agent/conversation_loop.py

@@ -49,8 +49,9 @@ from agent.model_metadata import (
     MINIMUM_CONTEXT_LENGTH,
     estimate_messages_tokens_rough,
     estimate_request_tokens_rough,
-    get_context_length_from_provider_error,
+    get_next_probe_tier,
     parse_available_output_tokens_from_error,
+    parse_context_limit_from_error,
     save_context_length,
 )
 from agent.nous_rate_guard import (
@@ -126,106 +127,6 @@ def _ra():
     return run_agent
 
 
-def _nous_entitlement_message(capability: str) -> str:
-    try:
-        from hermes_cli.nous_account import (
-            format_nous_portal_entitlement_message,
-            get_nous_portal_account_info,
-        )
-
-        account_info = get_nous_portal_account_info(force_fresh=True)
-        message = format_nous_portal_entitlement_message(
-            account_info,
-            capability=capability,
-        )
-        return message or ""
-    except Exception:
-        return ""
-
-
-def _print_nous_entitlement_guidance(agent, capability: str) -> bool:
-    message = _nous_entitlement_message(capability)
-    if not message:
-        return False
-    for line in message.splitlines():
-        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 {line}", force=True)
-    return True
-
-
-def _is_nous_inference_route(provider: str, base_url: str) -> bool:
-    provider = (provider or "").strip().lower()
-    if provider == "nous":
-        return True
-    base = str(base_url or "")
-    return (
-        base_url_host_matches(base, "inference-api.nousresearch.com")
-        or base_url_host_matches(base, "inference.nousresearch.com")
-    )
-
-
-def _billing_or_entitlement_message(
-    *,
-    capability: str,
-    provider: str,
-    base_url: str,
-    model: str,
-) -> str:
-    if _is_nous_inference_route(provider, base_url):
-        return _nous_entitlement_message(capability)
-
-    provider_label = (provider or "").strip() or "the selected provider"
-    model_label = (model or "").strip() or "the selected model"
-    lines = [
-        (
-            f"{provider_label} reported that billing, credits, or account "
-            f"entitlement is exhausted for {model_label}."
-        ),
-        "Add credits or update billing with that provider, then retry.",
-    ]
-    if base_url_host_matches(str(base_url or ""), "openrouter.ai"):
-        lines.append("OpenRouter credits: https://openrouter.ai/settings/credits")
-    lines.append("You can switch providers temporarily with /model <model> --provider <provider>.")
-    return "\n".join(lines)
-
-
-def _print_billing_or_entitlement_guidance(
-    agent,
-    *,
-    capability: str,
-    provider: str,
-    base_url: str,
-    model: str,
-) -> bool:
-    message = _billing_or_entitlement_message(
-        capability=capability,
-        provider=provider,
-        base_url=base_url,
-        model=model,
-    )
-    if not message:
-        return False
-    for line in message.splitlines():
-        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 {line}", force=True)
-    return True
-
-
-def _try_refresh_nous_paid_entitlement_credentials(agent) -> bool:
-    """Refresh Nous runtime credentials after a fresh paid-entitlement check."""
-    try:
-        from hermes_cli.auth import NOUS_INFERENCE_AUTH_MODE_LEGACY
-        from hermes_cli.nous_account import get_nous_portal_account_info
-
-        account_info = get_nous_portal_account_info(force_fresh=True)
-        if account_info.paid_service_access is not True:
-            return False
-        return agent._try_refresh_nous_client_credentials(
-            force=False,
-            inference_auth_mode=NOUS_INFERENCE_AUTH_MODE_LEGACY,
-        )
-    except Exception:
-        return False
-
-
 def _restore_or_build_system_prompt(agent, system_message, conversation_history):
     """Restore the cached system prompt from the session DB or build it fresh.
 
@@ -1116,7 +1017,6 @@ def run_conversation(
         codex_auth_retry_attempted=False
         anthropic_auth_retry_attempted=False
         nous_auth_retry_attempted=False
-        nous_paid_entitlement_refresh_attempted=False
         copilot_auth_retry_attempted=False
         thinking_sig_retry_attempted = False
         invalid_encrypted_content_retry_attempted = False
@@ -1150,18 +1050,17 @@ def run_conversation(
                             f"Nous Portal rate limit active — "
                             f"resets in {_fmt_nous_remaining(_nous_remaining)}."
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(
-                            f"⏳ {_nous_msg} Trying fallback..."
+                        agent._vprint(
+                            f"{agent.log_prefix}⏳ {_nous_msg} Trying fallback...",
+                            force=True,
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_status(f"⏳ {_nous_msg}")
+                        agent._emit_status(f"⏳ {_nous_msg}")
                         if agent._try_activate_fallback():
                             retry_count = 0
                             compression_attempts = 0
                             primary_recovery_attempted = False
                             continue
-                        # No fallback available — surface buffered context
-                        # so user sees the rate-limit message that led here.
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
+                        # No fallback available — return with clear message
                         agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
                         return {
                             "final_response": (
@@ -1183,14 +1082,6 @@ def run_conversation(
 
             try:
                 agent._reset_stream_delivery_tracking()
-                # api_messages is built once, before this retry loop, while the
-                # primary provider is active.  A mid-conversation fallback can
-                # switch to a require-side provider (DeepSeek / Kimi / MiMo) that
-                # rejects assistant turns lacking reasoning_content.  Re-apply the
-                # echo-back pad for the *current* provider here (idempotent no-op
-                # unless the active provider needs it) so the fallback request
-                # isn't sent with stale, primary-shaped reasoning fields.
-                agent._reapply_reasoning_echo_for_provider(api_messages)
                 api_kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(api_messages)
                 if agent._force_ascii_payload:
                     _sanitize_structure_non_ascii(api_kwargs)
@@ -1384,10 +1275,9 @@ def run_conversation(
                             error_details.append("response.choices is empty")
 
                 if response_invalid:
-                    # Stop spinner silently — retry status is now buffered
-                    # and only surfaced if every retry+fallback exhausts.
+                    # Stop spinner before printing error messages
                     if thinking_spinner:
-                        thinking_spinner.stop("")
+                        thinking_spinner.stop("(´;ω;`) oops, retrying...")
                         thinking_spinner = None
                     if agent.thinking_callback:
                         agent.thinking_callback("")
@@ -1400,7 +1290,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                     # rate-limit symptom.  Switch to fallback immediately
                     # rather than retrying with extended backoff.
                     if agent._fallback_index < len(agent._fallback_chain):
-                        agent._buffer_status("⚠️ Empty/malformed response — switching to fallback...")
+                        agent._emit_status("⚠️ Empty/malformed response — switching to fallback...")
                     if agent._try_activate_fallback():
                         retry_count = 0
                         compression_attempts = 0
@@ -1462,22 +1352,20 @@ def run_conversation(
                     else:
                         _failure_hint = f"response time {api_duration:.1f}s"
 
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"⚠️  Invalid API response (attempt {retry_count}/{max_retries}): {', '.join(error_details)}")
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"   🏢 Provider: {provider_name}")
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Invalid API response (attempt {retry_count}/{max_retries}): {', '.join(error_details)}", force=True)
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   🏢 Provider: {provider_name}", force=True)
                     cleaned_provider_error = agent._clean_error_message(error_msg)
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"   📝 Provider message: {cleaned_provider_error}")
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"   ⏱️  {_failure_hint}")
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   📝 Provider message: {cleaned_provider_error}", force=True)
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   ⏱️  {_failure_hint}", force=True)
                     
                     if retry_count >= max_retries:
                         # Try fallback before giving up
-                        agent._buffer_status(f"⚠️ Max retries ({max_retries}) for invalid responses — trying fallback...")
+                        agent._emit_status(f"⚠️ Max retries ({max_retries}) for invalid responses — trying fallback...")
                         if agent._try_activate_fallback():
                             retry_count = 0
                             compression_attempts = 0
                             primary_recovery_attempted = False
                             continue
-                        # Terminal — flush buffered retry trace so user sees what happened.
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
                         agent._emit_status(f"❌ Max retries ({max_retries}) exceeded for invalid responses. Giving up.")
                         logger.error(f"{agent.log_prefix}Invalid API response after {max_retries} retries.")
                         agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
@@ -1491,7 +1379,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                     
                     # Backoff before retry — jittered exponential: 5s base, 120s cap
                     wait_time = jittered_backoff(retry_count, base_delay=5.0, max_delay=120.0)
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"⏳ Retrying in {wait_time:.1f}s ({_failure_hint})...")
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⏳ Retrying in {wait_time:.1f}s ({_failure_hint})...", force=True)
                     logger.warning(f"Invalid API response (retry {retry_count}/{max_retries}): {', '.join(error_details)} | Provider: {provider_name}")
                     
                     # Sleep in small increments to stay responsive to interrupts
@@ -1718,14 +1606,14 @@ def run_conversation(
                         if assistant_message is not None and _trunc_has_tool_calls:
                             if truncated_tool_call_retries < 1:
                                 truncated_tool_call_retries += 1
-                                agent._buffer_vprint(
-                                    f"⚠️  Truncated tool call detected — retrying API call..."
+                                agent._vprint(
+                                    f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Truncated tool call detected — retrying API call...",
+                                    force=True,
                                 )
                                 # Don't append the broken response to messages;
                                 # just re-run the same API call from the current
                                 # message state, giving the model another chance.
                                 continue
-                            agent._flush_status_buffer()
                             agent._vprint(
                                 f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Truncated tool call response detected again — refusing to execute incomplete tool arguments.",
                                 force=True,
@@ -1759,7 +1647,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                         }
                     else:
                         # First message was truncated - mark as failed
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ First response truncated - cannot recover", force=True)
                         agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
                         return {
@@ -1781,19 +1668,10 @@ def run_conversation(
                     prompt_tokens = canonical_usage.prompt_tokens
                     completion_tokens = canonical_usage.output_tokens
                     total_tokens = canonical_usage.total_tokens
-                    # Forward canonical token + cache buckets so context engines
-                    # can make decisions on cache hit ratios / reasoning costs,
-                    # not just legacy aggregate tokens. Legacy keys stay for
-                    # back-compat with engines that only read prompt/completion/total.
                     usage_dict = {
                         "prompt_tokens": prompt_tokens,
                         "completion_tokens": completion_tokens,
                         "total_tokens": total_tokens,
-                        "input_tokens": canonical_usage.input_tokens,
-                        "output_tokens": canonical_usage.output_tokens,
-                        "cache_read_tokens": canonical_usage.cache_read_tokens,
-                        "cache_write_tokens": canonical_usage.cache_write_tokens,
-                        "reasoning_tokens": canonical_usage.reasoning_tokens,
                     }
                     agent.context_compressor.update_from_response(usage_dict)
 
@@ -1911,11 +1789,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                         )
                 
                 has_retried_429 = False  # Reset on success
-                # Note: don't clear the retry buffer here — an "API call
-                # success" only means we got bytes back, not that we got
-                # usable content. Empty responses still loop through the
-                # empty-retry path below; the buffer is cleared when
-                # genuinely successful content is detected later (~L4127).
                 # Clear Nous rate limit state on successful request —
                 # proves the limit has reset and other sessions can
                 # resume hitting Nous.
@@ -1942,10 +1815,9 @@ def run_conversation(
                 break
 
             except Exception as api_error:
-                # Stop spinner silently — retry status is buffered and
-                # only flushed when every retry+fallback is exhausted.
+                # Stop spinner before printing error messages
                 if thinking_spinner:
-                    thinking_spinner.stop("")
+                    thinking_spinner.stop("(╥_╥) error, retrying...")
                     thinking_spinner = None
                 if agent.thinking_callback:
                     agent.thinking_callback("")
@@ -2000,12 +1872,14 @@ def run_conversation(
                     if _surrogates_found or _is_surrogate_error:
                         agent._unicode_sanitization_passes += 1
                         if _surrogates_found:
-                            agent._buffer_vprint(
-                                f"⚠️  Stripped invalid surrogate characters from messages. Retrying..."
+                            agent._vprint(
+                                f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Stripped invalid surrogate characters from messages. Retrying...",
+                                force=True,
                             )
                         else:
-                            agent._buffer_vprint(
-                                f"⚠️  Surrogate encoding error — retrying after full-payload sanitization..."
+                            agent._vprint(
+                                f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Surrogate encoding error — retrying after full-payload sanitization...",
+                                force=True,
                             )
                         continue
                     if _is_ascii_codec:
@@ -2219,23 +2093,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                     classified.should_rotate_credential, classified.should_fallback,
                 )
 
-                if (
-                    classified.reason == FailoverReason.billing
-                    and _is_nous_inference_route(
-                        getattr(agent, "provider", "") or "",
-                        getattr(agent, "base_url", "") or "",
-                    )
-                    and not nous_paid_entitlement_refresh_attempted
-                ):
-                    nous_paid_entitlement_refresh_attempted = True
-                    if _try_refresh_nous_paid_entitlement_credentials(agent):
-                        agent._vprint(
-                            f"{agent.log_prefix}🔐 Nous paid access verified — "
-                            "refreshed runtime credentials and retrying request...",
-                            force=True,
-                        )
-                        continue
-
                 recovered_with_pool, has_retried_429 = agent._recover_with_credential_pool(
                     status_code=status_code,
                     has_retried_429=has_retried_429,
@@ -2333,7 +2190,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                     codex_auth_retry_attempted = True
                     if agent._try_refresh_codex_client_credentials(force=True):
                         _label = "xAI OAuth" if agent.provider == "xai-oauth" else "Codex"
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(f"🔐 {_label} auth refreshed after 401. Retrying request...")
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🔐 {_label} auth refreshed after 401. Retrying request...")
                         continue
                 if (
                     agent.api_mode == "chat_completions"
@@ -2360,8 +2217,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                     print(f"{agent.log_prefix}🔐 Nous 401 — Portal authentication failed.")
                     if _body_text:
                         print(f"{agent.log_prefix}   Response: {_body_text}")
-                    if not _print_nous_entitlement_guidance(agent, "Nous model access"):
-                        print(f"{agent.log_prefix}   Most likely: Portal OAuth expired, account out of credits, or agent key revoked.")
+                    print(f"{agent.log_prefix}   Most likely: Portal OAuth expired, account out of credits, or agent key revoked.")
                     print(f"{agent.log_prefix}   Troubleshooting:")
                     print(f"{agent.log_prefix}     • Re-authenticate: hermes auth add nous")
                     print(f"{agent.log_prefix}     • Check credits / billing: https://portal.nousresearch.com")
@@ -2374,7 +2230,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                 ):
                     copilot_auth_retry_attempted = True
                     if agent._try_refresh_copilot_client_credentials():
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(f"🔐 Copilot credentials refreshed after 401. Retrying request...")
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🔐 Copilot credentials refreshed after 401. Retrying request...")
                         continue
                 if (
                     agent.api_mode == "anthropic_messages"
@@ -2549,37 +2405,41 @@ def run_conversation(
                 _base = getattr(agent, "base_url", "unknown")
                 _model = getattr(agent, "model", "unknown")
                 _status_code_str = f" [HTTP {status_code}]" if status_code else ""
-                agent._buffer_vprint(f"⚠️  API call failed (attempt {retry_count}/{max_retries}): {error_type}{_status_code_str}")
-                agent._buffer_vprint(f"   🔌 Provider: {_provider}  Model: {_model}")
-                agent._buffer_vprint(f"   🌐 Endpoint: {_base}")
-                agent._buffer_vprint(f"   📝 Error: {_error_summary}")
+                agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  API call failed (attempt {retry_count}/{max_retries}): {error_type}{_status_code_str}", force=True)
+                agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   🔌 Provider: {_provider}  Model: {_model}", force=True)
+                agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   🌐 Endpoint: {_base}", force=True)
+                agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   📝 Error: {_error_summary}", force=True)
                 if status_code and status_code < 500:
                     _err_body = getattr(api_error, "body", None)
                     _err_body_str = str(_err_body)[:300] if _err_body else None
                     if _err_body_str:
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(f"   📋 Details: {_err_body_str}")
-                agent._buffer_vprint(f"   ⏱️  Elapsed: {elapsed_time:.2f}s  Context: {len(api_messages)} msgs, ~{approx_tokens:,} tokens")
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   📋 Details: {_err_body_str}", force=True)
+                agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   ⏱️  Elapsed: {elapsed_time:.2f}s  Context: {len(api_messages)} msgs, ~{approx_tokens:,} tokens")
 
                 # Actionable hint for OpenRouter "no tool endpoints" error.
-                # Buffered like the rest of the retry trace — surfaced only
-                # if every retry+fallback exhausts.  Avoids spamming users
-                # who recover automatically via fallback.
+                # This fires regardless of whether fallback succeeds — the
+                # user needs to know WHY their model failed so they can fix
+                # their provider routing, not just silently fall back.
                 if (
                     agent._is_openrouter_url()
                     and "support tool use" in error_msg
                 ):
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(
-                        f"   💡 No OpenRouter providers for {_model} support tool calling with your current settings."
+                    agent._vprint(
+                        f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 No OpenRouter providers for {_model} support tool calling with your current settings.",
+                        force=True,
                     )
                     if agent.providers_allowed:
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(
-                            f"      Your provider_routing.only restriction is filtering out tool-capable providers."
+                        agent._vprint(
+                            f"{agent.log_prefix}      Your provider_routing.only restriction is filtering out tool-capable providers.",
+                            force=True,
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(
-                            f"      Try removing the restriction or adding providers that support tools for this model."
+                        agent._vprint(
+                            f"{agent.log_prefix}      Try removing the restriction or adding providers that support tools for this model.",
+                            force=True,
                         )
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(
-                        f"      Check which providers support tools: https://openrouter.ai/models/{_model}"
+                    agent._vprint(
+                        f"{agent.log_prefix}      Check which providers support tools: https://openrouter.ai/models/{_model}",
+                        force=True,
                     )
 
                 # Check for interrupt before deciding to retry
@@ -2629,10 +2489,11 @@ def run_conversation(
                             # user later enables extra usage the 1M limit
                             # should come back automatically.
                             compressor._context_probe_persistable = False
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(
-                            f"⚠️  Anthropic long-context tier "
+                        agent._vprint(
+                            f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Anthropic long-context tier "
                             f"requires extra usage — reducing context: "
-                            f"{old_ctx:,} → {_reduced_ctx:,} tokens"
+                            f"{old_ctx:,} → {_reduced_ctx:,} tokens",
+                            force=True,
                         )
 
                     compression_attempts += 1
@@ -2648,7 +2509,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                         # messages to the new session, not skipping them.
                         conversation_history = None
                         if len(messages) < original_len or old_ctx > _reduced_ctx:
-                            agent._buffer_status(
+                            agent._emit_status(
                                 f"🗜️ Context reduced to {_reduced_ctx:,} tokens "
                                 f"(was {old_ctx:,}), retrying..."
                             )
@@ -2677,12 +2538,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                         base_url=getattr(agent, "base_url", None),
                     )
                     if not pool_may_recover:
-                        if classified.reason == FailoverReason.billing:
-                            agent._buffer_status(
-                                "⚠️ Billing or credits exhausted — switching to fallback provider..."
-                            )
-                        else:
-                            agent._buffer_status("⚠️ Rate limited — switching to fallback provider...")
+                        agent._emit_status("⚠️ Rate limited — switching to fallback provider...")
                         if agent._try_activate_fallback(reason=classified.reason):
                             retry_count = 0
                             compression_attempts = 0
@@ -2794,8 +2650,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                 if is_payload_too_large:
                     compression_attempts += 1
                     if compression_attempts > max_compression_attempts:
-                        # Terminal — surface the buffered retry trace.
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Max compression attempts ({max_compression_attempts}) reached for payload-too-large error.", force=True)
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 Try /new to start a fresh conversation, or /compress to retry compression.", force=True)
                         logger.error(f"{agent.log_prefix}413 compression failed after {max_compression_attempts} attempts.")
@@ -2809,7 +2663,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                             "failed": True,
                             "compression_exhausted": True,
                         }
-                    agent._buffer_status(f"⚠️  Request payload too large (413) — compression attempt {compression_attempts}/{max_compression_attempts}...")
+                    agent._emit_status(f"⚠️  Request payload too large (413) — compression attempt {compression_attempts}/{max_compression_attempts}...")
 
                     original_len = len(messages)
                     messages, active_system_prompt = agent._compress_context(
@@ -2822,14 +2676,11 @@ def run_conversation(
                     conversation_history = None
 
                     if len(messages) < original_len:
-                        agent._buffer_status(f"🗜️ Compressed {original_len} → {len(messages)} messages, retrying...")
+                        agent._emit_status(f"🗜️ Compressed {original_len} → {len(messages)} messages, retrying...")
                         time.sleep(2)  # Brief pause between compression retries
                         restart_with_compressed_messages = True
                         break
                     else:
-                        # Terminal — surface buffered context so the user
-                        # sees what compression attempts were made.
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Payload too large and cannot compress further.", force=True)
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 Try /new to start a fresh conversation, or /compress to retry compression.", force=True)
                         logger.error(f"{agent.log_prefix}413 payload too large. Cannot compress further.")
@@ -2873,16 +2724,16 @@ def run_conversation(
                         # touching context_length or triggering compression.
                         safe_out = max(1, available_out - 64)  # small safety margin
                         agent._ephemeral_max_output_tokens = safe_out
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(
-                            f"⚠️  Output cap too large for current prompt — "
+                        agent._vprint(
+                            f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Output cap too large for current prompt — "
                             f"retrying with max_tokens={safe_out:,} "
-                            f"(available_tokens={available_out:,}; context_length unchanged at {old_ctx:,})"
+                            f"(available_tokens={available_out:,}; context_length unchanged at {old_ctx:,})",
+                            force=True,
                         )
                         # Still count against compression_attempts so we don't
                         # loop forever if the error keeps recurring.
                         compression_attempts += 1
                         if compression_attempts > max_compression_attempts:
-                            agent._flush_status_buffer()
                             agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Max compression attempts ({max_compression_attempts}) reached.", force=True)
                             agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 Try /new to start a fresh conversation, or /compress to retry compression.", force=True)
                             logger.error(f"{agent.log_prefix}Context compression failed after {max_compression_attempts} attempts.")
@@ -2899,13 +2750,9 @@ def run_conversation(
                         restart_with_compressed_messages = True
                         break
 
-                    # Error is about the INPUT being too large.  Only reduce
-                    # context_length when the provider explicitly reports the
-                    # real lower limit.  If the provider only says "input
-                    # exceeds the context window", keep the configured window
-                    # and try compression; guessing probe tiers can incorrectly
-                    # turn a user-configured 1M window into 256K/128K/64K.
-                    new_ctx = get_context_length_from_provider_error(error_msg, old_ctx)
+                    # Error is about the INPUT being too large — reduce context_length.
+                    # Try to parse the actual limit from the error message
+                    parsed_limit = parse_context_limit_from_error(error_msg)
                     _provider_lower = (getattr(agent, "provider", "") or "").lower()
                     _base_lower = (getattr(agent, "base_url", "") or "").rstrip("/").lower()
                     is_minimax_provider = (
@@ -2917,12 +2764,24 @@ def run_conversation(
                     )
                     minimax_delta_only_overflow = (
                         is_minimax_provider
-                        and new_ctx is None
+                        and parsed_limit is None
                         and "context window exceeds limit (" in error_msg
                     )
+                    if parsed_limit and parsed_limit < old_ctx:
+                        new_ctx = parsed_limit
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}Context limit detected from API: {new_ctx:,} tokens (was {old_ctx:,})", force=True)
+                    elif minimax_delta_only_overflow:
+                        new_ctx = old_ctx
+                        agent._vprint(
+                            f"{agent.log_prefix}Provider reported overflow amount only; "
+                            f"keeping context_length at {old_ctx:,} tokens and compressing.",
+                            force=True,
+                        )
+                    else:
+                        # Step down to the next probe tier
+                        new_ctx = get_next_probe_tier(old_ctx)
 
-                    if new_ctx is not None:
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(f"Context limit detected from API: {new_ctx:,} tokens (was {old_ctx:,})")
+                    if new_ctx and new_ctx < old_ctx:
                         compressor.update_model(
                             model=agent.model,
                             context_length=new_ctx,
@@ -2932,26 +2791,23 @@ def run_conversation(
                             api_mode=agent.api_mode,
                         )
                         # Context probing flags — only set on built-in
-                        # compressor (plugin engines manage their own).  This
-                        # value came from the provider, so it is safe to cache.
+                        # compressor (plugin engines manage their own).
                         if hasattr(compressor, "_context_probed"):
                             compressor._context_probed = True
-                            compressor._context_probe_persistable = True
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(f"⚠️  Context length exceeded — using provider limit: {old_ctx:,} → {new_ctx:,} tokens")
-                    elif minimax_delta_only_overflow:
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(
-                            f"Provider reported overflow amount only; "
-                            f"keeping context_length at {old_ctx:,} tokens and compressing."
-                        )
+                            # Only persist limits parsed from the provider's
+                            # error message (a real number).  Guessed fallback
+                            # tiers from get_next_probe_tier() should stay
+                            # in-memory only — persisting them pollutes the
+                            # cache with wrong values.
+                            compressor._context_probe_persistable = bool(
+                                parsed_limit and parsed_limit == new_ctx
+                            )
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Context length exceeded — stepping down: {old_ctx:,} → {new_ctx:,} tokens", force=True)
                     else:
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(
-                            f"⚠️  Context length exceeded, but provider did not report a max context length; "
-                            f"keeping context_length at {old_ctx:,} tokens and compressing."
-                        )
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Context length exceeded at minimum tier — attempting compression...", force=True)
 
                     compression_attempts += 1
                     if compression_attempts > max_compression_attempts:
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Max compression attempts ({max_compression_attempts}) reached.", force=True)
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 Try /new to start a fresh conversation, or /compress to retry compression.", force=True)
                         logger.error(f"{agent.log_prefix}Context compression failed after {max_compression_attempts} attempts.")
@@ -2965,7 +2821,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                             "failed": True,
                             "compression_exhausted": True,
                         }
-                    agent._buffer_status(f"🗜️ Context too large (~{approx_tokens:,} tokens) — compressing ({compression_attempts}/{max_compression_attempts})...")
+                    agent._emit_status(f"🗜️ Context too large (~{approx_tokens:,} tokens) — compressing ({compression_attempts}/{max_compression_attempts})...")
 
                     original_len = len(messages)
                     messages, active_system_prompt = agent._compress_context(
@@ -2979,13 +2835,12 @@ def run_conversation(
 
                     if len(messages) < original_len or new_ctx and new_ctx < old_ctx:
                         if len(messages) < original_len:
-                            agent._buffer_status(f"🗜️ Compressed {original_len} → {len(messages)} messages, retrying...")
+                            agent._emit_status(f"🗜️ Compressed {original_len} → {len(messages)} messages, retrying...")
                         time.sleep(2)  # Brief pause between compression retries
                         restart_with_compressed_messages = True
                         break
                     else:
                         # Can't compress further and already at minimum tier
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Context length exceeded and cannot compress further.", force=True)
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 The conversation has accumulated too much content. Try /new to start fresh, or /compress to manually trigger compression.", force=True)
                         logger.error(f"{agent.log_prefix}Context length exceeded: {approx_tokens:,} tokens. Cannot compress further.")
@@ -3074,10 +2929,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                 if is_client_error:
                     # Try fallback before aborting — a different provider
                     # may not have the same issue (rate limit, auth, etc.)
-                    if classified.reason == FailoverReason.content_policy_blocked:
-                        agent._buffer_status("⚠️ Provider safety filter blocked this request — trying fallback...")
-                    else:
-                        agent._buffer_status(f"⚠️ Non-retryable error (HTTP {status_code}) — trying fallback...")
+                    agent._emit_status(f"⚠️ Non-retryable error (HTTP {status_code}) — trying fallback...")
                     if agent._try_activate_fallback():
                         retry_count = 0
                         compression_attempts = 0
@@ -3087,38 +2939,16 @@ def run_conversation(
                         agent._dump_api_request_debug(
                             api_kwargs, reason="non_retryable_client_error", error=api_error,
                         )
-                    # Terminal — flush buffered context so the user sees
-                    # what was tried before the abort.
-                    agent._flush_status_buffer()
-                    if classified.reason == FailoverReason.content_policy_blocked:
-                        agent._emit_status(
-                            f"❌ Provider safety filter blocked this request: "
-                            f"{agent._summarize_api_error(api_error)}"
-                        )
-                    else:
-                        agent._emit_status(
-                            f"❌ Non-retryable error (HTTP {status_code}): "
-                            f"{agent._summarize_api_error(api_error)}"
-                        )
+                    agent._emit_status(
+                        f"❌ Non-retryable error (HTTP {status_code}): "
+                        f"{agent._summarize_api_error(api_error)}"
+                    )
                     agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Non-retryable client error (HTTP {status_code}). Aborting.", force=True)
                     agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   🔌 Provider: {_provider}  Model: {_model}", force=True)
                     agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   🌐 Endpoint: {_base}", force=True)
                     # Actionable guidance for common auth errors
                     if classified.is_auth or classified.reason == FailoverReason.billing:
-                        if classified.reason == FailoverReason.billing and _print_billing_or_entitlement_guidance(
-                            agent,
-                            capability="model access",
-                            provider=_provider,
-                            base_url=str(_base),
-                            model=_model,
-                        ):
-                            pass
-                        elif _provider == "nous" and _print_nous_entitlement_guidance(
-                            agent,
-                            "Nous model access",
-                        ):
-                            pass
-                        elif _provider in {"openai-codex", "xai-oauth", "nous"} and status_code == 401:
+                        if _provider in {"openai-codex", "xai-oauth", "nous"} and status_code == 401:
                             if _provider == "openai-codex":
                                 agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 Codex OAuth token was rejected (HTTP 401). Your token may have been", force=True)
                                 agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}      refreshed by another client (Codex CLI, VS Code). To fix:", force=True)
@@ -3146,28 +2976,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                                 agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}      • Check credits: https://openrouter.ai/settings/credits", force=True)
                     else:
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 This type of error won't be fixed by retrying.", force=True)
-                    # Content-policy blocks deserve their own actionable
-                    # guidance — neither "fix your API key" nor "retry won't
-                    # help" tells the user what to actually do. The provider
-                    # has refused this specific prompt, so the recovery is
-                    # either a rephrase or routing to a different model.
-                    if classified.reason == FailoverReason.content_policy_blocked:
-                        agent._vprint(
-                            f"{agent.log_prefix}   💡 The provider's safety filter rejected this specific prompt.",
-                            force=True,
-                        )
-                        agent._vprint(
-                            f"{agent.log_prefix}      • Try rephrasing the request, narrowing the context, or splitting into smaller steps.",
-                            force=True,
-                        )
-                        agent._vprint(
-                            f"{agent.log_prefix}      • Configure a fallback provider so future blocks route automatically:",
-                            force=True,
-                        )
-                        agent._vprint(
-                            f"{agent.log_prefix}        hermes fallback add   (interactive picker — same as `hermes model`)",
-                            force=True,
-                        )
                     logger.error(f"{agent.log_prefix}Non-retryable client error: {api_error}")
                     # Skip session persistence when the error is likely
                     # context-overflow related (status 400 + large session).
@@ -3182,23 +2990,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                         )
                     else:
                         agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
-                    if classified.reason == FailoverReason.content_policy_blocked:
-                        _summary = agent._summarize_api_error(api_error)
-                        _policy_response = (
-                            f"⚠️  The model provider's safety filter blocked this request "
-                            f"(not a Hermes/gateway failure).\n\n"
-                            f"Provider message: {_summary}\n\n"
-                            f"Try rephrasing the request, narrowing the context, or "
-                            f"adding a fallback provider with `hermes fallback add`."
-                        )
-                        return {
-                            "final_response": _policy_response,
-                            "messages": messages,
-                            "api_calls": api_call_count,
-                            "completed": False,
-                            "failed": True,
-                            "error": f"content_policy_blocked: {_summary}",
-                        }
                     return {
                         "final_response": None,
                         "messages": messages,
@@ -3220,32 +3011,14 @@ def run_conversation(
                         retry_count = 0
                         continue
                     # Try fallback before giving up entirely
-                    agent._buffer_status(f"⚠️ Max retries ({max_retries}) exhausted — trying fallback...")
+                    agent._emit_status(f"⚠️ Max retries ({max_retries}) exhausted — trying fallback...")
                     if agent._try_activate_fallback():
                         retry_count = 0
                         compression_attempts = 0
                         primary_recovery_attempted = False
                         continue
-                    # Terminal — flush buffered retry/fallback trace.
-                    agent._flush_status_buffer()
                     _final_summary = agent._summarize_api_error(api_error)
-                    _billing_guidance = ""
-                    if classified.reason == FailoverReason.billing:
-                        agent._emit_status(f"❌ Billing or credits exhausted — {_final_summary}")
-                        _billing_guidance = _billing_or_entitlement_message(
-                            capability="model access",
-                            provider=_provider,
-                            base_url=str(_base),
-                            model=_model,
-                        )
-                        _print_billing_or_entitlement_guidance(
-                            agent,
-                            capability="model access",
-                            provider=_provider,
-                            base_url=str(_base),
-                            model=_model,
-                        )
-                    elif is_rate_limited:
+                    if is_rate_limited:
                         agent._emit_status(f"❌ Rate limited after {max_retries} retries — {_final_summary}")
                     else:
                         agent._emit_status(f"❌ API failed after {max_retries} retries — {_final_summary}")
@@ -3290,12 +3063,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                             api_kwargs, reason="max_retries_exhausted", error=api_error,
                         )
                     agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
-                    if classified.reason == FailoverReason.billing:
-                        _final_response = f"Billing or credits exhausted: {_final_summary}"
-                        if _billing_guidance:
-                            _final_response += f"\n\n{_billing_guidance}"
-                    else:
-                        _final_response = f"API call failed after {max_retries} retries: {_final_summary}"
+                    _final_response = f"API call failed after {max_retries} retries: {_final_summary}"
                     if _is_stream_drop:
                         _final_response += (
                             "\n\nThe provider's stream connection keeps "
@@ -3327,9 +3095,9 @@ def run_conversation(
                                 pass
                 wait_time = _retry_after if _retry_after else jittered_backoff(retry_count, base_delay=2.0, max_delay=60.0)
                 if is_rate_limited:
-                    agent._buffer_status(f"⏱️ Rate limited. Waiting {wait_time:.1f}s (attempt {retry_count + 1}/{max_retries})...")
+                    agent._emit_status(f"⏱️ Rate limited. Waiting {wait_time:.1f}s (attempt {retry_count + 1}/{max_retries})...")
                 else:
-                    agent._buffer_status(f"⏳ Retrying in {wait_time:.1f}s (attempt {retry_count}/{max_retries})...")
+                    agent._emit_status(f"⏳ Retrying in {wait_time:.1f}s (attempt {retry_count}/{max_retries})...")
                 logger.warning(
                     "Retrying API call in %ss (attempt %s/%s) %s error=%s",
                     wait_time,
@@ -3488,15 +3256,14 @@ def run_conversation(
             if has_incomplete_scratchpad(assistant_message.content or ""):
                 agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries += 1
                 
-                agent._buffer_vprint(f"⚠️  Incomplete <REASONING_SCRATCHPAD> detected (opened but never closed)")
+                agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Incomplete <REASONING_SCRATCHPAD> detected (opened but never closed)")
                 
                 if agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries <= 2:
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"🔄 Retrying API call ({agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries}/2)...")
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🔄 Retrying API call ({agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries}/2)...")
                     # Don't add the broken message, just retry
                     continue
                 else:
                     # Max retries - discard this turn and save as partial
-                    agent._flush_status_buffer()
                     agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Max retries (2) for incomplete scratchpad. Saving as partial.", force=True)
                     agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries = 0
                     
@@ -3604,10 +3371,9 @@ def run_conversation(
                     available = ", ".join(sorted(agent.valid_tool_names))
                     invalid_name = invalid_tool_calls[0]
                     invalid_preview = invalid_name[:80] + "..." if len(invalid_name) > 80 else invalid_name
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"⚠️  Unknown tool '{invalid_preview}' — sending error to model for agent-correction ({agent._invalid_tool_retries}/3)")
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Unknown tool '{invalid_preview}' — sending error to model for agent-correction ({agent._invalid_tool_retries}/3)")
 
                     if agent._invalid_tool_retries >= 3:
-                        agent._flush_status_buffer()
                         agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Max retries (3) for invalid tool calls exceeded. Stopping as partial.", force=True)
                         agent._invalid_tool_retries = 0
                         agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
@@ -3691,16 +3457,16 @@ def run_conversation(
                     agent._invalid_json_retries += 1
 
                     tool_name, error_msg = invalid_json_args[0]
-                    agent._buffer_vprint(f"⚠️  Invalid JSON in tool call arguments for '{tool_name}': {error_msg}")
+                    agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Invalid JSON in tool call arguments for '{tool_name}': {error_msg}")
 
                     if agent._invalid_json_retries < 3:
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(f"🔄 Retrying API call ({agent._invalid_json_retries}/3)...")
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🔄 Retrying API call ({agent._invalid_json_retries}/3)...")
                         # Don't add anything to messages, just retry the API call
                         continue
                     else:
                         # Instead of returning partial, inject tool error results so the model can recover.
                         # Using tool results (not user messages) preserves role alternation.
-                        agent._buffer_vprint(f"⚠️  Injecting recovery tool results for invalid JSON...")
+                        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}⚠️  Injecting recovery tool results for invalid JSON...")
                         agent._invalid_json_retries = 0  # Reset for next attempt
                         
                         # Append the assistant message with its (broken) tool_calls
@@ -4008,7 +3774,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                             "Empty response after tool calls — nudging model "
                             "to continue processing"
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_status(
+                        agent._emit_status(
                             "⚠️ Model returned empty after tool calls — "
                             "nudging to continue"
                         )
@@ -4054,7 +3820,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                             "prefilling to continue (%d/2)",
                             agent._thinking_prefill_retries,
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_status(
+                        agent._emit_status(
                             f"↻ Thinking-only response — prefilling to continue "
                             f"({agent._thinking_prefill_retries}/2)"
                         )
@@ -4089,7 +3855,7 @@ def run_conversation(
                             "retry %d/3 (model=%s)",
                             agent._empty_content_retries, agent.model,
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_status(
+                        agent._emit_status(
                             f"⚠️ Empty response from model — retrying "
                             f"({agent._empty_content_retries}/3)"
                         )
@@ -4108,13 +3874,13 @@ def run_conversation(
                             agent._empty_content_retries, agent.model,
                             agent.provider,
                         )
-                        agent._buffer_status(
+                        agent._emit_status(
                             "⚠️ Model returning empty responses — "
                             "switching to fallback provider..."
                         )
                         if agent._try_activate_fallback():
                             agent._empty_content_retries = 0
-                            agent._buffer_status(
+                            agent._emit_status(
                                 f"↻ Switched to fallback: {agent.model} "
                                 f"({agent.provider})"
                             )
@@ -4128,9 +3894,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                     # Exhausted retries and fallback chain (or no
                     # fallback configured).  Fall through to the
                     # "(empty)" terminal.
-                    # Surface the buffered retry/fallback trace so the
-                    # user can see what was attempted before "(empty)".
-                    agent._flush_status_buffer()
                     _turn_exit_reason = "empty_response_exhausted"
                     reasoning_text = agent._extract_reasoning(assistant_message)
                     agent._drop_trailing_empty_response_scaffolding(messages)
@@ -4175,9 +3938,6 @@ def run_conversation(
                 # Reset retry counter/signature on successful content
                 agent._empty_content_retries = 0
                 agent._thinking_prefill_retries = 0
-                # Successful content reached — drop any buffered retry
-                # status from earlier failed attempts in this turn.
-                agent._clear_status_buffer()
 
                 if (
                     agent.api_mode == "codex_responses"
@@ -4561,7 +4321,6 @@ def run_conversation(
         original_user_message=original_user_message,
         final_response=final_response,
         interrupted=interrupted,
-        messages=messages,
     )
 
     # Background memory/skill review — runs AFTER the response is delivered

agent/display.py

@@ -904,6 +904,10 @@ def get_cute_tool_message(
             extra = f" +{len(urls)-1}" if len(urls) > 1 else ""
             return _wrap(f"┊ 📄 fetch     {_trunc(domain, 35)}{extra}  {dur}")
         return _wrap(f"┊ 📄 fetch     pages  {dur}")
+    if tool_name == "web_crawl":
+        url = args.get("url", "")
+        domain = url.replace("https://", "").replace("http://", "").split("/")[0]
+        return _wrap(f"┊ 🕸️  crawl     {_trunc(domain, 35)}  {dur}")
     if tool_name == "terminal":
         return _wrap(f"┊ 💻 $         {_trunc(args.get('command', ''), 42)}  {dur}")
     if tool_name == "process":

agent/error_classifier.py

@@ -44,10 +44,9 @@ class FailoverReason(enum.Enum):
     payload_too_large = "payload_too_large"  # 413 — compress payload
     image_too_large = "image_too_large"   # Native image part exceeds provider's per-image limit — shrink and retry
 
-    # Model / provider policy
+    # Model
     model_not_found = "model_not_found"  # 404 or invalid model — fallback to different model
     provider_policy_blocked = "provider_policy_blocked"  # Aggregator (e.g. OpenRouter) blocked the only endpoint due to account data/privacy policy
-    content_policy_blocked = "content_policy_blocked"  # Provider safety filter rejected this prompt — deterministic per-request, don't retry unchanged
 
     # Request format
     format_error = "format_error"        # 400 bad request — abort or strip + retry
@@ -98,20 +97,13 @@ _BILLING_PATTERNS = [
     "insufficient_quota",
     "insufficient balance",
     "credit balance",
-    "credits exhausted",
     "credits have been exhausted",
-    "no usable credits",
     "top up your credits",
     "payment required",
     "billing hard limit",
     "exceeded your current quota",
     "account is deactivated",
     "plan does not include",
-    "out of funds",
-    "run out of funds",
-    "balance_depleted",
-    "model_not_supported_on_free_tier",
-    "not available on the free tier",
 ]
 
 # Patterns that indicate rate limiting (transient, will resolve)
@@ -290,45 +282,6 @@ _PROVIDER_POLICY_BLOCKED_PATTERNS = [
     "no endpoints found matching your data policy",
 ]
 
-# Provider content-policy / safety-filter blocks. Distinct from
-# ``provider_policy_blocked`` above (which is an OpenRouter *account*-level
-# data/privacy guardrail) — these are *per-prompt* safety decisions made by
-# the upstream model provider. They are deterministic for the unchanged
-# request, so retrying the same prompt three times just reproduces the same
-# block and burns paid attempts on a refusal. The recovery is to switch to a
-# configured fallback model/provider immediately, or surface the block to
-# the user with actionable guidance if no fallback exists.
-#
-# Patterns are intentionally narrow — each phrase is a verbatim string from
-# a specific provider's safety pipeline, not a generic word like "policy" or
-# "violation" that could collide with billing/auth/format errors:
-#   • OpenAI Codex cybersecurity refusal (gpt-5.5, the case from #18028)
-#   • OpenAI moderation refusal ("violates our usage policies", with
-#     "usage policies" disambiguating from billing's "exceeded ... policy")
-#   • Anthropic safety refusal ("prompt was flagged by ... safety system")
-#   • OpenAI Responses content filter
-_CONTENT_POLICY_BLOCKED_PATTERNS = [
-    # OpenAI Codex (#18028) — message may arrive without an HTTP status
-    "flagged for possible cybersecurity risk",
-    "trusted access for cyber",
-    # OpenAI moderation — chat completions / responses
-    "violates our usage policies",
-    "violates openai's usage policies",
-    "your request was flagged by",
-    # Anthropic safety system
-    "prompt was flagged by our safety",
-    "responses cannot be generated due to safety",
-    # Generic content-filter wording seen on Azure / OpenAI Responses.
-    # ``content_filter`` (underscore) is the OpenAI-standard error/finish
-    # token surfaced verbatim by their SDKs when a request is blocked.
-    # ``responsibleaipolicyviolation`` is Azure OpenAI's error code.
-    # Deliberately NOT matching the space variant ("content filter") — it
-    # appears in benign config descriptions and tooltip text that providers
-    # echo back; the underscore form is provider-specific enough.
-    "content_filter",
-    "responsibleaipolicyviolation",
-]
-
 # Auth patterns (non-status-code signals)
 _AUTH_PATTERNS = [
     "invalid api key",
@@ -532,20 +485,6 @@ def classify_api_error(
 
     # ── 1. Provider-specific patterns (highest priority) ────────────
 
-    # Provider content-policy / safety-filter block. The provider has made a
-    # deterministic refusal decision about THIS prompt — retrying unchanged
-    # just reproduces the same refusal and burns paid attempts. Must run
-    # before status-based classification so a 400 safety block isn't
-    # downgraded to a generic ``format_error`` and a status-less block
-    # (OpenAI Codex SDK can raise without one) isn't left in the retryable
-    # ``unknown`` bucket. See issue #18028.
-    if any(p in error_msg for p in _CONTENT_POLICY_BLOCKED_PATTERNS):
-        return _result(
-            FailoverReason.content_policy_blocked,
-            retryable=False,
-            should_fallback=True,
-        )
-
     # Anthropic thinking block signature invalid (400).
     # Don't gate on provider — OpenRouter proxies Anthropic errors, so the
     # provider may be "openrouter" even though the error is Anthropic-specific.
@@ -751,13 +690,8 @@ def _classify_by_status(
         )
 
     if status_code == 403:
-        # OpenRouter 403 "key limit exceeded" is actually billing. Other
-        # providers also use 403 for account-plan or credit exhaustion.
-        if (
-            "key limit exceeded" in error_msg
-            or "spending limit" in error_msg
-            or any(p in error_msg for p in _BILLING_PATTERNS)
-        ):
+        # OpenRouter 403 "key limit exceeded" is actually billing
+        if "key limit exceeded" in error_msg or "spending limit" in error_msg:
             return result_fn(
                 FailoverReason.billing,
                 retryable=False,
@@ -774,17 +708,6 @@ def _classify_by_status(
         return _classify_402(error_msg, result_fn)
 
     if status_code == 404:
-        # Nous API currently surfaces HA/NAS credit depletion as a paid model
-        # becoming unavailable on the Free Tier, returned as 404 rather than
-        # 402. Treat that as entitlement/billing exhaustion, not a missing
-        # model, so the retry loop can show credit/top-up guidance.
-        if any(p in error_msg for p in _BILLING_PATTERNS):
-            return result_fn(
-                FailoverReason.billing,
-                retryable=False,
-                should_rotate_credential=True,
-                should_fallback=True,
-            )
         # OpenRouter policy-block 404 — distinct from "model not found".
         # The model exists; the user's account privacy setting excludes the
         # only endpoint serving it. Falling back to another provider won't
@@ -1050,15 +973,7 @@ def _classify_by_error_code(
             should_rotate_credential=True,
         )
 
-    if code_lower in {
-        "insufficient_quota",
-        "billing_not_active",
-        "payment_required",
-        "insufficient_credits",
-        "no_usable_credits",
-        "balance_depleted",
-        "model_not_supported_on_free_tier",
-    }:
+    if code_lower in {"insufficient_quota", "billing_not_active", "payment_required"}:
         return result_fn(
             FailoverReason.billing,
             retryable=False,

agent/image_routing.py

@@ -37,8 +37,6 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import base64
 import logging
 import mimetypes
-import os
-import re
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 
@@ -48,102 +46,6 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 _VALID_MODES = frozenset({"auto", "native", "text"})
 
 
-# Image extensions used by extract_image_refs(). Kept tight on purpose — we
-# only auto-attach things the model can actually see. Documents/archives are
-# excluded because the gateway's broader extract_local_files() also routes
-# them differently (send_document), and we don't want to attach a PDF as a
-# vision part.
-_IMAGE_EXTS = (
-    ".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".gif", ".webp", ".bmp", ".tiff", ".tif", ".heic",
-)
-_IMAGE_EXT_PATTERN = "|".join(e.lstrip(".") for e in _IMAGE_EXTS)
-
-# Absolute / home-relative local image path. Matches the same shape gateway's
-# extract_local_files() uses: anchors to ``~/`` or ``/``, ignores matches inside
-# URLs (the ``(?<![/:\w.])`` lookbehind), and case-insensitive on the extension.
-_LOCAL_IMAGE_PATH_RE = re.compile(
-    r"(?<![/:\w.])(?:~/|/)(?:[\w.\-]+/)*[\w.\-]+\.(?:" + _IMAGE_EXT_PATTERN + r")\b",
-    re.IGNORECASE,
-)
-
-# http(s) URL ending in an image extension (optionally followed by a
-# query string). Case-insensitive on the extension. Strict ``http(s)://``
-# scheme so we don't accidentally grab ``file://`` URLs or other shapes.
-_IMAGE_URL_RE = re.compile(
-    r"https?://[^\s<>\"']+?\.(?:" + _IMAGE_EXT_PATTERN + r")(?:\?[^\s<>\"']*)?",
-    re.IGNORECASE,
-)
-
-
-def extract_image_refs(text: str) -> Tuple[List[str], List[str]]:
-    """Scan free-form text for image references the model should see.
-
-    Returns ``(local_paths, urls)``:
-
-      * ``local_paths`` — absolute (``/``) or home-relative (``~/``) paths
-        whose suffix is an image extension AND whose expanded form exists
-        on disk as a file. Order-preserving, deduplicated.
-      * ``urls`` — ``http(s)://…`` URLs whose path ends in an image
-        extension (a ``?query`` is allowed after the extension).
-        Order-preserving, deduplicated.
-
-    Matches inside fenced code blocks (``` ``` ```) and inline backticks
-    (`` `…` ``) are skipped so that snippets pasted into a task body for
-    reference aren't mistaken for live attachments. This mirrors the
-    behaviour of ``gateway.platforms.base.BaseAdapter.extract_local_files``.
-
-    Local paths are validated against the filesystem; URLs are not
-    (the provider fetches them at request time).
-    """
-    if not isinstance(text, str) or not text:
-        return [], []
-
-    # Build spans covered by fenced code blocks and inline code so we can
-    # ignore references the author embedded purely as example text.
-    code_spans: list[tuple[int, int]] = []
-    for m in re.finditer(r"```[^\n]*\n.*?```", text, re.DOTALL):
-        code_spans.append((m.start(), m.end()))
-    for m in re.finditer(r"`[^`\n]+`", text):
-        code_spans.append((m.start(), m.end()))
-
-    def _in_code(pos: int) -> bool:
-        return any(s <= pos < e for s, e in code_spans)
-
-    local_paths: list[str] = []
-    seen_paths: set[str] = set()
-    for match in _LOCAL_IMAGE_PATH_RE.finditer(text):
-        if _in_code(match.start()):
-            continue
-        raw = match.group(0)
-        expanded = os.path.expanduser(raw)
-        try:
-            if not os.path.isfile(expanded):
-                continue
-        except OSError:
-            # ENAMETOOLONG / EINVAL on pathological inputs — skip rather than crash.
-            continue
-        if expanded in seen_paths:
-            continue
-        seen_paths.add(expanded)
-        local_paths.append(expanded)
-
-    urls: list[str] = []
-    seen_urls: set[str] = set()
-    for match in _IMAGE_URL_RE.finditer(text):
-        if _in_code(match.start()):
-            continue
-        url = match.group(0)
-        # Strip trailing punctuation that's almost certainly prose, not part
-        # of the URL (e.g. "see https://x.com/a.png." or "/a.png)").
-        url = url.rstrip(".,;:!?)]>")
-        if url in seen_urls:
-            continue
-        seen_urls.add(url)
-        urls.append(url)
-
-    return local_paths, urls
-
-
 # Strict YAML/JSON boolean coercion for capability overrides.
 #
 # ``bool("false")`` is True in Python because non-empty strings are truthy, so
@@ -418,29 +320,20 @@ def _file_to_data_url(path: Path) -> Optional[str]:
 def build_native_content_parts(
     user_text: str,
     image_paths: List[str],
-    image_urls: Optional[List[str]] = None,
 ) -> Tuple[List[Dict[str, Any]], List[str]]:
     """Build an OpenAI-style ``content`` list for a user turn.
 
     Shape:
       [{"type": "text", "text": "...\\n\\n[Image attached at: /local/path]"},
        {"type": "image_url", "image_url": {"url": "data:image/png;base64,..."}},
-       {"type": "image_url", "image_url": {"url": "https://example.com/a.png"}},
        ...]
 
-    Local paths are read from disk and embedded as base64 ``data:`` URLs.
-    Remote URLs (``http(s)://``) are passed through verbatim — the provider
-    fetches them server-side. The model still sees the pixels either way.
-
-    For each successfully attached image, a hint is appended to the text
-    part:
-
-      * local path → ``[Image attached at: <path>]``
-      * URL        → ``[Image attached: <url>]``
-
-    The hint gives the model a string handle so MCP/skill tools that take
-    an image path or URL argument can be invoked on the same image without
-    an extra round-trip. This parallels the text-mode hint produced by
+    The local path of each successfully attached image is appended to the
+    text part as ``[Image attached at: <path>]``. The model still sees the
+    pixels via the ``image_url`` part (full native vision); the path note
+    just gives it a string handle so MCP/skill tools that take an image
+    path or URL argument can be invoked on the same image without an
+    extra round-trip. This parallels the text-mode hint produced by
     ``Runner._enrich_message_with_vision`` (``vision_analyze using image_url:
     <path>``) so behaviour is consistent across both image input modes.
 
@@ -449,14 +342,12 @@ def build_native_content_parts(
     ceiling), the agent's retry loop transparently shrinks and retries
     once — see ``run_agent._try_shrink_image_parts_in_messages``.
 
-    Returns (content_parts, skipped). Skipped entries are local paths
-    that couldn't be read from disk; URLs are never skipped (they're
-    not validated here).
+    Returns (content_parts, skipped_paths). Skipped paths are files that
+    couldn't be read from disk and are NOT advertised in the path hints.
     """
     skipped: List[str] = []
     image_parts: List[Dict[str, Any]] = []
     attached_paths: List[str] = []
-    attached_urls: List[str] = []
 
     for raw_path in image_paths:
         p = Path(raw_path)
@@ -473,26 +364,16 @@ def build_native_content_parts(
         })
         attached_paths.append(str(raw_path))
 
-    for url in image_urls or []:
-        url = (url or "").strip()
-        if not url:
-            continue
-        image_parts.append({
-            "type": "image_url",
-            "image_url": {"url": url},
-        })
-        attached_urls.append(url)
-
     text = (user_text or "").strip()
 
     # If at least one image attached, build a single text part that combines
-    # the user's caption (or a neutral default) with one hint per image.
-    if attached_paths or attached_urls:
+    # the user's caption (or a neutral default) with one path hint per image.
+    if attached_paths:
         base_text = text or "What do you see in this image?"
-        hint_lines: List[str] = []
-        hint_lines.extend(f"[Image attached at: {p}]" for p in attached_paths)
-        hint_lines.extend(f"[Image attached: {u}]" for u in attached_urls)
-        combined_text = f"{base_text}\n\n" + "\n".join(hint_lines)
+        path_hints = "\n".join(
+            f"[Image attached at: {p}]" for p in attached_paths
+        )
+        combined_text = f"{base_text}\n\n{path_hints}"
         parts: List[Dict[str, Any]] = [{"type": "text", "text": combined_text}]
         parts.extend(image_parts)
         return parts, skipped
@@ -507,5 +388,4 @@ def build_native_content_parts(
 __all__ = [
     "decide_image_input_mode",
     "build_native_content_parts",
-    "extract_image_refs",
 ]

agent/jiter_preload.py

@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-"""Best-effort early import for the OpenAI SDK's native streaming parser.
-
-The OpenAI SDK imports ``jiter`` while constructing streaming chat-completion
-responses.  On some Windows installs the native extension can be imported
-directly from the Hermes venv, but the first import fails when it happens later
-inside the threaded streaming request path.  Loading it once during agent
-package import avoids that import-order failure while preserving the normal
-SDK error path for genuinely missing or broken installs.
-"""
-
-from __future__ import annotations
-
-import importlib
-
-_JITER_PRELOADED = False
-_JITER_PRELOAD_ERROR: Exception | None = None
-
-
-def preload_jiter_native_extension() -> bool:
-    """Import jiter's native extension early if it is available."""
-
-    global _JITER_PRELOADED, _JITER_PRELOAD_ERROR
-
-    if _JITER_PRELOADED:
-        return True
-
-    try:
-        importlib.import_module("jiter.jiter")
-        from jiter import from_json as _from_json  # noqa: F401
-    except Exception as exc:
-        _JITER_PRELOAD_ERROR = exc
-        return False
-
-    _JITER_PRELOADED = True
-    _JITER_PRELOAD_ERROR = None
-    return True
-
-
-preload_jiter_native_extension()

agent/memory_manager.py

@@ -368,42 +368,11 @@ class MemoryManager:
 
     # -- Sync ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def _provider_sync_accepts_messages(provider: MemoryProvider) -> bool:
-        """Return whether sync_turn accepts a messages keyword."""
-        try:
-            signature = inspect.signature(provider.sync_turn)
-        except (TypeError, ValueError):
-            return True
-        params = list(signature.parameters.values())
-        if any(p.kind == inspect.Parameter.VAR_KEYWORD for p in params):
-            return True
-        return "messages" in signature.parameters
-
-    def sync_all(
-        self,
-        user_content: str,
-        assistant_content: str,
-        *,
-        session_id: str = "",
-        messages: Optional[List[Dict[str, Any]]] = None,
-    ) -> None:
+    def sync_all(self, user_content: str, assistant_content: str, *, session_id: str = "") -> None:
         """Sync a completed turn to all providers."""
         for provider in self._providers:
             try:
-                if messages is not None and self._provider_sync_accepts_messages(provider):
-                    provider.sync_turn(
-                        user_content,
-                        assistant_content,
-                        session_id=session_id,
-                        messages=messages,
-                    )
-                else:
-                    provider.sync_turn(
-                        user_content,
-                        assistant_content,
-                        session_id=session_id,
-                    )
+                provider.sync_turn(user_content, assistant_content, session_id=session_id)
             except Exception as e:
                 logger.warning(
                     "Memory provider '%s' sync_turn failed: %s",

agent/memory_provider.py

@@ -112,22 +112,11 @@ class MemoryProvider(ABC):
         that do background prefetching should override this.
         """
 
-    def sync_turn(
-        self,
-        user_content: str,
-        assistant_content: str,
-        *,
-        session_id: str = "",
-        messages: Optional[List[Dict[str, Any]]] = None,
-    ) -> None:
+    def sync_turn(self, user_content: str, assistant_content: str, *, session_id: str = "") -> None:
         """Persist a completed turn to the backend.
 
         Called after each turn. Should be non-blocking — queue for
         background processing if the backend has latency.
-
-        ``messages`` is the OpenAI-style conversation message list as of the
-        completed turn, including any assistant tool calls and tool results.
-        Providers that do not need raw turn context can ignore it.
         """
 
     @abstractmethod

agent/model_metadata.py

@@ -141,8 +141,6 @@ DEFAULT_CONTEXT_LENGTHS = {
     # fuzzy-match collisions (e.g. "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4" is a
     # substring of "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6").
     # OpenRouter-prefixed models resolve via OpenRouter live API or models.dev.
-    "claude-opus-4-8": 1000000,
-    "claude-opus-4.8": 1000000,
     "claude-opus-4-7": 1000000,
     "claude-opus-4.7": 1000000,
     "claude-opus-4-6": 1000000,
@@ -913,33 +911,12 @@ def parse_context_limit_from_error(error_msg: str) -> Optional[int]:
     return None
 
 
-def get_context_length_from_provider_error(
-    error_msg: str,
-    current_context_length: int,
-) -> Optional[int]:
-    """Return a provider-reported lower context limit, if one is present.
-
-    Context-overflow recovery must not invent a new model window size.  Some
-    providers only say that the input exceeds the context window without
-    reporting the actual maximum.  In that case callers should keep the
-    configured context length and try compression only, rather than stepping
-    down through guessed probe tiers (1M → 256K → 128K → ...).
-    """
-    parsed_limit = parse_context_limit_from_error(error_msg)
-    if parsed_limit is None:
-        return None
-    if parsed_limit < current_context_length:
-        return parsed_limit
-    return None
-
-
 def parse_available_output_tokens_from_error(error_msg: str) -> Optional[int]:
     """Detect an "output cap too large" error and return how many output tokens are available.
 
     Background — two distinct context errors exist:
       1. "Prompt too long"  — the INPUT itself exceeds the context window.
-           Fix: compress history, and only reduce context_length if the
-           provider explicitly reports the actual lower limit.
+           Fix: compress history and/or halve context_length.
       2. "max_tokens too large" — input is fine, but input + requested_output > window.
            Fix: reduce max_tokens (the output cap) for this call.
            Do NOT touch context_length — the window hasn't shrunk.

agent/moonshot_schema.py

@@ -15,18 +15,6 @@ and MoonshotAI/kimi-cli#1595:
 2. When ``anyOf`` is used, ``type`` must be on the ``anyOf`` children, not
    the parent.  Presence of both causes "type should be defined in anyOf
    items instead of the parent schema".
-3. ``enum`` arrays on scalar-typed nodes may not contain ``null`` or empty
-   strings.  Strip those entries (drop the enum entirely if it becomes empty).
-4. ``$ref`` nodes may not carry sibling keywords.  Moonshot expands the
-   reference before validation and then rejects the node if sibling keys
-   like ``description`` remain on the same node as ``$ref``.  Strip every
-   sibling from ``$ref`` nodes so only ``{"$ref": "..."}`` survives.
-   (Ported from anomalyco/opencode#24730.)
-5. ``items`` may not be a tuple-style array (``items: [schemaA, schemaB]``
-   for positional element schemas).  Moonshot's schema engine requires a
-   single object schema applied to every array element.  Collapse tuple
-   ``items`` to the first element schema (or ``{}`` if the tuple is empty).
-   (Ported from anomalyco/opencode#24730.)
 
 The ``#/definitions/...`` → ``#/$defs/...`` rewrite for draft-07 refs is
 handled separately in ``tools/mcp_tool._normalize_mcp_input_schema`` so it
@@ -78,16 +66,6 @@ def _repair_schema(node: Any, is_schema: bool = True) -> Any:
             }
         elif key in _SCHEMA_LIST_KEYS and isinstance(value, list):
             repaired[key] = [_repair_schema(v, is_schema=True) for v in value]
-        elif key == "items" and isinstance(value, list):
-            # Rule 5: tuple-style ``items`` arrays (positional element
-            # schemas) are not accepted by Moonshot.  Collapse to the
-            # first element schema if present, else to ``{}``.  This
-            # matches opencode's behaviour for moonshotai / kimi models.
-            first = value[0] if value else {}
-            if isinstance(first, dict):
-                repaired[key] = _repair_schema(first, is_schema=True)
-            else:
-                repaired[key] = first
         elif key in _SCHEMA_NODE_KEYS:
             # items / not / additionalProperties: single nested schema.
             # additionalProperties can also be a bool — leave those alone.
@@ -152,15 +130,6 @@ def _repair_schema(node: Any, is_schema: bool = True) -> Any:
             else:
                 repaired.pop("enum")
 
-    # Rule 4: $ref nodes must not have sibling keywords.  Moonshot expands
-    # the reference before validation and then rejects the node if siblings
-    # like ``description`` / ``type`` / ``default`` appear alongside $ref.
-    # The referenced definition still carries its own description on the
-    # target node, which Moonshot accepts.
-    # (Ported from anomalyco/opencode#24730.)
-    if "$ref" in repaired:
-        return {"$ref": repaired["$ref"]}
-
     return repaired
 
 

agent/redact.py

@@ -406,14 +406,19 @@ def redact_sensitive_text(text: str, *, force: bool = False, code_file: bool = F
     if "eyJ" in text:
         text = _JWT_RE.sub(lambda m: _mask_token(m.group(0)), text)
 
-    # NOTE: Web-URL redaction (query params + userinfo + HTTP access-log
-    # request targets) is intentionally OFF. Many legitimate workflows pass
-    # opaque tokens through query strings — magic-link checkouts, OAuth
-    # callbacks the agent is meant to follow, pre-signed share URLs — and
-    # blanket-redacting param values by name breaks those skills mid-flow.
-    # Known credential shapes (sk-, ghp_, JWTs, etc.) inside URLs are still
-    # caught by _PREFIX_RE and _JWT_RE above. DB connection-string passwords
-    # are still caught by _DB_CONNSTR_RE.
+    # URL userinfo (http(s)://user:pass@host) — redact for non-DB schemes.
+    # DB schemes are handled above by _DB_CONNSTR_RE.
+    if "://" in text:
+        text = _redact_url_userinfo(text)
+
+        # URL query params containing opaque tokens (?access_token=…&code=…)
+        if "?" in text:
+            text = _redact_url_query_params(text)
+
+    # HTTP access logs can contain relative request targets with query params
+    # and no URL scheme, e.g. `"POST /hook?password=... HTTP/1.1"`.
+    if "?" in text and "=" in text and _has_http_method_substring(text):
+        text = _redact_http_request_target_query_params(text)
 
     # Form-urlencoded bodies (only triggers on clean k=v&k=v inputs).
     if "&" in text and "=" in text:

agent/stream_diag.py

@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ def emit_stream_drop(
         except Exception:
             pass
     try:
-        agent._buffer_status(
+        agent._emit_status(
             f"⚠️ {provider} stream {kind} ({type(error).__name__}){_suffix} "
             f"— reconnecting, retry {attempt}/{max_attempts}"
         )

agent/usage_pricing.py

@@ -83,34 +83,6 @@ _UTC_NOW = lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc)
 # Official docs snapshot entries. Models whose published pricing and cache
 # semantics are stable enough to encode exactly.
 _OFFICIAL_DOCS_PRICING: Dict[tuple[str, str], PricingEntry] = {
-    # ── Anthropic Claude 4.8 ─────────────────────────────────────────────
-    # Same $5/$25 base pricing as 4.6/4.7.  Fast-mode variant is a separate
-    # model ID with 2x premium (vs the 6x premium on older Opus generations).
-    # Source: https://openrouter.ai/anthropic/claude-opus-4.8
-    (
-        "anthropic",
-        "claude-opus-4-8",
-    ): PricingEntry(
-        input_cost_per_million=Decimal("5.00"),
-        output_cost_per_million=Decimal("25.00"),
-        cache_read_cost_per_million=Decimal("0.50"),
-        cache_write_cost_per_million=Decimal("6.25"),
-        source="official_docs_snapshot",
-        source_url="https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing",
-        pricing_version="anthropic-pricing-2026-05",
-    ),
-    (
-        "anthropic",
-        "claude-opus-4-8-fast",
-    ): PricingEntry(
-        input_cost_per_million=Decimal("10.00"),
-        output_cost_per_million=Decimal("50.00"),
-        cache_read_cost_per_million=Decimal("1.00"),
-        cache_write_cost_per_million=Decimal("12.50"),
-        source="official_docs_snapshot",
-        source_url="https://openrouter.ai/anthropic/claude-opus-4.8-fast",
-        pricing_version="anthropic-pricing-2026-05",
-    ),
     # ── Anthropic Claude 4.7 ─────────────────────────────────────────────
     # Opus 4.5/4.6/4.7 share $5/$25 pricing (new tokenizer, up to 35% more
     # tokens for the same text).

agent/web_search_provider.py

@@ -61,14 +61,14 @@ from typing import Any, Dict, List
 
 
 class WebSearchProvider(abc.ABC):
-    """Abstract base class for a web search/extract backend.
+    """Abstract base class for a web search/extract/crawl backend.
 
     Subclasses must implement :meth:`is_available` and at least one of
-    :meth:`search` / :meth:`extract`. The :meth:`supports_search` /
-    :meth:`supports_extract` capability flags let the registry route each
-    tool call to the right provider, and let multi-capability providers
-    (Firecrawl, Tavily, Exa, …) advertise multiple capabilities from a
-    single class.
+    :meth:`search` / :meth:`extract` / :meth:`crawl`. The
+    :meth:`supports_search` / :meth:`supports_extract` / :meth:`supports_crawl`
+    capability flags let the registry route each tool call to the right
+    provider, and let multi-capability providers (Firecrawl, Tavily, Exa,
+    …) advertise multiple capabilities from a single class.
     """
 
     @property
@@ -113,6 +113,22 @@ class WebSearchProvider(abc.ABC):
         """
         return False
 
+    def supports_crawl(self) -> bool:
+        """Return True if this provider implements :meth:`crawl`.
+
+        Crawl differs from extract in that the agent provides a *seed URL*
+        and the provider walks linked pages on its own — useful for
+        documentation sites where the agent doesn't know all relevant
+        URLs upfront. Tavily is the only built-in backend that natively
+        crawls today; Firecrawl provides a similar capability that we
+        don't currently surface as a tool.
+
+        Providers that don't crawl should leave this as False; the
+        dispatcher in :func:`tools.web_tools.web_crawl_tool` will fall
+        back to its auxiliary-model summarization path.
+        """
+        return False
+
     def search(self, query: str, limit: int = 5) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         """Execute a web search.
 
@@ -157,6 +173,26 @@ class WebSearchProvider(abc.ABC):
             f"{self.name} does not support extract (override supports_extract)"
         )
 
+    def crawl(self, url: str, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
+        """Crawl a seed URL and return results.
+
+        Override when :meth:`supports_crawl` returns True. The default
+        raises NotImplementedError; callers should gate on
+        :meth:`supports_crawl` before calling.
+
+        Return shape: ``{"results": [{"url": str, "title": str,
+        "content": str, ...}, ...]}`` matching what
+        :func:`tools.web_tools.web_crawl_tool` post-processing expects.
+
+        Implementations MAY be ``async def``.
+
+        ``kwargs`` may carry forward-compat fields (e.g. ``max_depth``,
+        ``include_domains``) — implementations should ignore unknown keys.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(
+            f"{self.name} does not support crawl (override supports_crawl)"
+        )
+
     def get_setup_schema(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         """Return provider metadata for the ``hermes tools`` picker.
 

agent/web_search_registry.py

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Active selection
 ----------------
 The active provider is chosen by configuration with this precedence:
 
-1. ``web.search_backend`` / ``web.extract_backend``
+1. ``web.search_backend`` / ``web.extract_backend`` / ``web.crawl_backend``
    (per-capability override).
 2. ``web.backend`` (shared fallback).
 3. If exactly one capability-eligible provider is registered AND available,
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@ The active provider is chosen by configuration with this precedence:
 5. Otherwise ``None`` — the tool surfaces a helpful error pointing at
    ``hermes tools``.
 
-The capability filter (``supports_search`` / ``supports_extract``) is
-applied at every step so a search-only provider (``brave-free``)
-configured as ``web.extract_backend`` correctly falls through to an
-extract-capable backend.
+The capability filter (``supports_search`` / ``supports_extract`` /
+``supports_crawl``) is applied at every step so a search-only provider
+(``brave-free``) configured as ``web.extract_backend`` correctly falls
+through to an extract-capable backend.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ _LEGACY_PREFERENCE = (
 
 
 def _resolve(configured: Optional[str], *, capability: str) -> Optional[WebSearchProvider]:
-    """Resolve the active provider for a capability ("search" | "extract").
+    """Resolve the active provider for a capability ("search" | "extract" | "crawl").
 
     Resolution rules (in order):
 
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ def _resolve(configured: Optional[str], *, capability: str) -> Optional[WebSearc
             return bool(p.supports_search())
         if capability == "extract":
             return bool(p.supports_extract())
+        if capability == "crawl":
+            return bool(p.supports_crawl())
         return False
 
     def _is_available_safe(p: WebSearchProvider) -> bool:
@@ -239,6 +241,21 @@ def get_active_extract_provider() -> Optional[WebSearchProvider]:
     return _resolve(explicit, capability="extract")
 
 
+def get_active_crawl_provider() -> Optional[WebSearchProvider]:
+    """Resolve the currently-active web crawl provider.
+
+    Reads ``web.crawl_backend`` (preferred) or ``web.backend`` (shared
+    fallback) from config.yaml; falls back per the module docstring.
+
+    Crawl is a niche capability — among built-in providers only Tavily and
+    Firecrawl implement it. Callers should expect ``None`` and fall back to
+    a different strategy (e.g. summarize-via-LLM) when neither is
+    configured.
+    """
+    explicit = _read_config_key("web", "crawl_backend") or _read_config_key("web", "backend")
+    return _resolve(explicit, capability="crawl")
+
+
 def _reset_for_tests() -> None:
     """Clear the registry. **Test-only.**"""
     with _lock:

apps/bootstrap-installer/.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# Rust / Cargo
+/src-tauri/target/
+/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+
+# Vite / build output
+/dist/
+/dist-ssr/
+*.local
+
+# TypeScript build info + tsc emit (we don't ship .js for the
+# vite.config.ts; Vite reads it directly via ts-node-style loader).
+*.tsbuildinfo
+vite.config.d.ts
+vite.config.js
+
+# Tauri generated artifacts (regenerated on each build)
+/src-tauri/gen/schemas/
+
+# Logs
+*.log
+npm-debug.log*
+yarn-debug.log*
+yarn-error.log*
+
+# Editor
+.vscode/*
+!.vscode/extensions.json
+.idea/
+.DS_Store
+*.suo
+*.ntvs*
+*.njsproj
+*.sln
+*.sw?
+
+# Node
+node_modules/
+
+# Internal placeholder (re-create if needed)
+.tauri-note

apps/bootstrap-installer/index.html

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<!doctype html>
+<html lang="en" class="h-full">
+  <head>
+    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
+    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
+    <title>Hermes Setup</title>
+  </head>
+  <body class="h-full antialiased">
+    <div id="root" class="h-full"></div>
+    <script type="module" src="/src/main.tsx"></script>
+  </body>
+</html>

apps/bootstrap-installer/package.json

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+{
+  "name": "@hermes/bootstrap-installer",
+  "private": true,
+  "version": "0.0.1",
+  "description": "Hermes Setup — signed installer that drives scripts/install.ps1 with a polished native UI.",
+  "type": "module",
+  "scripts": {
+    "dev": "vite --host 127.0.0.1 --port 5175",
+    "build": "tsc -b && vite build",
+    "preview": "vite preview",
+    "tauri": "tauri",
+    "tauri:dev": "tauri dev",
+    "tauri:build": "tauri build",
+    "tauri:build:debug": "tauri build --debug"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@nous-research/ui": "0.16.0",
+    "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.2.1",
+    "@tailwindcss/typography": "^0.5.19",
+    "@tauri-apps/api": "^2.0.0",
+    "@tauri-apps/plugin-dialog": "^2.0.0",
+    "@tauri-apps/plugin-opener": "^2.0.0",
+    "@tauri-apps/plugin-process": "^2.0.0",
+    "@tauri-apps/plugin-shell": "^2.0.0",
+    "@vscode/codicons": "^0.0.45",
+    "class-variance-authority": "^0.7.1",
+    "clsx": "^2.1.1",
+    "katex": "^0.16.45",
+    "lucide-react": "^0.577.0",
+    "nanostores": "^1.3.0",
+    "radix-ui": "^1.4.3",
+    "react": "^19.2.4",
+    "react-dom": "^19.2.4",
+    "tailwind-merge": "^3.5.0",
+    "tailwindcss": "^4.2.1",
+    "tw-shimmer": "^0.4.11"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@tauri-apps/cli": "^2.0.0",
+    "@types/react": "^19.2.14",
+    "@types/react-dom": "^19.2.3",
+    "@vitejs/plugin-react": "^5.2.0",
+    "typescript": "~5.9.3",
+    "vite": "^7.3.1"
+  }
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/Cargo.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+[package]
+name = "hermes-bootstrap"
+version = "0.0.1"
+description = "Hermes Setup — signed installer that drives scripts/install.ps1"
+authors = ["Nous Research <info@nousresearch.com>"]
+edition = "2021"
+rust-version = "1.77"
+
+# Rename the output binary so the distributed artifact is literally
+# `Hermes-Setup.exe` on disk — not `hermes-bootstrap.exe`. Grandma sees
+# what we hand her, period. Tauri honors [[bin]] over [package].name
+# for the produced executable name.
+[[bin]]
+name = "Hermes-Setup"
+path = "src/main.rs"
+
+# The library target name MUST match the `withGlobalTauri` binding name that
+# tauri.conf.json's `app.windows[].label` references. We don't ship a separate
+# lib for now; everything is in src/.
+[lib]
+name = "hermes_bootstrap_lib"
+crate-type = ["staticlib", "cdylib", "rlib"]
+
+[build-dependencies]
+tauri-build = { version = "2", features = [] }
+
+[dependencies]
+# Tauri runtime + plugins
+tauri = { version = "2", features = [] }
+tauri-plugin-dialog = "2"
+tauri-plugin-opener = "2"
+tauri-plugin-process = "2"
+tauri-plugin-shell = "2"
+
+# Async + IO
+tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full"] }
+futures = "0.3"
+
+# Serialization
+serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1"
+
+# HTTP — rustls so we don't need OpenSSL on the build box
+reqwest = { version = "0.12", default-features = false, features = ["rustls-tls", "stream"] }
+
+# Logging — emitted to a file under HERMES_HOME/logs/ and (optionally) the
+# webview console via Tauri's event channel.
+tracing = "0.1"
+tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3", features = ["env-filter", "fmt"] }
+tracing-appender = "0.2"
+
+# Paths + utils
+dirs = "5"
+which = "6"
+anyhow = "1"
+thiserror = "1"
+once_cell = "1"
+uuid = { version = "1", features = ["v4"] }
+
+# Process control on Windows (CREATE_NO_WINDOW etc.)
+[target.'cfg(windows)'.dependencies]
+windows-sys = { version = "0.59", features = [
+    "Win32_Foundation",
+    "Win32_System_Threading",
+    "Win32_System_Console",
+    "Win32_UI_WindowsAndMessaging",
+] }
+
+[profile.release]
+# A 5-10MB signed installer is the goal. LTO + size-opt + single codegen unit.
+panic = "abort"
+codegen-units = 1
+lto = true
+opt-level = "s"
+strip = true

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/build.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+use std::process::Command;
+
+fn main() {
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // Bake the install.ps1 pin into the binary at compile time.
+    //
+    // BUILD_PIN_COMMIT and BUILD_PIN_BRANCH are read by bootstrap.rs's
+    // `option_env!()` macro to default the install-script reference.
+    // Precedence (matches install.ps1's own arg precedence): commit > branch.
+    //
+    // Resolution order:
+    //   1. Env var override at build time (HERMES_BUILD_PIN_COMMIT, etc.).
+    //      Useful for CI builds that want to pin to a tagged release SHA
+    //      rather than whatever the checkout's HEAD happens to be.
+    //   2. `git rev-parse HEAD` + `git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD` against
+    //      the repo this build.rs lives in. Default for `cargo tauri build`
+    //      from a dev machine — pins the produced .exe to your current
+    //      checkout state.
+    //   3. Last-resort fallback: hardcoded `main` branch, no commit. The
+    //      installer will fetch HEAD-of-main at runtime. Used when the
+    //      build is happening outside a git checkout (e.g. cargo install
+    //      from a packaged crate, unlikely for this binary but defensive).
+    //
+    // Build script reruns on git HEAD change so a new commit triggers
+    // a rebuild without `cargo clean`.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    let commit = resolve_commit_pin();
+    let branch = resolve_branch_pin();
+
+    if let Some(c) = &commit {
+        println!("cargo:rustc-env=BUILD_PIN_COMMIT={c}");
+        println!("cargo:warning=hermes-bootstrap: pinning to commit {}", short(c));
+    }
+    if let Some(b) = &branch {
+        println!("cargo:rustc-env=BUILD_PIN_BRANCH={b}");
+        println!("cargo:warning=hermes-bootstrap: pinning to branch {b}");
+    }
+    if commit.is_none() && branch.is_none() {
+        // Fail loudly rather than silently produce a binary that errors
+        // at runtime with "no install-script pin supplied". A build that
+        // can't resolve a pin almost certainly indicates a misconfigured
+        // build environment.
+        println!(
+            "cargo:warning=hermes-bootstrap: no pin resolved at build time; binary will fail at runtime without HERMES_SETUP_DEV_REPO_ROOT or runtime args"
+        );
+    }
+
+    // Rerun build.rs when HEAD moves so successive builds pick up new
+    // commits without needing `cargo clean`. .git/HEAD changes on every
+    // commit / branch switch / rebase.
+    let git_dir = locate_git_dir();
+    if let Some(gd) = &git_dir {
+        println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={}/HEAD", gd.display());
+        // .git/HEAD often points at a ref (e.g. `ref: refs/heads/bb/gui`);
+        // also watch the ref itself so a new commit on the same branch
+        // re-triggers.
+        if let Ok(head) = std::fs::read_to_string(gd.join("HEAD")) {
+            if let Some(rest) = head.trim().strip_prefix("ref: ") {
+                println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={}/{}", gd.display(), rest);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HERMES_BUILD_PIN_COMMIT");
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HERMES_BUILD_PIN_BRANCH");
+
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // Tauri windows manifest. See hermes-setup.manifest for rationale —
+    // declares level="asInvoker" so Windows's installer-detection
+    // heuristic doesn't refuse to launch us without UAC elevation.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    let attrs = {
+        let manifest = include_str!("hermes-setup.manifest");
+        let win = tauri_build::WindowsAttributes::new().app_manifest(manifest);
+        tauri_build::Attributes::new().windows_attributes(win)
+    };
+
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
+    let attrs = tauri_build::Attributes::new();
+
+    tauri_build::try_build(attrs).expect("failed to run tauri-build");
+}
+
+fn resolve_commit_pin() -> Option<String> {
+    if let Ok(v) = std::env::var("HERMES_BUILD_PIN_COMMIT") {
+        if !v.trim().is_empty() {
+            return Some(v.trim().to_string());
+        }
+    }
+    let out = Command::new("git")
+        .args(["rev-parse", "HEAD"])
+        .output()
+        .ok()?;
+    if !out.status.success() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let s = String::from_utf8(out.stdout).ok()?.trim().to_string();
+    if s.is_empty() {
+        None
+    } else {
+        Some(s)
+    }
+}
+
+fn resolve_branch_pin() -> Option<String> {
+    if let Ok(v) = std::env::var("HERMES_BUILD_PIN_BRANCH") {
+        if !v.trim().is_empty() {
+            return Some(v.trim().to_string());
+        }
+    }
+    let out = Command::new("git")
+        .args(["rev-parse", "--abbrev-ref", "HEAD"])
+        .output()
+        .ok()?;
+    if !out.status.success() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let s = String::from_utf8(out.stdout).ok()?.trim().to_string();
+    // "HEAD" is what you get on a detached checkout — no meaningful branch
+    // to pin to. The commit pin still applies; just don't emit a branch.
+    if s.is_empty() || s == "HEAD" {
+        None
+    } else {
+        Some(s)
+    }
+}
+
+fn locate_git_dir() -> Option<std::path::PathBuf> {
+    let out = Command::new("git")
+        .args(["rev-parse", "--git-dir"])
+        .output()
+        .ok()?;
+    if !out.status.success() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let s = String::from_utf8(out.stdout).ok()?.trim().to_string();
+    if s.is_empty() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    Some(std::path::PathBuf::from(s))
+}
+
+fn short(commit: &str) -> &str {
+    if commit.len() >= 12 {
+        &commit[..12]
+    } else {
+        commit
+    }
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/capabilities/default.json

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2/capability",
+  "identifier": "default",
+  "description": "Capabilities required by Hermes Setup. Narrowly scoped: we don't write user files outside HERMES_HOME, we don't read arbitrary paths, and the only external network call goes through reqwest (Rust side, not exposed to the webview).",
+  "windows": ["main"],
+  "permissions": [
+    "core:default",
+    "core:window:allow-close",
+    "core:window:allow-minimize",
+    "core:event:default",
+    "opener:default",
+    "dialog:default",
+    "process:default",
+    "shell:default"
+  ]
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/hermes-setup.manifest

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<!--
+    Hermes Setup application manifest.
+
+    The TL;DR: tell Windows we are NOT an installer in the classic "needs
+    UAC elevation" sense, despite the product name. We provision into
+    %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes which is user-scoped and never touch HKLM or
+    Program Files. install.ps1 runs as a child process and elevates
+    itself only if a future stage explicitly needs HKLM access.
+
+    Without this manifest, the "Hermes Setup" productName embedded in
+    the binary's resource trips Windows's installer-detection heuristic
+    (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/
+    user-account-control/how-user-account-control-works#installer-detection)
+    and CreateProcess fails with ERROR_ELEVATION_REQUIRED (740) when the
+    user double-clicks. asInvoker disables that.
+-->
+<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
+    <assemblyIdentity
+        version="0.0.1.0"
+        processorArchitecture="*"
+        name="NousResearch.Hermes.Setup"
+        type="win32"
+    />
+    <description>Hermes Setup</description>
+
+    <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
+        <security>
+            <requestedPrivileges>
+                <requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false"/>
+            </requestedPrivileges>
+        </security>
+    </trustInfo>
+
+    <!-- Tell Windows we know about all supported OSes (10 + 11) so it
+         doesn't shim us into Vista-compat mode. -->
+    <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
+        <application>
+            <!-- Windows 10 / 11 -->
+            <supportedOS Id="{8e0f7a12-bfb3-4fe8-b9a5-48fd50a15a9a}"/>
+            <!-- Windows 8.1 -->
+            <supportedOS Id="{1f676c76-80e1-4239-95bb-83d0f6d0da78}"/>
+            <!-- Windows 8 -->
+            <supportedOS Id="{4a2f28e3-53b9-4441-ba9c-d69d4a4a6e38}"/>
+            <!-- Windows 7 -->
+            <supportedOS Id="{35138b9a-5d96-4fbd-8e2d-a2440225f93a}"/>
+            <!-- Windows Vista -->
+            <supportedOS Id="{e2011457-1546-43c5-a5fe-008deee3d3f0}"/>
+        </application>
+    </compatibility>
+
+    <!-- Per-monitor v2 DPI awareness so the installer doesn't go blurry
+         on high-DPI displays when dragged between monitors. -->
+    <application xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
+        <windowsSettings>
+            <dpiAwareness xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2016/WindowsSettings">PerMonitorV2</dpiAwareness>
+            <activeCodePage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2019/WindowsSettings">UTF-8</activeCodePage>
+        </windowsSettings>
+    </application>
+
+    <!-- Use the modern common controls (v6 themes). Without this, our
+         file picker / shell dialogs fall back to 1990s-era visuals. -->
+    <dependency>
+        <dependentAssembly>
+            <assemblyIdentity
+                type="win32"
+                name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
+                version="6.0.0.0"
+                processorArchitecture="*"
+                publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
+                language="*"
+            />
+        </dependentAssembly>
+    </dependency>
+</assembly>

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/bootstrap.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,700 @@
+//! Bootstrap orchestration.
+//!
+//! Direct port of `runBootstrap` from `apps/desktop/electron/bootstrap-runner.cjs`.
+//! Drives install.ps1 / install.sh stage-by-stage, emits progress events
+//! over the Tauri `bootstrap` channel, writes a forensic log to
+//! HERMES_HOME/logs/bootstrap-<timestamp>.log.
+//!
+//! Lifecycle:
+//!   1. `start_bootstrap` (Tauri command) → spawns the worker task.
+//!   2. Worker resolves install script (dev/cache/download).
+//!   3. Worker calls `install.ps1 -Manifest` → emits `manifest` event.
+//!   4. Worker iterates stages, calling `install.ps1 -Stage NAME -NonInteractive -Json`.
+//!   5. On success → `complete`. On any stage failure → `failed`. On cancel → `failed`.
+
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::time::Instant;
+
+use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use tauri::{AppHandle, Emitter, State};
+use tokio::sync::{mpsc, Mutex};
+
+use crate::events::{BootstrapEvent, Manifest, StageState};
+use crate::install_script::{self, Pin, ScriptKind, ScriptSource};
+use crate::powershell::{self, StreamSink};
+use crate::AppState;
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Public Tauri commands
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Frontend → Rust: kick off the install.
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
+pub struct StartBootstrapArgs {
+    /// Optional override for the commit pin. Defaults to the build-time
+    /// pin baked in via `BUILD_PIN_COMMIT`.
+    pub commit: Option<String>,
+    /// Optional override for the branch pin. Defaults to `BUILD_PIN_BRANCH`.
+    pub branch: Option<String>,
+    /// Include Stage-Desktop (build apps/desktop) in the manifest. The
+    /// signed bootstrap installer passes true; the deprecated Electron-side
+    /// bootstrap-runner passes false to avoid building-while-running.
+    #[serde(default = "default_true")]
+    pub include_desktop: bool,
+    /// Optional override for HERMES_HOME. Tests use this; production
+    /// almost always falls back to the OS default.
+    pub hermes_home: Option<String>,
+}
+
+fn default_true() -> bool {
+    true
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Serialize)]
+pub struct BootstrapStatus {
+    pub running: bool,
+    pub completed: bool,
+    pub install_root: Option<String>,
+    pub last_error: Option<String>,
+}
+
+/// Handle stored in AppState while a bootstrap run is in flight. Carries
+/// the cancellation channel and the most recent terminal status so the
+/// frontend can re-query after a window refresh.
+pub struct BootstrapHandle {
+    pub cancel_tx: mpsc::Sender<()>,
+    pub started_at: Instant,
+    pub status: BootstrapStatus,
+}
+
+#[tauri::command]
+pub async fn start_bootstrap(
+    app: AppHandle,
+    state: State<'_, Arc<AppState>>,
+    args: StartBootstrapArgs,
+) -> Result<(), String> {
+    let mut guard = state.bootstrap.lock().await;
+    if let Some(h) = guard.as_ref() {
+        if h.status.running {
+            return Err("Bootstrap is already running".into());
+        }
+    }
+
+    let (cancel_tx, cancel_rx) = mpsc::channel::<()>(1);
+    let handle = BootstrapHandle {
+        cancel_tx,
+        started_at: Instant::now(),
+        status: BootstrapStatus {
+            running: true,
+            completed: false,
+            install_root: None,
+            last_error: None,
+        },
+    };
+    *guard = Some(handle);
+    drop(guard);
+
+    let app_for_task = app.clone();
+    let state_for_task = state.inner().clone();
+    let args_for_task = args;
+    let cancel_rx = Arc::new(Mutex::new(Some(cancel_rx)));
+
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        let result = run_bootstrap(app_for_task.clone(), args_for_task, cancel_rx).await;
+
+        // Reflect terminal state into AppState so get_bootstrap_status()
+        // can serve it after the task exits.
+        let mut guard = state_for_task.bootstrap.lock().await;
+        if let Some(h) = guard.as_mut() {
+            h.status.running = false;
+            match &result {
+                Ok(install_root) => {
+                    h.status.completed = true;
+                    h.status.install_root = Some(install_root.clone());
+                    h.status.last_error = None;
+                }
+                Err(err) => {
+                    h.status.completed = false;
+                    h.status.last_error = Some(err.to_string());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    });
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[tauri::command]
+pub async fn cancel_bootstrap(state: State<'_, Arc<AppState>>) -> Result<(), String> {
+    let guard = state.bootstrap.lock().await;
+    if let Some(h) = guard.as_ref() {
+        let _ = h.cancel_tx.try_send(());
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[tauri::command]
+pub async fn get_bootstrap_status(
+    state: State<'_, Arc<AppState>>,
+) -> Result<BootstrapStatus, String> {
+    let guard = state.bootstrap.lock().await;
+    Ok(match guard.as_ref() {
+        Some(h) => BootstrapStatus {
+            running: h.status.running,
+            completed: h.status.completed,
+            install_root: h.status.install_root.clone(),
+            last_error: h.status.last_error.clone(),
+        },
+        None => BootstrapStatus {
+            running: false,
+            completed: false,
+            install_root: None,
+            last_error: None,
+        },
+    })
+}
+
+/// Spawn the locally-built Hermes desktop binary, then close the installer
+/// window. Caller resolves the binary path from `install_root`.
+///
+/// Returns Err with a human-readable message if the binary doesn't exist
+/// (e.g. when Stage-Desktop was skipped) so the frontend can present
+/// actionable failure UI rather than silently doing nothing.
+#[tauri::command]
+pub async fn launch_hermes_desktop(
+    app: AppHandle,
+    install_root: String,
+) -> Result<(), String> {
+    let install_root = PathBuf::from(install_root);
+    let exe_path = resolve_hermes_desktop_exe(&install_root).ok_or_else(|| {
+        format!(
+            "Couldn't find a built Hermes desktop at {}. The desktop build step \
+             may have been skipped or failed. Run `hermes desktop` from a \
+             terminal to build and launch it.",
+            install_root.join("apps").join("desktop").join("release").display()
+        )
+    })?;
+
+    tracing::info!(?exe_path, "launching Hermes desktop");
+
+    // Detach from us — the installer is about to exit.
+    let mut cmd = tokio::process::Command::new(&exe_path);
+    cmd.current_dir(exe_path.parent().unwrap_or(&install_root));
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    {
+        use std::os::windows::process::CommandExt;
+        // DETACHED_PROCESS = 0x00000008
+        cmd.creation_flags(0x0000_0008);
+    }
+
+    cmd.spawn().map_err(|e| {
+        format!(
+            "failed to launch {}: {e}",
+            exe_path.display()
+        )
+    })?;
+
+    // Give Windows ~150ms to actually start the new process before we exit.
+    tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(150)).await;
+
+    // Exit the installer cleanly. Tauri's process plugin gives us the
+    // right hook regardless of platform.
+    app.exit(0);
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Walks the well-known electron-builder unpacked-app paths under
+/// `install_root`. Mirrors the resolver in `cmd_gui` (apps/desktop/release/
+/// <os>-unpacked/<exe>).
+fn resolve_hermes_desktop_exe(install_root: &std::path::Path) -> Option<PathBuf> {
+    let release_dir = install_root.join("apps").join("desktop").join("release");
+    let candidates: &[(&str, &str)] = if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+        &[
+            ("win-unpacked", "Hermes.exe"),
+            ("win-arm64-unpacked", "Hermes.exe"),
+        ]
+    } else if cfg!(target_os = "macos") {
+        &[
+            ("mac/Hermes.app/Contents/MacOS", "Hermes"),
+            ("mac-arm64/Hermes.app/Contents/MacOS", "Hermes"),
+        ]
+    } else {
+        &[("linux-unpacked", "hermes")]
+    };
+    for (subdir, exe) in candidates {
+        let p = release_dir.join(subdir).join(exe);
+        if p.exists() {
+            return Some(p);
+        }
+    }
+    None
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Bootstrap implementation
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+async fn run_bootstrap(
+    app: AppHandle,
+    args: StartBootstrapArgs,
+    cancel_rx_holder: Arc<Mutex<Option<mpsc::Receiver<()>>>>,
+) -> Result<String> {
+    let kind = ScriptKind::for_current_os();
+
+    let pin = Pin {
+        commit: args.commit.or_else(|| option_env_string("BUILD_PIN_COMMIT")),
+        branch: args.branch.or_else(|| option_env_string("BUILD_PIN_BRANCH")),
+    };
+
+    tracing::info!(
+        ?pin,
+        kind = ?kind,
+        include_desktop = args.include_desktop,
+        "bootstrap starting"
+    );
+
+    let app_for_log = app.clone();
+    let emit_log = move |line: &str| {
+        emit_event(
+            &app_for_log,
+            BootstrapEvent::Log {
+                stage: None,
+                line: line.to_string(),
+            },
+        );
+        // Bump to info-level so the line shows in bootstrap-installer.log
+        // under the default INFO filter. Previously this was debug! which
+        // got dropped on the floor, leaving us blind whenever install.ps1
+        // failed — the log only had the "bootstrap starting" banner.
+        tracing::info!(target: "bootstrap.log", "{line}");
+    };
+
+    // 1. Resolve install.ps1
+    let script = install_script::resolve(kind, &pin, &emit_log)
+        .await
+        .map_err(|e| {
+            let msg = format!("resolve install script failed: {e:#}");
+            emit_event(
+                &app,
+                BootstrapEvent::Failed {
+                    stage: None,
+                    error: msg.clone(),
+                },
+            );
+            anyhow!(msg)
+        })?;
+
+    let source_note = match &script.source {
+        ScriptSource::DevCheckout => "dev checkout",
+        ScriptSource::Bundled => "bundled",
+        ScriptSource::Cached => "cached",
+        ScriptSource::Downloaded => "downloaded",
+    };
+    emit_log(&format!(
+        "[bootstrap] script {} via {}",
+        script.path.display(),
+        source_note
+    ));
+
+    // 2. Fetch manifest
+    //
+    // -IncludeDesktop MUST be passed to the manifest call too — install.ps1
+    // gates the desktop stage inclusion on this flag, so without it here
+    // the manifest comes back missing the desktop stage and we never run
+    // it. The per-stage call below also passes -IncludeDesktop to keep
+    // the contracts identical.
+    let manifest_args = build_pin_args(&script);
+    let mut manifest_args_full = vec!["-Manifest".to_string()];
+    manifest_args_full.extend(manifest_args.clone());
+    if args.include_desktop {
+        manifest_args_full.push("-IncludeDesktop".to_string());
+    }
+
+    let manifest_result = run_install_script(
+        &app,
+        &script.path,
+        &manifest_args_full,
+        args.hermes_home.as_deref(),
+        None,
+        Some("__manifest__".to_string()),
+    )
+    .await?;
+
+    if manifest_result.exit_code != Some(0) {
+        let err = format!(
+            "install.ps1 -Manifest failed: exit {:?}\n{}",
+            manifest_result.exit_code,
+            manifest_result.stderr.trim()
+        );
+        emit_event(
+            &app,
+            BootstrapEvent::Failed {
+                stage: None,
+                error: err.clone(),
+            },
+        );
+        return Err(anyhow!(err));
+    }
+
+    let manifest: Manifest = powershell::parse_manifest(&manifest_result.stdout).ok_or_else(|| {
+        let err = format!(
+            "install.ps1 -Manifest produced no parseable JSON payload\n{}",
+            truncate(&manifest_result.stdout, 4000)
+        );
+        emit_event(
+            &app,
+            BootstrapEvent::Failed {
+                stage: None,
+                error: err.clone(),
+            },
+        );
+        anyhow!(err)
+    })?;
+
+    emit_event(
+        &app,
+        BootstrapEvent::Manifest {
+            stages: manifest.stages.clone(),
+            protocol_version: manifest.protocol_version,
+        },
+    );
+
+    // 3. Iterate stages.
+    for stage in &manifest.stages {
+        // Skip Stage-Desktop unless explicitly requested. install.ps1 may
+        // or may not include it in the manifest depending on the flag we
+        // pass, but if it slipped in, gate client-side too.
+        if !args.include_desktop && stage.name.eq_ignore_ascii_case("desktop") {
+            emit_event(
+                &app,
+                BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+                    name: stage.name.clone(),
+                    state: StageState::Skipped,
+                    duration_ms: Some(0),
+                    result: None,
+                    error: Some("skipped by include_desktop=false".into()),
+                },
+            );
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        if cancellation_signalled(&cancel_rx_holder).await {
+            let err = "bootstrap cancelled by user".to_string();
+            emit_event(
+                &app,
+                BootstrapEvent::Failed {
+                    stage: Some(stage.name.clone()),
+                    error: err.clone(),
+                },
+            );
+            return Err(anyhow!(err));
+        }
+
+        let started = Instant::now();
+        emit_event(
+            &app,
+            BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+                name: stage.name.clone(),
+                state: StageState::Running,
+                duration_ms: None,
+                result: None,
+                error: None,
+            },
+        );
+
+        let mut stage_args = vec![
+            "-Stage".to_string(),
+            stage.name.clone(),
+            "-NonInteractive".to_string(),
+            "-Json".to_string(),
+        ];
+        stage_args.extend(manifest_args.clone());
+        if args.include_desktop {
+            stage_args.push("-IncludeDesktop".to_string());
+        }
+
+        // Each stage gets its own cancel receiver because tokio::select!
+        // in run_script consumes it. Take/return through the Arc<Mutex>.
+        let local_cancel_rx = cancel_rx_holder.lock().await.take();
+
+        let stage_result = run_install_script(
+            &app,
+            &script.path,
+            &stage_args,
+            args.hermes_home.as_deref(),
+            local_cancel_rx,
+            Some(stage.name.clone()),
+        )
+        .await?;
+
+        let duration_ms = started.elapsed().as_millis() as u64;
+
+        if stage_result.killed {
+            emit_event(
+                &app,
+                BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+                    name: stage.name.clone(),
+                    state: StageState::Failed,
+                    duration_ms: Some(duration_ms),
+                    result: None,
+                    error: Some("cancelled by user".into()),
+                },
+            );
+            emit_event(
+                &app,
+                BootstrapEvent::Failed {
+                    stage: Some(stage.name.clone()),
+                    error: "cancelled by user".into(),
+                },
+            );
+            return Err(anyhow!("cancelled by user"));
+        }
+
+        let result_frame = powershell::parse_stage_result(&stage_result.stdout);
+
+        match result_frame {
+            None => {
+                let err = format!(
+                    "install.ps1 -Stage {} produced no JSON result frame (exit={:?})",
+                    stage.name, stage_result.exit_code
+                );
+                emit_event(
+                    &app,
+                    BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+                        name: stage.name.clone(),
+                        state: StageState::Failed,
+                        duration_ms: Some(duration_ms),
+                        result: None,
+                        error: Some(err.clone()),
+                    },
+                );
+                emit_event(
+                    &app,
+                    BootstrapEvent::Failed {
+                        stage: Some(stage.name.clone()),
+                        error: err.clone(),
+                    },
+                );
+                return Err(anyhow!(err));
+            }
+            Some(frame) if frame.ok && frame.skipped => {
+                emit_event(
+                    &app,
+                    BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+                        name: stage.name.clone(),
+                        state: StageState::Skipped,
+                        duration_ms: Some(duration_ms),
+                        result: Some(frame),
+                        error: None,
+                    },
+                );
+            }
+            Some(frame) if frame.ok => {
+                emit_event(
+                    &app,
+                    BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+                        name: stage.name.clone(),
+                        state: StageState::Succeeded,
+                        duration_ms: Some(duration_ms),
+                        result: Some(frame),
+                        error: None,
+                    },
+                );
+            }
+            Some(frame) => {
+                let err = frame
+                    .reason
+                    .clone()
+                    .unwrap_or_else(|| format!("exit code {:?}", stage_result.exit_code));
+                emit_event(
+                    &app,
+                    BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+                        name: stage.name.clone(),
+                        state: StageState::Failed,
+                        duration_ms: Some(duration_ms),
+                        result: Some(frame),
+                        error: Some(err.clone()),
+                    },
+                );
+                emit_event(
+                    &app,
+                    BootstrapEvent::Failed {
+                        stage: Some(stage.name.clone()),
+                        error: err.clone(),
+                    },
+                );
+                return Err(anyhow!(err));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // 4. Resolve install_root. install.ps1 doesn't (yet) report this back
+    // explicitly; we infer it from $HermesHome which Stage-Repository clones
+    // the repo INTO at $HermesHome\hermes-agent. Mirrors hermes_constants.
+    let hermes_home = args
+        .hermes_home
+        .clone()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| crate::paths::hermes_home().to_string_lossy().into_owned());
+    let install_root = PathBuf::from(&hermes_home).join("hermes-agent");
+
+    emit_event(
+        &app,
+        BootstrapEvent::Complete {
+            install_root: install_root.to_string_lossy().into_owned(),
+            marker: Some(serde_json::json!({
+                "pinnedCommit": pin.commit,
+                "pinnedBranch": pin.branch,
+            })),
+        },
+    );
+
+    Ok(install_root.to_string_lossy().into_owned())
+}
+
+async fn cancellation_signalled(holder: &Arc<Mutex<Option<mpsc::Receiver<()>>>>) -> bool {
+    let mut guard = holder.lock().await;
+    if let Some(rx) = guard.as_mut() {
+        rx.try_recv().is_ok()
+    } else {
+        false
+    }
+}
+
+async fn run_install_script(
+    app: &AppHandle,
+    script_path: &std::path::Path,
+    args: &[String],
+    hermes_home_override: Option<&str>,
+    cancel_rx: Option<mpsc::Receiver<()>>,
+    stage_name: Option<String>,
+) -> Result<powershell::ScriptResult> {
+    let app_for_stdout = app.clone();
+    let stage_for_stdout = stage_name.clone();
+    let app_for_stderr = app.clone();
+    let stage_for_stderr = stage_name.clone();
+    let stage_for_stdout_log = stage_name.clone();
+    let stage_for_stderr_log = stage_name.clone();
+
+    let sink = StreamSink {
+        on_stdout_line: Box::new(move |line: &str| {
+            emit_event(
+                &app_for_stdout,
+                BootstrapEvent::Log {
+                    stage: stage_for_stdout.clone(),
+                    line: line.to_string(),
+                },
+            );
+            // Tee to the rolling installer log so we have a persistent
+            // record of every install.ps1 line. Without this, the only
+            // log evidence of a failure was the Tauri event stream —
+            // which gets discarded the moment the failure route mounts.
+            match &stage_for_stdout_log {
+                Some(name) => {
+                    tracing::info!(target: "bootstrap.log", stage = %name, "{line}")
+                }
+                None => tracing::info!(target: "bootstrap.log", "{line}"),
+            }
+        }),
+        on_stderr_line: Box::new(move |line: &str| {
+            emit_event(
+                &app_for_stderr,
+                BootstrapEvent::Log {
+                    stage: stage_for_stderr.clone(),
+                    line: format!("stderr: {line}"),
+                },
+            );
+            // stderr-level lines get warn! so they're visually distinct
+            // when scrolling through the log later.
+            match &stage_for_stderr_log {
+                Some(name) => {
+                    tracing::warn!(target: "bootstrap.log", stage = %name, "stderr: {line}")
+                }
+                None => tracing::warn!(target: "bootstrap.log", "stderr: {line}"),
+            }
+        }),
+    };
+
+    powershell::run_script(script_path, args, sink, hermes_home_override, cancel_rx)
+        .await
+        .map_err(|e| {
+            tracing::error!(?e, "install script invocation failed");
+            anyhow!("install script invocation failed: {e:#}")
+        })
+}
+
+fn build_pin_args(script: &install_script::ResolvedScript) -> Vec<String> {
+    let mut out = Vec::new();
+    if let Some(c) = &script.commit {
+        out.push("-Commit".to_string());
+        out.push(c.clone());
+    }
+    if let Some(b) = &script.branch {
+        out.push("-Branch".to_string());
+        out.push(b.clone());
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+fn emit_event(app: &AppHandle, event: BootstrapEvent) {
+    // Tee important state transitions to the rolling installer log so
+    // bootstrap-installer.log isn't just "starting" + final summary.
+    // Log lines (the noisy stuff) handle their own tracing in
+    // run_install_script's sink; here we cover the lifecycle frames.
+    match &event {
+        BootstrapEvent::Manifest { stages, .. } => {
+            tracing::info!(
+                stage_count = stages.len(),
+                names = ?stages.iter().map(|s| s.name.as_str()).collect::<Vec<_>>(),
+                "manifest received"
+            );
+        }
+        BootstrapEvent::Stage {
+            name,
+            state,
+            duration_ms,
+            error,
+            ..
+        } => {
+            tracing::info!(
+                stage = %name,
+                ?state,
+                duration_ms = ?duration_ms,
+                error = ?error,
+                "stage transition"
+            );
+        }
+        BootstrapEvent::Complete { install_root, .. } => {
+            tracing::info!(install_root = %install_root, "bootstrap complete");
+        }
+        BootstrapEvent::Failed { stage, error } => {
+            tracing::error!(stage = ?stage, error = %error, "bootstrap FAILED");
+        }
+        BootstrapEvent::Log { .. } => {
+            // Log lines are teed via the sink callbacks in
+            // run_install_script — don't double-emit here.
+        }
+    }
+    if let Err(e) = app.emit(BootstrapEvent::CHANNEL, &event) {
+        tracing::warn!(?e, "failed to emit bootstrap event");
+    }
+}
+
+fn option_env_string(key: &str) -> Option<String> {
+    // option_env! only accepts literals, so we hardcode the known keys.
+    let val = match key {
+        "BUILD_PIN_COMMIT" => option_env!("BUILD_PIN_COMMIT"),
+        "BUILD_PIN_BRANCH" => option_env!("BUILD_PIN_BRANCH"),
+        _ => None,
+    };
+    val.map(|s| s.to_string())
+}
+
+fn truncate(s: &str, max: usize) -> String {
+    if s.len() <= max {
+        s.to_string()
+    } else {
+        format!("{}...", &s[..max])
+    }
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/events.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+//! Event types streamed from Rust → React.
+//!
+//! These mirror `apps/desktop/electron/bootstrap-runner.cjs`'s event shape
+//! 1:1 so the React installer code can be roughly identical to the Electron
+//! install-overlay we'll replace.
+//!
+//! The Tauri event channel name is `"bootstrap"` for all of these — the
+//! `type` discriminator on each payload is how the frontend routes.
+
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+/// Stage definition as reported by `install.ps1 -Manifest`.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct StageInfo {
+    pub name: String,
+    pub title: String,
+    pub category: String,
+    /// `needs_user_input=true` stages run with -NonInteractive and emit
+    /// skipped=true; the post-install wizard takes over for those.
+    #[serde(rename = "needs_user_input", alias = "needsUserInput")]
+    pub needs_user_input: bool,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct Manifest {
+    pub stages: Vec<StageInfo>,
+    #[serde(rename = "protocol_version", alias = "protocolVersion", default)]
+    pub protocol_version: Option<u32>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct StageResultPayload {
+    pub stage: String,
+    pub ok: bool,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub skipped: bool,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub reason: Option<String>,
+    /// install.ps1 may attach stage-specific structured data here.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub data: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+}
+
+/// Run-state for a single stage as we transition through it.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "lowercase")]
+pub enum StageState {
+    Running,
+    Succeeded,
+    Skipped,
+    Failed,
+}
+
+/// The single event channel `bootstrap` emits these. `type` discriminates.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
+#[serde(tag = "type", rename_all = "lowercase")]
+pub enum BootstrapEvent {
+    /// Sent once at the start with the full stage list.
+    Manifest {
+        stages: Vec<StageInfo>,
+        #[serde(rename = "protocolVersion")]
+        protocol_version: Option<u32>,
+    },
+    /// Stage state transition. `result` populated only on terminal states.
+    Stage {
+        name: String,
+        state: StageState,
+        #[serde(rename = "durationMs", skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+        duration_ms: Option<u64>,
+        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+        result: Option<StageResultPayload>,
+        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+        error: Option<String>,
+    },
+    /// Raw stdout/stderr line from install.ps1 (or our wrapper).
+    Log {
+        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+        stage: Option<String>,
+        line: String,
+    },
+    /// Sent once when all stages complete successfully.
+    Complete {
+        #[serde(rename = "installRoot")]
+        install_root: String,
+        marker: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+    },
+    /// Sent once if the run aborts.
+    Failed {
+        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+        stage: Option<String>,
+        error: String,
+    },
+}
+
+impl BootstrapEvent {
+    /// Tauri event name. Single channel for all bootstrap events; the
+    /// `type` tag tells the renderer how to interpret the payload.
+    pub const CHANNEL: &'static str = "bootstrap";
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/install_script.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,273 @@
+//! Resolves and downloads `scripts/install.ps1` (and `install.sh`).
+//!
+//! Resolution order:
+//!   1. Dev shortcut: a sibling repo checkout via $HERMES_SETUP_DEV_REPO_ROOT
+//!      env var. Lets devs iterate without re-publishing the script.
+//!   2. Bundled fallback: if the installer was bundled with a script (e.g.
+//!      tauri's `resource` mechanism), serve from there. Not used today.
+//!   3. Network: download from GitHub raw at a pinned commit or branch.
+//!      Commit pins are immutable; branch pins are HEAD-tracking.
+//!
+//! Mirrors `apps/desktop/electron/bootstrap-runner.cjs`'s `resolveInstallScript`,
+//! but the dev-checkout resolution is driven by an env var rather than the
+//! Electron app's APP_ROOT/../.. trick, because Hermes-Setup.exe is meant
+//! to live OUTSIDE any repo checkout.
+
+use anyhow::{anyhow, Context, Result};
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use tokio::io::AsyncWriteExt;
+
+use crate::paths;
+
+/// Identity of the install.ps1 we'll execute. Used by both the manifest
+/// fetch and the per-stage runs.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct ResolvedScript {
+    pub path: PathBuf,
+    pub source: ScriptSource,
+    /// Commit pin (40-char SHA) if known. install.ps1's `-Commit` arg is
+    /// what makes the repo stage clone the exact tested SHA.
+    pub commit: Option<String>,
+    pub branch: Option<String>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum ScriptSource {
+    DevCheckout,
+    Bundled,
+    Cached,
+    Downloaded,
+}
+
+/// What flavor of script (Windows .ps1 vs Unix .sh).
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
+pub enum ScriptKind {
+    Ps1,
+    Sh,
+}
+
+impl ScriptKind {
+    pub fn for_current_os() -> Self {
+        if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+            Self::Ps1
+        } else {
+            Self::Sh
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn filename(&self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Self::Ps1 => "install.ps1",
+            Self::Sh => "install.sh",
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Validates a string looks like a git SHA (7+ hex chars). Mirrors
+/// `STAMP_COMMIT_RE` from bootstrap-runner.cjs.
+fn is_valid_commit(s: &str) -> bool {
+    let len = s.len();
+    (7..=40).contains(&len) && s.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_hexdigit())
+}
+
+/// Resolves the install script to use for this run.
+///
+/// `pin` is the commit-or-branch from either Hermes-Setup's build-time
+/// constant (compiled into the installer) or a runtime override.
+pub async fn resolve(
+    kind: ScriptKind,
+    pin: &Pin,
+    emit_log: &impl Fn(&str),
+) -> Result<ResolvedScript> {
+    // 1. Dev shortcut.
+    if let Ok(repo_root) = std::env::var("HERMES_SETUP_DEV_REPO_ROOT") {
+        let candidate = PathBuf::from(repo_root).join("scripts").join(kind.filename());
+        if candidate.exists() {
+            emit_log(&format!(
+                "[bootstrap] dev mode — using local {} at {}",
+                kind.filename(),
+                candidate.display()
+            ));
+            return Ok(ResolvedScript {
+                path: candidate,
+                source: ScriptSource::DevCheckout,
+                commit: pin.commit.clone(),
+                branch: pin.branch.clone(),
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
+    // 2. (Not implemented) bundled fallback.
+
+    // 3. Network. Pin must be a real commit or a branch ref.
+    let commit_or_ref = match (&pin.commit, &pin.branch) {
+        (Some(c), _) if is_valid_commit(c) => c.clone(),
+        (_, Some(b)) if !b.trim().is_empty() => b.clone(),
+        (Some(other), _) => {
+            return Err(anyhow!(
+                "install script pin commit `{other}` is not a valid git SHA"
+            ));
+        }
+        _ => {
+            return Err(anyhow!(
+                "no install-script pin supplied — installer cannot resolve a script source"
+            ));
+        }
+    };
+
+    let cached = cached_path(kind, &commit_or_ref);
+    if cached.exists() {
+        emit_log(&format!(
+            "[bootstrap] using cached {} for {}",
+            kind.filename(),
+            truncate_ref(&commit_or_ref)
+        ));
+        return Ok(ResolvedScript {
+            path: cached,
+            source: ScriptSource::Cached,
+            commit: pin.commit.clone(),
+            branch: pin.branch.clone(),
+        });
+    }
+
+    emit_log(&format!(
+        "[bootstrap] downloading {} for {} from GitHub",
+        kind.filename(),
+        truncate_ref(&commit_or_ref)
+    ));
+
+    download(kind, &commit_or_ref, &cached).await?;
+
+    emit_log(&format!("[bootstrap] cached to {}", cached.display()));
+
+    Ok(ResolvedScript {
+        path: cached,
+        source: ScriptSource::Downloaded,
+        commit: pin.commit.clone(),
+        branch: pin.branch.clone(),
+    })
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default)]
+pub struct Pin {
+    pub commit: Option<String>,
+    pub branch: Option<String>,
+}
+
+fn cached_path(kind: ScriptKind, commit_or_ref: &str) -> PathBuf {
+    let safe = sanitize_ref(commit_or_ref);
+    let filename = match kind {
+        ScriptKind::Ps1 => format!("install-{safe}.ps1"),
+        ScriptKind::Sh => format!("install-{safe}.sh"),
+    };
+    paths::bootstrap_cache_dir().join(filename)
+}
+
+/// Replace anything that's not [A-Za-z0-9._-] with `_`. Branch refs can
+/// contain `/`, dots, etc.; we want a flat filename.
+fn sanitize_ref(s: &str) -> String {
+    s.chars()
+        .map(|c| {
+            if c.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || c == '.' || c == '-' || c == '_' {
+                c
+            } else {
+                '_'
+            }
+        })
+        .collect()
+}
+
+fn truncate_ref(s: &str) -> &str {
+    if is_valid_commit(s) && s.len() >= 12 {
+        &s[..12]
+    } else {
+        s
+    }
+}
+
+/// Downloads to `dest_path` via reqwest with rustls. Atomically renames
+/// `dest_path.tmp` → `dest_path` so partial writes don't poison the cache.
+async fn download(kind: ScriptKind, commit_or_ref: &str, dest_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    let url = format!(
+        "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/{}/scripts/{}",
+        commit_or_ref,
+        kind.filename()
+    );
+
+    if let Some(parent) = dest_path.parent() {
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(parent).with_context(|| {
+            format!("creating bootstrap-cache parent dir {}", parent.display())
+        })?;
+    }
+
+    let tmp_path = dest_path.with_extension({
+        let ext = dest_path
+            .extension()
+            .and_then(|s| s.to_str())
+            .unwrap_or("tmp");
+        format!("{ext}.tmp")
+    });
+
+    let response = reqwest::Client::new()
+        .get(&url)
+        .header("User-Agent", "hermes-setup/0.0.1")
+        .send()
+        .await
+        .with_context(|| format!("GET {url}"))?;
+
+    if !response.status().is_success() {
+        return Err(anyhow!(
+            "Failed to download {}: HTTP {} from {}",
+            kind.filename(),
+            response.status(),
+            url
+        ));
+    }
+
+    let bytes = response
+        .bytes()
+        .await
+        .with_context(|| format!("reading body of {url}"))?;
+
+    let mut file = tokio::fs::File::create(&tmp_path)
+        .await
+        .with_context(|| format!("creating temp file {}", tmp_path.display()))?;
+    file.write_all(&bytes)
+        .await
+        .with_context(|| format!("writing temp file {}", tmp_path.display()))?;
+    file.flush().await.context("flushing temp file")?;
+    drop(file);
+
+    tokio::fs::rename(&tmp_path, dest_path)
+        .await
+        .with_context(|| {
+            format!(
+                "renaming {} → {}",
+                tmp_path.display(),
+                dest_path.display()
+            )
+        })?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_valid_commit_accepts_short_and_full_shas() {
+        assert!(is_valid_commit("02d26981d3d4ad50e142399b8476f59ad5953ff0"));
+        assert!(is_valid_commit("02d2698"));
+        assert!(!is_valid_commit("02d269"));
+        assert!(!is_valid_commit("not-a-sha"));
+        assert!(!is_valid_commit(""));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sanitize_ref_replaces_slashes() {
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_ref("bb/gui"), "bb_gui");
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_ref("main"), "main");
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_ref("release/1.2.3"), "release_1.2.3");
+    }
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/lib.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+//! Hermes Setup — Tauri entrypoint.
+//!
+//! Spawns a single window pointed at the React frontend (apps/bootstrap-installer/src/).
+//! All install-time work lives in `bootstrap.rs` and is invoked through the Tauri
+//! commands registered at the bottom of `run()`.
+//!
+//! The Windows-subsystem strip lives on the binary crate (src/main.rs), not
+//! here — a crate-level attribute on a lib doesn't propagate to the linker
+//! flags of the executable that consumes it.
+
+mod bootstrap;
+mod events;
+mod install_script;
+mod powershell;
+mod paths;
+
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use tokio::sync::Mutex;
+
+/// Process-wide install state, shared across Tauri commands.
+///
+/// The bootstrap is a one-shot, single-tenant process — we only need one
+/// of these per window. `Arc<Mutex<...>>` lets command handlers grab it
+/// without lifetime gymnastics.
+pub struct AppState {
+    pub bootstrap: Mutex<Option<bootstrap::BootstrapHandle>>,
+}
+
+impl Default for AppState {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            bootstrap: Mutex::new(None),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg_attr(mobile, tauri::mobile_entry_point)]
+pub fn run() {
+    // Tracing → bootstrap-installer.log under HERMES_HOME/logs/ so install
+    // failures leave a trail for support. Console output also goes here in
+    // debug builds.
+    let _guard = paths::init_logging();
+
+    tracing::info!("Hermes Setup starting");
+
+    tauri::Builder::default()
+        .plugin(tauri_plugin_dialog::init())
+        .plugin(tauri_plugin_opener::init())
+        .plugin(tauri_plugin_process::init())
+        .plugin(tauri_plugin_shell::init())
+        .manage(Arc::new(AppState::default()))
+        .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![
+            // Bootstrap lifecycle
+            bootstrap::start_bootstrap,
+            bootstrap::cancel_bootstrap,
+            bootstrap::get_bootstrap_status,
+            // Hand-off
+            bootstrap::launch_hermes_desktop,
+            // Diagnostics
+            paths::get_log_path,
+            paths::get_hermes_home,
+            paths::open_log_dir,
+        ])
+        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
+        .expect("error while running Hermes Setup");
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/main.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// Hermes Setup — process entrypoint. All logic lives in lib.rs so it can
+// be unit-tested as a library; this file just calls into it.
+//
+// The windows_subsystem attribute MUST live here on the binary crate
+// (not lib.rs) — placing it on the lib was the bug that left a stray
+// cmd window behind Hermes-Setup.exe on release builds.
+//
+// `windows_subsystem = "windows"` strips the console allocation that
+// the default `windows_subsystem = "console"` would do, so double-clicking
+// the .exe gives you ONLY the Tauri window.
+//
+// debug_assertions guard: dev builds keep the console so tracing output
+// is visible during `cargo tauri dev`.
+
+#![cfg_attr(not(debug_assertions), windows_subsystem = "windows")]
+
+fn main() {
+    hermes_bootstrap_lib::run()
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/paths.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+//! Filesystem paths + logging setup.
+//!
+//! Mirrors `hermes_constants.get_hermes_home()` from the Python CLI:
+//!   Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes
+//!   macOS:   ~/Library/Application Support/hermes
+//!   Linux:   ~/.hermes  (XDG override via $HERMES_HOME)
+//!
+//! IMPORTANT: this must match exactly. Drift here means install.ps1
+//! writes to one place and the installer reads from another, breaking
+//! the bootstrap-complete check.
+
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use tracing_appender::non_blocking::WorkerGuard;
+
+/// Returns the canonical Hermes home directory, respecting $HERMES_HOME if set.
+pub fn hermes_home() -> PathBuf {
+    if let Ok(override_path) = std::env::var("HERMES_HOME") {
+        if !override_path.trim().is_empty() {
+            return PathBuf::from(override_path);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    {
+        // %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes — matches scripts/install.ps1's $HermesHome.
+        if let Some(local_app_data) = dirs::data_local_dir() {
+            return local_app_data.join("hermes");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+    {
+        // ~/Library/Application Support/hermes
+        if let Some(home) = dirs::home_dir() {
+            return home.join("Library/Application Support/hermes");
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Linux + fallback: ~/.hermes
+    if let Some(home) = dirs::home_dir() {
+        return home.join(".hermes");
+    }
+
+    // Last resort — current dir, almost certainly wrong but at least
+    // doesn't panic.
+    PathBuf::from(".hermes")
+}
+
+pub fn log_dir() -> PathBuf {
+    hermes_home().join("logs")
+}
+
+pub fn log_path() -> PathBuf {
+    log_dir().join("bootstrap-installer.log")
+}
+
+pub fn bootstrap_cache_dir() -> PathBuf {
+    hermes_home().join("bootstrap-cache")
+}
+
+/// Where install.ps1 writes the bootstrap-complete marker (existence-only file
+/// the Electron app also checks). Per main.cjs:
+///   const BOOTSTRAP_COMPLETE_MARKER = path.join(ACTIVE_HERMES_ROOT, '.hermes-bootstrap-complete')
+/// We don't always know ACTIVE_HERMES_ROOT until install.ps1 reports it, so
+/// this is a probe helper, not a definitive path.
+pub fn likely_bootstrap_marker(install_root: &Path) -> PathBuf {
+    install_root.join(".hermes-bootstrap-complete")
+}
+
+/// Initializes tracing to bootstrap-installer.log under HERMES_HOME/logs/.
+/// Returns a guard that flushes the appender on drop — keep it alive for
+/// the lifetime of the process.
+pub fn init_logging() -> Option<WorkerGuard> {
+    let dir = log_dir();
+    if let Err(err) = std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir) {
+        // No log dir → log to stderr only. Don't panic; the installer
+        // should still be usable on an exotic filesystem.
+        eprintln!("[hermes-setup] could not create log dir {dir:?}: {err}");
+        return None;
+    }
+
+    let file_appender = tracing_appender::rolling::never(&dir, "bootstrap-installer.log");
+    let (non_blocking, guard) = tracing_appender::non_blocking(file_appender);
+
+    let env_filter = tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter::try_from_env("HERMES_BOOTSTRAP_LOG")
+        .unwrap_or_else(|_| tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter::new("info"));
+
+    tracing_subscriber::fmt()
+        .with_env_filter(env_filter)
+        .with_writer(non_blocking)
+        .with_ansi(false)
+        .with_target(true)
+        .init();
+
+    Some(guard)
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Tauri commands
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#[tauri::command]
+pub fn get_log_path() -> String {
+    log_path().to_string_lossy().into_owned()
+}
+
+#[tauri::command]
+pub fn get_hermes_home() -> String {
+    hermes_home().to_string_lossy().into_owned()
+}
+
+#[tauri::command]
+pub fn open_log_dir(app: tauri::AppHandle) -> Result<(), String> {
+    use tauri_plugin_opener::OpenerExt;
+    let path = log_dir();
+    app.opener()
+        .open_path(path.to_string_lossy(), None::<&str>)
+        .map_err(|e| e.to_string())
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/powershell.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,267 @@
+//! Drives PowerShell (Windows) or bash (Unix) for install.ps1 / install.sh.
+//!
+//! Port of `spawnPowerShell` from bootstrap-runner.cjs, with the same
+//! line-buffered stdout/stderr streaming + cancellation semantics.
+//!
+//! On Windows we pass `-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File <script>`.
+//! On Unix we shell out to `bash <script>` since install.sh expects bash.
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::process::Stdio;
+use tokio::io::{AsyncBufReadExt, BufReader};
+use tokio::process::{Child, Command};
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
+
+/// Hooks the caller installs to receive output.
+pub struct StreamSink {
+    pub on_stdout_line: Box<dyn Fn(&str) + Send + Sync>,
+    pub on_stderr_line: Box<dyn Fn(&str) + Send + Sync>,
+}
+
+/// Outcome of a script invocation. Mirrors bootstrap-runner.cjs's
+/// `{stdout, stderr, code, signal, killed}` shape.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct ScriptResult {
+    pub stdout: String,
+    pub stderr: String,
+    pub exit_code: Option<i32>,
+    pub killed: bool,
+}
+
+/// Cancellation signal — `cancel_tx.send(()).await` aborts the running script.
+pub type CancelRx = mpsc::Receiver<()>;
+
+/// Spawns install.ps1 / install.sh with the given args and streams output.
+///
+/// `hermes_home_override` propagates to the child as $HERMES_HOME so the
+/// install script writes to the same directory the installer is reading from.
+pub async fn run_script(
+    script_path: &Path,
+    args: &[String],
+    sink: StreamSink,
+    hermes_home_override: Option<&str>,
+    mut cancel_rx: Option<CancelRx>,
+) -> Result<ScriptResult> {
+    let mut cmd = build_command(script_path, args);
+
+    if let Some(home) = hermes_home_override {
+        cmd.env("HERMES_HOME", home);
+    }
+
+    cmd.stdin(Stdio::null())
+        .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+        .stderr(Stdio::piped());
+
+    // On Windows, avoid spawning a flashing cmd window when we're hosted
+    // inside a GUI process. Tauri's main window is already created, so
+    // the side-effect console for the child is unwanted.
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    {
+        // CREATE_NO_WINDOW = 0x08000000
+        cmd.creation_flags(0x0800_0000);
+    }
+
+    let mut child: Child = cmd
+        .spawn()
+        .with_context(|| format!("spawning {}", script_path.display()))?;
+
+    let stdout = child.stdout.take().expect("stdout was piped");
+    let stderr = child.stderr.take().expect("stderr was piped");
+
+    let mut stdout_reader = BufReader::new(stdout).lines();
+    let mut stderr_reader = BufReader::new(stderr).lines();
+
+    let mut combined_stdout = String::new();
+    let mut combined_stderr = String::new();
+    let mut killed = false;
+
+    // Loop: poll stdout, stderr, cancel, and child exit concurrently.
+    loop {
+        tokio::select! {
+            line = stdout_reader.next_line() => {
+                match line {
+                    Ok(Some(l)) => {
+                        (sink.on_stdout_line)(&l);
+                        combined_stdout.push_str(&l);
+                        combined_stdout.push('\n');
+                    }
+                    Ok(None) => {
+                        // EOF on stdout — wait for stderr + exit.
+                        break;
+                    }
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        tracing::warn!("stdout read error: {e}");
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            line = stderr_reader.next_line() => {
+                match line {
+                    Ok(Some(l)) => {
+                        (sink.on_stderr_line)(&l);
+                        combined_stderr.push_str(&l);
+                        combined_stderr.push('\n');
+                    }
+                    Ok(None) => {
+                        // stderr EOF — keep draining stdout.
+                    }
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        tracing::warn!("stderr read error: {e}");
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            _ = recv_cancel(&mut cancel_rx) => {
+                tracing::warn!("cancellation received — killing child");
+                killed = true;
+                // best-effort kill; don't propagate errors
+                let _ = child.start_kill();
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Drain remaining lines after the loop exited.
+    while let Ok(Some(l)) = stdout_reader.next_line().await {
+        (sink.on_stdout_line)(&l);
+        combined_stdout.push_str(&l);
+        combined_stdout.push('\n');
+    }
+    while let Ok(Some(l)) = stderr_reader.next_line().await {
+        (sink.on_stderr_line)(&l);
+        combined_stderr.push_str(&l);
+        combined_stderr.push('\n');
+    }
+
+    let status = child
+        .wait()
+        .await
+        .context("waiting for install script to exit")?;
+
+    Ok(ScriptResult {
+        stdout: combined_stdout,
+        stderr: combined_stderr,
+        exit_code: status.code(),
+        killed,
+    })
+}
+
+async fn recv_cancel(rx: &mut Option<CancelRx>) {
+    match rx {
+        Some(r) => {
+            let _ = r.recv().await;
+        }
+        None => std::future::pending::<()>().await,
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+fn build_command(script_path: &Path, args: &[String]) -> Command {
+    // We want PowerShell 5.1 / 7. install.ps1 uses 5.1-safe syntax everywhere.
+    // Prefer `powershell.exe` (5.1 baseline, present on every Windows since 7)
+    // over `pwsh.exe` (7+, may not be present).
+    let mut cmd = Command::new("powershell.exe");
+    cmd.arg("-NoProfile");
+    cmd.arg("-ExecutionPolicy").arg("Bypass");
+    cmd.arg("-File").arg(script_path);
+    for a in args {
+        cmd.arg(a);
+    }
+    cmd
+}
+
+#[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
+fn build_command(script_path: &Path, args: &[String]) -> Command {
+    // install.sh expects bash. /bin/bash is fine on macOS (Apple still
+    // ships an old 3.2 bash; install.sh is written to that baseline).
+    let mut cmd = Command::new("bash");
+    cmd.arg(script_path);
+    for a in args {
+        cmd.arg(a);
+    }
+    cmd
+}
+
+/// Parses the LAST line of stdout that looks like a JSON object matching
+/// the install.ps1 stage-result contract: `{ok: bool, stage: string, ...}`.
+///
+/// Mirrors `parseStageResult` from bootstrap-runner.cjs. install.ps1 may
+/// print info/banner lines before the result frame; we scan from the end.
+pub fn parse_stage_result(stdout: &str) -> Option<crate::events::StageResultPayload> {
+    for line in stdout.lines().rev() {
+        let trimmed = line.trim();
+        if trimmed.is_empty() {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if let Ok(value) = serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(trimmed) {
+            if value.get("ok").and_then(|v| v.as_bool()).is_some()
+                && value.get("stage").and_then(|v| v.as_str()).is_some()
+            {
+                if let Ok(parsed) =
+                    serde_json::from_value::<crate::events::StageResultPayload>(value)
+                {
+                    return Some(parsed);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    None
+}
+
+/// Same logic but for the `-Manifest` payload (the LAST line with a `stages`
+/// array). Returns the parsed manifest.
+pub fn parse_manifest(stdout: &str) -> Option<crate::events::Manifest> {
+    for line in stdout.lines().rev() {
+        let trimmed = line.trim();
+        if trimmed.is_empty() {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if let Ok(value) = serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(trimmed) {
+            if value.get("stages").and_then(|v| v.as_array()).is_some() {
+                if let Ok(parsed) = serde_json::from_value::<crate::events::Manifest>(value) {
+                    return Some(parsed);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    None
+}
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+use std::os::windows::process::CommandExt;
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_stage_result_picks_last_json_line() {
+        let stdout = r#"
+[bootstrap] some info
+{"ok": false, "stage": "venv", "reason": "bad python"}
+{"ok": true, "stage": "venv"}
+final non-json banner
+"#;
+        let result = parse_stage_result(stdout).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(result.stage, "venv");
+        assert!(result.ok);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_manifest_finds_stages_array() {
+        let stdout = r#"
+info line
+{"stages": [{"name": "uv", "title": "uv", "category": "prereqs", "needs_user_input": false}], "protocol_version": 1}
+"#;
+        let m = parse_manifest(stdout).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(m.stages.len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(m.stages[0].name, "uv");
+        assert_eq!(m.protocol_version, Some(1));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_returns_none_when_no_match() {
+        assert!(parse_stage_result("just banner\n").is_none());
+        assert!(parse_manifest("just banner\n").is_none());
+    }
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2",
+  "productName": "Hermes Setup",
+  "version": "0.0.1",
+  "identifier": "com.nousresearch.hermes.setup",
+  "build": {
+    "beforeDevCommand": "npm run dev",
+    "devUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:5175",
+    "beforeBuildCommand": "npm run build",
+    "frontendDist": "../dist"
+  },
+  "app": {
+    "windows": [
+      {
+        "label": "main",
+        "title": "Hermes Setup",
+        "width": 880,
+        "height": 620,
+        "minWidth": 720,
+        "minHeight": 520,
+        "resizable": true,
+        "fullscreen": false,
+        "decorations": true,
+        "transparent": false,
+        "center": true
+      }
+    ],
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data:; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; script-src 'self'; font-src 'self' data:; connect-src 'self' ipc: http://ipc.localhost"
+    },
+    "withGlobalTauri": false
+  },
+  "bundle": {
+    "active": true,
+    "category": "DeveloperTool",
+    "shortDescription": "Hermes Setup",
+    "longDescription": "Installs Hermes Agent on your machine. Drives scripts/install.ps1 (Windows) and scripts/install.sh (macOS/Linux).",
+    "publisher": "Nous Research",
+    "copyright": "Copyright © 2026 Nous Research",
+    "targets": [
+      "app",
+      "dmg",
+      "appimage"
+    ],
+    "icon": [
+      "icons/32x32.png",
+      "icons/128x128.png",
+      "icons/128x128@2x.png",
+      "icons/icon.icns",
+      "icons/icon.ico"
+    ],
+    "windows": {
+      "webviewInstallMode": {
+        "type": "embedBootstrapper"
+      }
+    },
+    "macOS": {
+      "minimumSystemVersion": "11.0",
+      "hardenedRuntime": true
+    }
+  },
+  "plugins": {
+    "shell": {
+      "open": true
+    }
+  }
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/app.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { useStore } from '@nanostores/react'
+import { useEffect } from 'react'
+import { $route, $bootstrap, initialize } from './store'
+import Welcome from './routes/welcome'
+import Progress from './routes/progress'
+import Success from './routes/success'
+import Failure from './routes/failure'
+
+/*
+ * App shell — Hermes Setup.
+ *
+ * No header chrome (the OS title bar already says "Hermes Setup"; an
+ * in-window repeat of the H mark + words was redundant slop).
+ *
+ * Route state lives in a single $route atom — 4 screens, no react-router.
+ */
+export default function App() {
+  const route = useStore($route)
+  const bootstrap = useStore($bootstrap)
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    void initialize()
+  }, [])
+
+  return (
+    <div className="relative flex h-full flex-col overflow-hidden bg-background text-foreground">
+      <main className="relative z-10 flex flex-1 flex-col overflow-hidden">
+        {route === 'welcome' && <Welcome />}
+        {route === 'progress' && <Progress bootstrap={bootstrap} />}
+        {route === 'success' && <Success />}
+        {route === 'failure' && <Failure bootstrap={bootstrap} />}
+      </main>
+    </div>
+  )
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/components/button.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import { cva, type VariantProps } from 'class-variance-authority'
+import { Slot } from 'radix-ui'
+import * as React from 'react'
+
+import { cn } from '../lib/utils'
+
+/*
+ * Button — copied verbatim from apps/desktop/src/components/ui/button.tsx.
+ *
+ * We import the desktop's local shadcn-style Button rather than
+ * @nous-research/ui's <Button>, because the DS Button uses bg-midground /
+ * text-background-base utilities that resolve to the DS's hardcoded
+ * gold/brown brand defaults (#ffac02 / #170d02) unless overridden in
+ * runtime. The desktop never sets those vars; it routes through its
+ * own --dt-* token chain via shadcn classes like bg-primary. We do
+ * the same so visuals match exactly.
+ */
+
+const buttonVariants = cva(
+  "inline-flex shrink-0 items-center justify-center gap-2 rounded-md text-sm font-medium whitespace-nowrap transition-all outline-none focus-visible:border-ring focus-visible:ring-[0.1875rem] focus-visible:ring-ring/50 disabled:pointer-events-none disabled:opacity-50 aria-invalid:border-destructive aria-invalid:ring-destructive/20 dark:aria-invalid:ring-destructive/40 [&_svg]:pointer-events-none [&_svg]:shrink-0 [&_svg:not([class*='size-'])]:size-4",
+  {
+    variants: {
+      variant: {
+        default: 'bg-primary text-primary-foreground hover:bg-primary/90',
+        destructive:
+          'bg-destructive text-white hover:bg-destructive/90 focus-visible:ring-destructive/20 dark:bg-destructive/60 dark:focus-visible:ring-destructive/40',
+        outline:
+          'border bg-background shadow-xs hover:bg-accent hover:text-accent-foreground dark:border-input dark:bg-input/30 dark:hover:bg-input/50',
+        secondary:
+          'bg-secondary text-secondary-foreground hover:bg-secondary/80',
+        ghost:
+          'hover:bg-accent hover:text-accent-foreground dark:hover:bg-accent/50',
+        link: 'text-primary underline-offset-4 decoration-current/20 hover:underline'
+      },
+      size: {
+        default: 'h-9 px-4 py-2 has-[>svg]:px-3',
+        xs: "h-6 gap-1 rounded-md px-2 text-xs has-[>svg]:px-1.5 [&_svg:not([class*='size-'])]:size-3",
+        sm: 'h-8 gap-1.5 rounded-md px-3 has-[>svg]:px-2.5',
+        lg: 'h-10 rounded-md px-6 has-[>svg]:px-4',
+        icon: 'size-9',
+        'icon-xs':
+          "size-6 rounded-md [&_svg:not([class*='size-'])]:size-3",
+        'icon-sm': 'size-8',
+        'icon-lg': 'size-10'
+      }
+    },
+    defaultVariants: {
+      variant: 'default',
+      size: 'default'
+    }
+  }
+)
+
+interface ButtonProps
+  extends React.ComponentProps<'button'>,
+    VariantProps<typeof buttonVariants> {
+  asChild?: boolean
+}
+
+export function Button({
+  className,
+  variant = 'default',
+  size = 'default',
+  asChild = false,
+  ...props
+}: ButtonProps) {
+  const Comp = asChild ? Slot.Root : 'button'
+
+  return (
+    <Comp
+      className={cn(buttonVariants({ variant, size }), className)}
+      data-size={size}
+      data-slot="button"
+      data-variant={variant}
+      {...props}
+    />
+  )
+}
+
+export { buttonVariants }

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/lib/utils.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { type ClassValue, clsx } from 'clsx'
+import { twMerge } from 'tailwind-merge'
+
+/*
+ * cn — Tailwind-aware class merger. Same util the desktop and dashboard
+ * use. clsx handles conditional classes; twMerge resolves utility
+ * conflicts so `cn('px-2', condition && 'px-4')` ends up with px-4 only,
+ * not both.
+ */
+export function cn(...inputs: ClassValue[]) {
+  return twMerge(clsx(inputs))
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/main.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { StrictMode } from 'react'
+import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
+import App from './app.tsx'
+import './styles.css'
+
+// Default to LIGHT mode — matches the Hermes desktop's default. The
+// desktop's runtime theme system can switch to .dark later, but our
+// installer ships in light mode only since we don't carry the theme
+// provider machinery.
+createRoot(document.getElementById('root')!).render(
+  <StrictMode>
+    <App />
+  </StrictMode>
+)

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/routes/failure.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import { type CSSProperties } from 'react'
+import { useStore } from '@nanostores/react'
+import { Button } from '../components/button'
+import {
+  $logPath,
+  openLogDir,
+  startInstall,
+  type BootstrapStateModel
+} from '../store'
+import { RefreshCw, FileText } from 'lucide-react'
+
+interface FailureProps {
+  bootstrap: BootstrapStateModel
+}
+
+/*
+ * Failure screen. Same hero treatment as Welcome/Success — the wordmark
+ * carries the brand, so we keep it across every terminal state.
+ *
+ * The actual error message lives below in muted text. Two clear
+ * affordances: Retry (primary) and Open log folder (secondary).
+ */
+export default function Failure({ bootstrap }: FailureProps) {
+  const logPath = useStore($logPath)
+
+  return (
+    <div className="hermes-fade-in flex h-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-6 px-12 py-10">
+      <div className="w-full max-w-2xl min-w-0 text-center">
+        <p
+          className="fit-text mx-auto mb-4 w-full font-['Collapse'] font-bold uppercase leading-[0.9] tracking-[0.08em] text-destructive mix-blend-plus-lighter dark:text-destructive/90"
+          style={
+            {
+              '--fit-text-line-height': '0.9',
+              '--fit-text-max': '5rem',
+              '--fit-text-min': '2.25rem'
+            } as CSSProperties
+          }
+        >
+          <span>
+            <span>Install didn&rsquo;t finish</span>
+          </span>
+          <span aria-hidden="true">Install didn&rsquo;t finish</span>
+        </p>
+
+        <p className="m-0 mx-auto max-w-xl text-center text-sm leading-normal tracking-tight text-muted-foreground">
+          {bootstrap.error ?? 'Something went wrong during installation.'}
+        </p>
+      </div>
+
+      <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
+        <Button
+          onClick={() => void startInstall()}
+          size="lg"
+          className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-6"
+        >
+          <RefreshCw size={16} />
+          Retry install
+        </Button>
+        <Button
+          variant="outline"
+          size="lg"
+          onClick={() => void openLogDir()}
+          className="inline-flex items-center gap-2"
+        >
+          <FileText size={16} />
+          Open log folder
+        </Button>
+      </div>
+
+      {logPath && (
+        <p className="max-w-lg text-center text-xs text-muted-foreground/70">
+          Log: <code className="font-mono">{logPath}</code>
+        </p>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  )
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/routes/progress.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
+import { useStore } from '@nanostores/react'
+import { Button } from '../components/button'
+import {
+  cancelInstall,
+  $progress,
+  type BootstrapStateModel,
+  type StageState
+} from '../store'
+import { Check, X, ChevronRight, FileText, Loader2 } from 'lucide-react'
+import clsx from 'clsx'
+
+interface ProgressProps {
+  bootstrap: BootstrapStateModel
+}
+
+/*
+ * Progress screen — drives a stage list + collapsible log panel. Uses
+ * the DS <Progress> for the top bar so its motion + ring match the rest
+ * of the product.
+ */
+export default function ProgressScreen({ bootstrap }: ProgressProps) {
+  const progress = useStore($progress)
+  const [showLogs, setShowLogs] = useState(false)
+  const logEndRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (showLogs && logEndRef.current) {
+      logEndRef.current.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth' })
+    }
+  }, [bootstrap.logs.length, showLogs])
+
+  const currentStage =
+    bootstrap.currentStage != null
+      ? bootstrap.stages[bootstrap.currentStage]
+      : null
+
+  return (
+    <div className="hermes-fade-in flex h-full flex-col">
+      <div className="border-b border-border px-6 py-4">
+        <div className="mb-3 flex items-center justify-between text-xs">
+          <div className="flex items-center gap-2 text-foreground">
+            {bootstrap.status === 'running' && (
+              <Loader2 size={12} className="animate-spin text-primary" />
+            )}
+            <span>
+              {bootstrap.status === 'running'
+                ? currentStage
+                  ? currentStage.info.title
+                  : 'Preparing\u2026'
+                : bootstrap.status === 'completed'
+                  ? 'Done'
+                  : 'Installing'}
+            </span>
+          </div>
+          <div className="text-muted-foreground">
+            {progress.done} of {progress.total} steps
+          </div>
+        </div>
+        {/* Top progress bar — plain HTML, derived from --primary so it
+            tracks the theme accent. */}
+        <div className="h-1 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-full bg-muted">
+          <div
+            className="h-full bg-primary transition-all duration-300 ease-out"
+            style={{ width: `${Math.max(2, progress.fraction * 100)}%` }}
+          />
+        </div>
+      </div>
+
+      <div className="flex flex-1 overflow-hidden">
+        <div className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto px-6 py-4">
+          <ol className="space-y-1">
+            {bootstrap.stageOrder.map((name) => {
+              const rec = bootstrap.stages[name]
+              if (!rec) return null
+              return (
+                <li
+                  key={name}
+                  className={clsx(
+                    'flex items-center gap-3 rounded-md px-3 py-2 text-sm transition-colors',
+                    rec.state === 'running' && 'bg-card text-foreground',
+                    rec.state === 'succeeded' && 'text-foreground/80',
+                    rec.state === 'skipped' && 'text-muted-foreground',
+                    rec.state === 'failed' &&
+                      'bg-destructive/10 text-destructive',
+                    !rec.state && 'text-muted-foreground/60'
+                  )}
+                >
+                  <StateIcon state={rec.state ?? null} />
+                  <span className="flex-1 truncate">{rec.info.title}</span>
+                  {rec.durationMs != null && (
+                    <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                      {formatDuration(rec.durationMs)}
+                    </span>
+                  )}
+                </li>
+              )
+            })}
+          </ol>
+        </div>
+
+        {showLogs && (
+          <div className="flex w-1/2 flex-col border-l border-border bg-card/40">
+            <div className="flex shrink-0 items-center justify-between border-b border-border px-3 py-2">
+              <div className="text-xs font-medium text-foreground/80">
+                Live output
+              </div>
+              <div className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                {bootstrap.logs.length} lines
+              </div>
+            </div>
+            <div className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto px-3 py-2 font-mono text-[11px] leading-relaxed">
+              {bootstrap.logs.map((entry, idx) => (
+                <div
+                  key={idx}
+                  className={clsx(
+                    'whitespace-pre-wrap',
+                    entry.line.startsWith('stderr:')
+                      ? 'text-destructive'
+                      : 'text-foreground/70'
+                  )}
+                >
+                  {entry.line}
+                </div>
+              ))}
+              <div ref={logEndRef} />
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        )}
+      </div>
+
+      <div className="flex shrink-0 items-center justify-between border-t border-border px-6 py-3">
+        <button
+          type="button"
+          onClick={() => setShowLogs((v) => !v)}
+          className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-xs text-muted-foreground transition-colors hover:text-foreground"
+        >
+          <FileText size={14} />
+          {showLogs ? 'Hide details' : 'Show details'}
+          <ChevronRight
+            size={12}
+            className={clsx(
+              'transition-transform',
+              showLogs && 'rotate-90'
+            )}
+          />
+        </button>
+
+        {bootstrap.status === 'running' && (
+          <Button
+            variant="outline"
+            size="sm"
+            onClick={() => void cancelInstall()}
+          >
+            Cancel
+          </Button>
+        )}
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  )
+}
+
+function StateIcon({ state }: { state: StageState | null }) {
+  if (state === 'running') {
+    return <Loader2 size={14} className="animate-spin text-primary" />
+  }
+  if (state === 'succeeded') {
+    return <Check size={14} className="text-emerald-400" />
+  }
+  if (state === 'skipped') {
+    return <ChevronRight size={14} className="text-muted-foreground/70" />
+  }
+  if (state === 'failed') {
+    return <X size={14} className="text-destructive" />
+  }
+  return (
+    <div
+      className="h-[6px] w-[6px] rounded-full bg-muted-foreground/40"
+      aria-hidden
+    />
+  )
+}
+
+function formatDuration(ms: number): string {
+  if (ms < 1000) return `${ms}ms`
+  if (ms < 60000) return `${(ms / 1000).toFixed(1)}s`
+  const m = Math.floor(ms / 60000)
+  const s = Math.round((ms % 60000) / 1000)
+  return `${m}m ${s}s`
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/routes/success.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import { useState } from 'react'
+import { type CSSProperties } from 'react'
+import { Button } from '../components/button'
+import { launchHermesDesktop } from '../store'
+import { Rocket, AlertCircle } from 'lucide-react'
+
+/*
+ * Success screen. HERMES AGENT wordmark stays as the visual anchor
+ * (same Collapse Bold treatment as Welcome + the desktop chat intro),
+ * with a status line below.
+ *
+ * Launching the desktop can fail (e.g. Stage-Desktop was skipped and
+ * Hermes.exe doesn't exist). We catch the Tauri error and surface it
+ * inline rather than silently doing nothing — the previous version
+ * had `onClick={() => void launchHermesDesktop()}` which swallowed
+ * the rejection and left the user staring at an unresponsive button.
+ */
+export default function Success() {
+  const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null)
+  const [launching, setLaunching] = useState(false)
+
+  async function handleLaunch() {
+    setError(null)
+    setLaunching(true)
+    try {
+      await launchHermesDesktop()
+      // On success the installer exits — control never returns here.
+    } catch (e) {
+      const msg = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)
+      setError(msg)
+      setLaunching(false)
+    }
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div className="hermes-fade-in flex h-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-8 px-12 py-10">
+      <div className="w-full max-w-2xl min-w-0 text-center">
+        <p
+          className="fit-text mx-auto mb-4 w-full font-['Collapse'] font-bold uppercase leading-[0.9] tracking-[0.08em] text-midground mix-blend-plus-lighter dark:text-foreground/90"
+          style={
+            {
+              '--fit-text-line-height': '0.9',
+              '--fit-text-max': '5rem',
+              '--fit-text-min': '2.25rem'
+            } as CSSProperties
+          }
+        >
+          <span>
+            <span>Hermes is ready</span>
+          </span>
+          <span aria-hidden="true">Hermes is ready</span>
+        </p>
+
+        <p className="m-0 text-center text-base leading-normal tracking-tight text-muted-foreground">
+          You can launch from here, or any time from your terminal with{' '}
+          <code className="rounded bg-muted/60 px-1 py-0.5 font-mono text-sm">
+            hermes desktop
+          </code>
+          .
+        </p>
+      </div>
+
+      <Button
+        onClick={() => void handleLaunch()}
+        size="lg"
+        disabled={launching}
+        className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-6"
+      >
+        <Rocket size={18} />
+        {launching ? 'Launching…' : 'Launch Hermes'}
+      </Button>
+
+      {error && (
+        <div
+          role="alert"
+          className="flex max-w-2xl items-start gap-2 rounded-md border border-destructive/30 bg-destructive/10 px-4 py-3 text-sm text-destructive"
+        >
+          <AlertCircle size={16} className="mt-0.5 shrink-0" />
+          <div className="min-w-0">
+            <div className="font-medium">Couldn&rsquo;t launch the desktop app</div>
+            <div className="mt-1 text-destructive/80">{error}</div>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  )
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/routes/welcome.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import { type CSSProperties } from 'react'
+import { Button } from '../components/button'
+import { startInstall } from '../store'
+import { ArrowRight } from 'lucide-react'
+
+/*
+ * Welcome screen.
+ *
+ * Mirrors the desktop's chat intro (apps/desktop/src/components/chat/intro.tsx):
+ *   - HERMES AGENT wordmark rendered in Collapse Bold, uppercase, tracked
+ *   - mix-blend-plus-lighter so the type "glows" on the canvas
+ *   - fit-text utility so the wordmark sizes itself to the column
+ *
+ * No install-path footer. The default install location is correct for
+ * 99% of users; the rest will use the CLI installer with a -HermesHome
+ * flag. Showing %LOCALAPPDATA% to grandma is developer-brain.
+ */
+export default function Welcome() {
+  return (
+    <div className="hermes-fade-in flex h-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-10 px-12 py-10">
+      {/* Hero — same recipe the desktop's chat/intro.tsx uses */}
+      <div className="w-full max-w-2xl min-w-0 text-center">
+        <p
+          className="fit-text mx-auto mb-4 w-full font-['Collapse'] font-bold uppercase leading-[0.9] tracking-[0.08em] text-midground mix-blend-plus-lighter dark:text-foreground/90"
+          style={
+            {
+              '--fit-text-line-height': '0.9',
+              '--fit-text-max': '6rem',
+              '--fit-text-min': '2.5rem'
+            } as CSSProperties
+          }
+        >
+          <span>
+            <span>HERMES AGENT</span>
+          </span>
+          <span aria-hidden="true">HERMES AGENT</span>
+        </p>
+
+        <p className="m-0 text-center text-base leading-normal tracking-tight text-muted-foreground">
+          The agent that grows with you. We&rsquo;ll set things up in the
+          background &mdash; takes a few minutes.
+        </p>
+      </div>
+
+      <Button
+        onClick={() => void startInstall()}
+        size="lg"
+        className="group inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-6"
+      >
+        Install Hermes
+        <ArrowRight
+          size={18}
+          className="transition-transform group-hover:translate-x-0.5"
+        />
+      </Button>
+    </div>
+  )
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/store.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,247 @@
+import { atom, computed } from 'nanostores'
+import { listen, type UnlistenFn } from '@tauri-apps/api/event'
+import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core'
+
+/*
+ * Bootstrap state store — single source of truth for installer screens.
+ *
+ * Lives in nanostores per the project's TypeScript guidelines (apps/desktop
+ * AGENTS.md): "Prefer small nanostores over component state when state is
+ * shared, reused, or read by distant UI."
+ *
+ * One channel from Rust ('bootstrap' event), discriminated by payload.type.
+ * We translate those events into typed atom updates here so the rest of
+ * the app only deals with React-friendly state.
+ */
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Types — mirror src-tauri/src/events.rs
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export interface StageInfo {
+  name: string
+  title: string
+  category: string
+  needs_user_input: boolean
+}
+
+export type StageState = 'running' | 'succeeded' | 'skipped' | 'failed'
+
+export interface StageRecord {
+  info: StageInfo
+  state: StageState | null
+  durationMs?: number
+  error?: string
+}
+
+export interface BootstrapStateModel {
+  status: 'idle' | 'running' | 'completed' | 'failed'
+  protocolVersion: number | null
+  stages: Record<string, StageRecord>
+  stageOrder: string[]
+  currentStage: string | null
+  installRoot: string | null
+  error: string | null
+  logs: Array<{ stage?: string; line: string }>
+}
+
+const INITIAL: BootstrapStateModel = {
+  status: 'idle',
+  protocolVersion: null,
+  stages: {},
+  stageOrder: [],
+  currentStage: null,
+  installRoot: null,
+  error: null,
+  logs: []
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Atoms
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export type Route = 'welcome' | 'progress' | 'success' | 'failure'
+
+export const $route = atom<Route>('welcome')
+export const $bootstrap = atom<BootstrapStateModel>(INITIAL)
+export const $logPath = atom<string | null>(null)
+export const $hermesHome = atom<string | null>(null)
+
+export const $progress = computed($bootstrap, (b) => {
+  const total = b.stageOrder.length
+  if (total === 0) return { done: 0, total: 0, fraction: 0 }
+  let done = 0
+  for (const name of b.stageOrder) {
+    const s = b.stages[name]?.state
+    if (s === 'succeeded' || s === 'skipped' || s === 'failed') done += 1
+  }
+  return { done, total, fraction: done / total }
+})
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Tauri event subscription
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+interface BootstrapManifestEvent {
+  type: 'manifest'
+  stages: StageInfo[]
+  protocolVersion: number | null
+}
+
+interface BootstrapStageEvent {
+  type: 'stage'
+  name: string
+  state: StageState
+  durationMs?: number
+  error?: string
+}
+
+interface BootstrapLogEvent {
+  type: 'log'
+  stage?: string
+  line: string
+}
+
+interface BootstrapCompleteEvent {
+  type: 'complete'
+  installRoot: string
+  marker: unknown
+}
+
+interface BootstrapFailedEvent {
+  type: 'failed'
+  stage?: string
+  error: string
+}
+
+type BootstrapEvent =
+  | BootstrapManifestEvent
+  | BootstrapStageEvent
+  | BootstrapLogEvent
+  | BootstrapCompleteEvent
+  | BootstrapFailedEvent
+
+let unlisten: UnlistenFn | null = null
+
+export async function initialize(): Promise<void> {
+  if (unlisten) return
+
+  // Pull static info on mount for the diagnostics footer.
+  try {
+    const [logPath, hermesHome] = await Promise.all([
+      invoke<string>('get_log_path'),
+      invoke<string>('get_hermes_home')
+    ])
+    $logPath.set(logPath)
+    $hermesHome.set(hermesHome)
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.warn('failed to fetch installer paths', err)
+  }
+
+  unlisten = await listen<BootstrapEvent>('bootstrap', (event) => {
+    const payload = event.payload
+    const cur = $bootstrap.get()
+    switch (payload.type) {
+      case 'manifest': {
+        const stages: Record<string, StageRecord> = {}
+        const order: string[] = []
+        for (const s of payload.stages) {
+          stages[s.name] = { info: s, state: null }
+          order.push(s.name)
+        }
+        $bootstrap.set({
+          ...cur,
+          status: 'running',
+          protocolVersion: payload.protocolVersion,
+          stages,
+          stageOrder: order,
+          currentStage: null,
+          installRoot: null,
+          error: null,
+          logs: []
+        })
+        $route.set('progress')
+        break
+      }
+      case 'stage': {
+        const existing = cur.stages[payload.name]
+        if (!existing) {
+          console.warn('stage event for unknown stage', payload.name)
+          break
+        }
+        const next: StageRecord = {
+          ...existing,
+          state: payload.state,
+          durationMs: payload.durationMs,
+          error: payload.error
+        }
+        $bootstrap.set({
+          ...cur,
+          stages: { ...cur.stages, [payload.name]: next },
+          currentStage:
+            payload.state === 'running' ? payload.name : cur.currentStage
+        })
+        break
+      }
+      case 'log': {
+        const logs = [...cur.logs, { stage: payload.stage, line: payload.line }]
+        // Keep the rolling buffer bounded so the UI doesn't get OOM'd
+        // during a long install (playwright chromium download is ~10k lines).
+        const trimmed = logs.length > 2000 ? logs.slice(-2000) : logs
+        $bootstrap.set({ ...cur, logs: trimmed })
+        break
+      }
+      case 'complete':
+        $bootstrap.set({
+          ...cur,
+          status: 'completed',
+          installRoot: payload.installRoot,
+          currentStage: null
+        })
+        $route.set('success')
+        break
+      case 'failed':
+        $bootstrap.set({
+          ...cur,
+          status: 'failed',
+          error: payload.error,
+          currentStage: null
+        })
+        $route.set('failure')
+        break
+    }
+  })
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Actions
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export async function startInstall(opts?: { branch?: string }): Promise<void> {
+  // Reset before kicking off so a retry from the failure screen clears
+  // the previous run's state.
+  $bootstrap.set(INITIAL)
+  $route.set('progress')
+  await invoke('start_bootstrap', {
+    args: {
+      commit: null,
+      branch: opts?.branch ?? null,
+      include_desktop: true,
+      hermes_home: null
+    }
+  })
+}
+
+export async function cancelInstall(): Promise<void> {
+  await invoke('cancel_bootstrap')
+}
+
+export async function launchHermesDesktop(): Promise<void> {
+  const installRoot = $bootstrap.get().installRoot
+  if (!installRoot) throw new Error('no install root')
+  await invoke('launch_hermes_desktop', { installRoot })
+}
+
+export async function openLogDir(): Promise<void> {
+  await invoke('open_log_dir')
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/styles.css

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * Hermes Setup — defer entirely to the desktop's styles.css.
+ *
+ * Rather than re-implement the Hermes design system (and inevitably drift
+ * from it), we import apps/desktop/src/styles.css wholesale. The desktop
+ * is the canonical source of truth for fonts, color tokens, button chrome,
+ * scrollbars, layout utilities, and animations. Any change to the
+ * Hermes look propagates here automatically with no copy-paste maintenance.
+ *
+ * Path resolution caveats:
+ *   - Tailwind v4's `@import` resolves relative to this file. The desktop's
+ *     `@source '../../../node_modules/...'` declarations therefore re-resolve
+ *     against apps/bootstrap-installer/src/. Since both apps live two levels
+ *     deep under the same repo root, `../../../node_modules` lands in the
+ *     same place. (Verify if either app ever moves.)
+ *   - The desktop's `@font-face url('../../../node_modules/...')` references
+ *     are baked into the *imported* stylesheet; CSS resolves url()s relative
+ *     to the file that contains them, so they continue to point at the
+ *     correct node_modules path even from here.
+ *
+ * Forced light mode: the desktop ships with a runtime theme switcher
+ * (ThemeProvider + applyTheme) that can flip to dark via document.documentElement.
+ * The installer has no UI for theme switching, so we stay on the desktop's
+ * default light surface (Nous-blue accent on near-white chrome).
+ */
+@import '../../desktop/src/styles.css';
+
+/* Installer-only additions: a fade-in animation and a warm radial glow
+   for the welcome screen. Everything else inherits from the desktop. */
+@keyframes hermes-fade-in {
+  from {
+    opacity: 0;
+    transform: translateY(4px);
+  }
+  to {
+    opacity: 1;
+    transform: translateY(0);
+  }
+}
+
+.hermes-fade-in {
+  animation: hermes-fade-in 0.45s ease-out both;
+}
+
+.hermes-glow {
+  background: radial-gradient(
+    ellipse at center,
+    color-mix(in srgb, var(--ui-warm) 18%, transparent) 0%,
+    transparent 60%
+  );
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/src/vite-env.d.ts

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/// <reference types="vite/client" />

apps/bootstrap-installer/tsconfig.json

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "target": "ES2022",
+    "useDefineForClassFields": true,
+    "lib": ["ES2022", "DOM", "DOM.Iterable"],
+    "module": "ESNext",
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
+    "allowImportingTsExtensions": true,
+    "resolveJsonModule": true,
+    "isolatedModules": true,
+    "noEmit": true,
+    "jsx": "react-jsx",
+    "strict": true,
+    "noUnusedLocals": true,
+    "noUnusedParameters": true,
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
+    "baseUrl": ".",
+    "paths": {
+      "@/*": ["src/*"]
+    }
+  },
+  "include": ["src"],
+  "references": [{ "path": "./tsconfig.node.json" }]
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/tsconfig.node.json

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "composite": true,
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "module": "ESNext",
+    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
+    "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
+    "strict": true
+  },
+  "include": ["vite.config.ts"]
+}

apps/bootstrap-installer/vite.config.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
+import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
+import tailwindcss from '@tailwindcss/vite'
+import path from 'node:path'
+
+// Hermes Setup — Tauri-targeted Vite config.
+//
+// Port 5175 keeps us out of the way of:
+//   apps/dashboard       (vite default 5173)
+//   apps/desktop dev     (5174 per its package.json)
+//
+// `clearScreen: false` is the Tauri convention — they spawn vite as a child
+// process and want our errors to stay visible.
+
+const host = process.env.TAURI_DEV_HOST
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  plugins: [react(), tailwindcss()],
+  resolve: {
+    alias: {
+      '@': path.resolve(__dirname, './src')
+    }
+  },
+  clearScreen: false,
+  server: {
+    port: 5175,
+    strictPort: true,
+    host: host || '127.0.0.1',
+    hmr: host
+      ? {
+          protocol: 'ws',
+          host,
+          port: 5176
+        }
+      : undefined,
+    watch: {
+      // Don't watch the Rust side — tauri-cli handles it.
+      ignored: ['**/src-tauri/**']
+    }
+  },
+  build: {
+    target: 'esnext',
+    outDir: 'dist',
+    emptyOutDir: true
+  }
+})

apps/dashboard/README.md

@@ -10,22 +10,34 @@ Browser-based dashboard for managing Hermes Agent configuration, API keys, and m
 
 ## Development
 
-```bash
-# Start the backend API server
-cd ../
-python -m hermes_cli.main web --no-open
+Install workspace dependencies from the repo root first:
 
-# In another terminal, start the Vite dev server (with HMR + API proxy)
-cd web/
+```bash
 npm install
+```
+
+Start the backend API server from the repo root:
+
+```bash
+hermes dashboard --tui --no-open
+```
+
+`--tui` exposes the in-browser Chat tab through `/api/pty`. Omit it if you only need the config/session dashboard.
+
+In another terminal, start the Vite dev server:
+
+```bash
+cd apps/dashboard
 npm run dev
 ```
 
-Open the **Vite URL** printed in the terminal (usually `http://localhost:5173`). That is the live-reload UI.
+The Vite dev server proxies `/api`, `/api/pty`, and `/dashboard-plugins` to `http://127.0.0.1:9119` (the FastAPI backend). It also fetches the backend's `index.html` on each dev page load so the ephemeral session token stays in sync.
 
-`hermes dashboard` on port 9119 serves the **built** bundle from `hermes_cli/web_dist/`, not the Vite dev server — changes in `web/src/` will not appear there until you run `npm run build` and restart the dashboard (or use `web --no-open` + Vite as above).
+If the `hermes` entry point is not installed, use:
 
-The Vite dev server proxies `/api` requests to `http://127.0.0.1:9119` (the FastAPI backend).
+```bash
+python -m hermes_cli.main dashboard --tui --no-open
+```
 
 ## Build
 
@@ -33,7 +45,7 @@ The Vite dev server proxies `/api` requests to `http://127.0.0.1:9119` (the Fast
 npm run build
 ```
 
-This outputs to `../hermes_cli/web_dist/`, which the FastAPI server serves as a static SPA. The built assets are included in the Python package via `pyproject.toml` package-data.
+This outputs to `../../hermes_cli/web_dist/`, which the FastAPI server serves as a static SPA. The built assets are included in the Python package via `pyproject.toml` package-data.
 
 ## Structure
 
@@ -101,4 +113,3 @@ Typography is **opt-in per surface**, not global on layout shells — the app sh
 - Prefer **semantic tokens** (`text-text-*`, `bg-card`, `border-border`, `text-foreground`, `text-destructive`, `text-success`, `text-warning`) over raw layer references (`text-midground`, `text-foreground`).
 - `text-muted-foreground` is now wired to `--color-text-secondary`, so existing call sites stay correct, but new code should prefer the semantic name.
 - When you genuinely need a non-token color (icon de-emphasis on a chart, terminal foreground via inline style), keep alpha at `≥ 0.7` for any text.
-

apps/dashboard/package.json

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "name": "web",
+  "name": "dashboard",
   "private": true,
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "type": "module",
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
     "preview": "vite preview"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "@nous-research/ui": "0.18.2",
+    "@hermes/shared": "file:../shared",
+    "@nous-research/ui": "0.16.0",
     "@observablehq/plot": "^0.6.17",
     "@react-three/fiber": "^9.6.0",
     "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.2.1",

apps/dashboard/src/App.tsx

@@ -2,12 +2,10 @@ import {
   useCallback,
   useEffect,
   useMemo,
-  useRef,
   useState,
   type ComponentType,
   type ReactNode,
 } from "react";
-import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
 import {
   Routes,
   Route,
@@ -33,8 +31,6 @@ import {
   Menu,
   MessageSquare,
   Package,
-  PanelLeftClose,
-  PanelLeftOpen,
   Puzzle,
   RotateCw,
   Settings,
@@ -48,15 +44,14 @@ import {
   Zap,
 } from "lucide-react";
 import { Button } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/button";
+import { ListItem } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/list-item";
 import { SelectionSwitcher } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/selection-switcher";
 import { Spinner } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/spinner";
-import { Typography } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/typography/index";
+import { Typography } from "@/components/NouiTypography";
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
 import { Backdrop } from "@/components/Backdrop";
 import { SidebarFooter } from "@/components/SidebarFooter";
-import { SidebarStatusStrip, gatewayLine } from "@/components/SidebarStatusStrip";
-import { useBelowBreakpoint } from "@nous-research/ui/hooks/use-below-breakpoint";
-import { useSidebarStatus } from "@/hooks/useSidebarStatus";
+import { SidebarStatusStrip } from "@/components/SidebarStatusStrip";
 import { AuthWidget } from "@/components/AuthWidget";
 import { PageHeaderProvider } from "@/contexts/PageHeaderProvider";
 import { useSystemActions } from "@/contexts/useSystemActions";
@@ -82,7 +77,6 @@ import type { PluginManifest } from "@/plugins";
 import { useTheme } from "@/themes";
 import { isDashboardEmbeddedChatEnabled } from "@/lib/dashboard-flags";
 import { api } from "@/lib/api";
-import type { StatusResponse } from "@/lib/api";
 
 function RootRedirect() {
   return <Navigate to="/sessions" replace />;
@@ -312,8 +306,6 @@ function buildRoutes(
   return routes;
 }
 
-const SIDEBAR_COLLAPSED_KEY = "hermes-sidebar-collapsed";
-
 export default function App() {
   const { t } = useI18n();
   const { pathname } = useLocation();
@@ -321,27 +313,6 @@ export default function App() {
   const { theme } = useTheme();
   const [mobileOpen, setMobileOpen] = useState(false);
   const closeMobile = useCallback(() => setMobileOpen(false), []);
-
-  const [collapsed, setCollapsed] = useState(() => {
-    try {
-      return localStorage.getItem(SIDEBAR_COLLAPSED_KEY) === "true";
-    } catch {
-      return false;
-    }
-  });
-  const toggleCollapsed = useCallback(() => {
-    setCollapsed((prev) => {
-      const next = !prev;
-      try {
-        localStorage.setItem(SIDEBAR_COLLAPSED_KEY, String(next));
-      } catch { /* localStorage may be unavailable in private browsing */ }
-      return next;
-    });
-  }, []);
-  const isMobile = useBelowBreakpoint(1024);
-  const isDesktopCollapsed = collapsed && !isMobile;
-  const tooltipWarmRef = useRef(0);
-  const sidebarStatus = useSidebarStatus();
   const isDocsRoute = pathname === "/docs" || pathname === "/docs/";
   const normalizedPath = pathname.replace(/\/$/, "") || "/";
   const isChatRoute = normalizedPath === "/chat";
@@ -512,11 +483,9 @@ export default function App() {
               "fixed top-0 left-0 z-50 flex h-dvh max-h-dvh w-64 min-h-0 flex-col",
               "border-r border-current/20",
               "bg-background-base/95 backdrop-blur-sm",
-              "transition-[transform] duration-200 ease-out",
+              "transition-transform duration-200 ease-out",
               mobileOpen ? "translate-x-0" : "-translate-x-full",
-              "lg:sticky lg:top-0 lg:translate-x-0 lg:shrink-0 lg:overflow-hidden",
-              "lg:transition-[width] lg:duration-[600ms] lg:ease-[cubic-bezier(0.33,1.35,0.62,1)]",
-              collapsed && "lg:w-14",
+              "lg:sticky lg:top-0 lg:translate-x-0 lg:shrink-0",
             )}
             style={{
               background: "var(--component-sidebar-background)",
@@ -526,17 +495,11 @@ export default function App() {
           >
             <div
               className={cn(
-                "flex h-14 shrink-0 items-center gap-2",
+                "flex h-14 shrink-0 items-center justify-between gap-2 px-4",
                 "border-b border-current/20",
-                collapsed ? "lg:justify-center lg:px-0" : "px-4 justify-between",
               )}
             >
-              <div
-                className={cn(
-                  "flex items-center gap-2",
-                  collapsed && "lg:hidden",
-                )}
-              >
+              <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
                 <PluginSlot name="header-left" />
 
                 <Typography
@@ -558,22 +521,6 @@ export default function App() {
               >
                 <X />
               </Button>
-
-              <Button
-                ghost
-                size="icon"
-                onClick={toggleCollapsed}
-                aria-label={
-                  collapsed ? t.common.expand : t.common.collapse
-                }
-                className="hidden lg:flex text-text-secondary hover:text-midground"
-              >
-                {collapsed ? (
-                  <PanelLeftOpen className="h-4 w-4" />
-                ) : (
-                  <PanelLeftClose className="h-4 w-4" />
-                )}
-              </Button>
             </div>
 
             <nav
@@ -584,11 +531,9 @@ export default function App() {
                 {sidebarNav.coreItems.map((item) => (
                   <SidebarNavLink
                     closeMobile={closeMobile}
-                    collapsed={isDesktopCollapsed}
                     item={item}
                     key={item.path}
                     t={t}
-                    tooltipWarmRef={tooltipWarmRef}
                   />
                 ))}
               </ul>
@@ -603,7 +548,6 @@ export default function App() {
                     className={cn(
                       "px-5 pt-2.5 pb-1",
                       "font-mondwest text-display text-xs tracking-[0.12em] text-text-tertiary",
-                      isDesktopCollapsed && "lg:hidden",
                     )}
                     id="hermes-sidebar-plugin-nav-heading"
                   >
@@ -614,11 +558,9 @@ export default function App() {
                     {sidebarNav.pluginItems.map((item) => (
                       <SidebarNavLink
                         closeMobile={closeMobile}
-                        collapsed={isDesktopCollapsed}
                         item={item}
                         key={item.path}
                         t={t}
-                        tooltipWarmRef={tooltipWarmRef}
                       />
                     ))}
                   </ul>
@@ -626,58 +568,24 @@ export default function App() {
               )}
             </nav>
 
-            <SidebarSystemActions
-              collapsed={isDesktopCollapsed}
-              onNavigate={closeMobile}
-              status={sidebarStatus}
-              tooltipWarmRef={tooltipWarmRef}
-            />
+            <SidebarSystemActions onNavigate={closeMobile} />
 
             <div
               className={cn(
-                "flex shrink-0 items-center gap-2",
+                "flex shrink-0 items-center justify-between gap-2",
                 "px-3 py-2",
                 "border-t border-current/20",
-                isDesktopCollapsed
-                  ? "lg:flex-col lg:items-start lg:gap-3 lg:py-3"
-                  : "justify-between",
               )}
             >
-              <div
-                className={cn(
-                  "flex min-w-0 items-center gap-2",
-                  isDesktopCollapsed && "lg:flex-col lg:items-start",
-                )}
-              >
+              <div className="flex min-w-0 items-center gap-2">
                 <PluginSlot name="header-right" />
-
-                <SidebarIconWithTooltip
-                  collapsed={isDesktopCollapsed}
-                  label={t.theme?.switchTheme ?? "Switch theme"}
-                  tooltipWarmRef={tooltipWarmRef}
-                >
-                  <ThemeSwitcher collapsed={isDesktopCollapsed} dropUp />
-                </SidebarIconWithTooltip>
-
-                <SidebarIconWithTooltip
-                  collapsed={isDesktopCollapsed}
-                  label={t.language.switchTo}
-                  tooltipWarmRef={tooltipWarmRef}
-                >
-                  <LanguageSwitcher collapsed={isDesktopCollapsed} dropUp />
-                </SidebarIconWithTooltip>
+                <ThemeSwitcher dropUp />
+                <LanguageSwitcher dropUp />
               </div>
             </div>
 
-            <div
-              className={cn(
-                "flex shrink-0 flex-col",
-                isDesktopCollapsed && "lg:hidden",
-              )}
-            >
-              <AuthWidget />
-              <SidebarFooter status={sidebarStatus} />
-            </div>
+            <AuthWidget />
+            <SidebarFooter />
           </aside>
 
           <PageHeaderProvider pluginTabs={pluginTabMeta}>
@@ -752,37 +660,22 @@ export default function App() {
   );
 }
 
-function SidebarNavLink({
-  closeMobile,
-  collapsed,
-  item,
-  tooltipWarmRef,
-  t,
-}: SidebarNavLinkProps) {
+function SidebarNavLink({ closeMobile, item, t }: SidebarNavLinkProps) {
   const { path, label, labelKey, icon: Icon } = item;
-  const liRef = useRef<HTMLLIElement>(null);
-  const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);
 
   const navLabel = labelKey
     ? ((t.app.nav as Record<string, string>)[labelKey] ?? label)
     : label;
 
   return (
-    <li
-      ref={liRef}
-      onMouseEnter={collapsed ? () => setHovered(true) : undefined}
-      onMouseLeave={collapsed ? () => setHovered(false) : undefined}
-    >
+    <li>
       <NavLink
         to={path}
         end={path === "/sessions"}
         onClick={closeMobile}
-        aria-label={collapsed ? navLabel : undefined}
-        onFocus={collapsed ? () => setHovered(true) : undefined}
-        onBlur={collapsed ? () => setHovered(false) : undefined}
         className={({ isActive }) =>
           cn(
-            "group/nav relative flex items-center gap-3",
+            "group relative flex items-center gap-3",
             "px-5 py-2.5",
             "font-mondwest text-display uppercase text-sm tracking-[0.12em]",
             "whitespace-nowrap transition-colors cursor-pointer",
@@ -799,19 +692,11 @@ function SidebarNavLink({
         {({ isActive }) => (
           <>
             <Icon className="h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0" />
-
-            <span
-              className={cn(
-                "truncate transition-opacity duration-300",
-                collapsed ? "lg:opacity-0" : "lg:opacity-100",
-              )}
-            >
-              {navLabel}
-            </span>
+            <span className="truncate">{navLabel}</span>
 
             <span
               aria-hidden
-              className="absolute inset-y-0.5 left-1.5 right-1.5 bg-midground opacity-0 pointer-events-none transition-opacity duration-200 group-hover/nav:opacity-5"
+              className="absolute inset-y-0.5 left-1.5 right-1.5 bg-midground opacity-0 pointer-events-none transition-opacity duration-200 group-hover:opacity-5"
             />
 
             {isActive && (
@@ -824,20 +709,11 @@ function SidebarNavLink({
           </>
         )}
       </NavLink>
-
-      {collapsed && hovered && liRef.current && (
-        <SidebarTooltip anchor={liRef.current} label={navLabel} warmRef={tooltipWarmRef} />
-      )}
     </li>
   );
 }
 
-function SidebarSystemActions({
-  collapsed,
-  onNavigate,
-  status,
-  tooltipWarmRef,
-}: SidebarSystemActionsProps) {
+function SidebarSystemActions({ onNavigate }: { onNavigate: () => void }) {
   const { t } = useI18n();
   const navigate = useNavigate();
   const { activeAction, isBusy, isRunning, pendingAction, runAction } =
@@ -879,248 +755,75 @@ function SidebarSystemActions({
         className={cn(
           "px-5 pt-0.5 pb-0.5",
           "font-mondwest text-display text-xs tracking-[0.12em] text-text-tertiary",
-          collapsed && "lg:hidden",
         )}
       >
         {t.app.system}
       </span>
 
-      <div className={cn(collapsed && "lg:hidden")}>
-        <SidebarStatusStrip status={status} />
-      </div>
-
-      <GatewayDot collapsed={collapsed} status={status} tooltipWarmRef={tooltipWarmRef} />
+      <SidebarStatusStrip />
 
       <ul className="flex flex-col">
-        {items.map((item) => (
-          <SystemActionButton
-            key={item.action}
-            collapsed={collapsed}
-            disabled={isBusy && !(pendingAction === item.action || (activeAction === item.action && isRunning))}
-            tooltipWarmRef={tooltipWarmRef}
-            isPending={pendingAction === item.action}
-            isRunning={activeAction === item.action && isRunning && pendingAction !== item.action}
-            item={item}
-            onClick={() => handleClick(item.action)}
-          />
-        ))}
+        {items.map(({ action, icon: Icon, label, runningLabel, spin }) => {
+          const isPending = pendingAction === action;
+          const isActionRunning =
+            activeAction === action && isRunning && !isPending;
+          const busy = isPending || isActionRunning;
+          const displayLabel = isActionRunning ? runningLabel : label;
+          const disabled = isBusy && !busy;
+
+          return (
+            <li key={action}>
+              <ListItem
+                onClick={() => handleClick(action)}
+                disabled={disabled}
+                aria-busy={busy}
+                active={busy}
+                className={cn(
+                  "gap-3 px-5 py-1.5 whitespace-nowrap",
+                  "font-mondwest text-display text-xs tracking-[0.1em]",
+                  "transition-colors",
+                  busy
+                    ? "text-midground"
+                    : "text-text-secondary hover:text-midground",
+                  "disabled:text-text-disabled",
+                )}
+              >
+                {isPending ? (
+                  <Spinner className="shrink-0 text-[0.875rem]" />
+                ) : isActionRunning && spin ? (
+                  <Spinner className="shrink-0 text-[0.875rem]" />
+                ) : (
+                  <Icon
+                    className={cn(
+                      "h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0",
+                      isActionRunning && !spin && "animate-pulse",
+                    )}
+                  />
+                )}
+
+                <span className="truncate">{displayLabel}</span>
+
+                <span
+                  aria-hidden
+                  className="absolute inset-y-0.5 left-1.5 right-1.5 bg-midground opacity-0 pointer-events-none transition-opacity duration-200 group-hover:opacity-5"
+                />
+
+                {busy && (
+                  <span
+                    aria-hidden
+                    className="absolute left-0 top-0 bottom-0 w-px bg-midground"
+                    style={{ mixBlendMode: "plus-lighter" }}
+                  />
+                )}
+              </ListItem>
+            </li>
+          );
+        })}
       </ul>
     </div>
   );
 }
 
-function SystemActionButton({
-  collapsed,
-  disabled,
-  isPending,
-  isRunning: isActionRunning,
-  item,
-  onClick,
-  tooltipWarmRef,
-}: SystemActionButtonProps) {
-  const { icon: Icon, label, runningLabel, spin } = item;
-  const liRef = useRef<HTMLLIElement>(null);
-  const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);
-  const busy = isPending || isActionRunning;
-  const displayLabel = isActionRunning ? runningLabel : label;
-
-  return (
-    <li
-      ref={liRef}
-      onMouseEnter={collapsed ? () => setHovered(true) : undefined}
-      onMouseLeave={collapsed ? () => setHovered(false) : undefined}
-    >
-      <button
-        onClick={onClick}
-        disabled={disabled}
-        aria-busy={busy}
-        aria-label={collapsed ? displayLabel : undefined}
-        onFocus={collapsed ? () => setHovered(true) : undefined}
-        onBlur={collapsed ? () => setHovered(false) : undefined}
-        type="button"
-        className={cn(
-          "group/action relative flex w-full items-center gap-3",
-          "px-5 py-2.5",
-          "font-mondwest text-display text-xs tracking-[0.1em]",
-          "whitespace-nowrap transition-colors cursor-pointer",
-          "focus-visible:outline-none focus-visible:ring-1 focus-visible:ring-midground",
-          busy
-            ? "text-midground"
-            : "text-text-secondary hover:text-midground",
-          "disabled:text-text-disabled disabled:cursor-not-allowed",
-        )}
-      >
-        {isPending ? (
-          <Spinner className="shrink-0 text-[0.875rem]" />
-        ) : isActionRunning && spin ? (
-          <Spinner className="shrink-0 text-[0.875rem]" />
-        ) : (
-          <Icon
-            className={cn(
-              "h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0",
-              isActionRunning && !spin && "animate-pulse",
-            )}
-          />
-        )}
-
-        <span className={cn(
-          "truncate transition-opacity duration-300",
-          collapsed ? "lg:opacity-0" : "lg:opacity-100",
-        )}>
-          {displayLabel}
-        </span>
-
-        <span
-          aria-hidden
-          className="absolute inset-y-0.5 left-1.5 right-1.5 bg-midground opacity-0 pointer-events-none transition-opacity duration-200 group-hover/action:opacity-5"
-        />
-
-        {busy && (
-          <span
-            aria-hidden
-            className="absolute left-0 top-0 bottom-0 w-px bg-midground"
-            style={{ mixBlendMode: "plus-lighter" }}
-          />
-        )}
-      </button>
-
-      {collapsed && hovered && liRef.current && (
-        <SidebarTooltip anchor={liRef.current} label={displayLabel} warmRef={tooltipWarmRef} />
-      )}
-    </li>
-  );
-}
-
-function SidebarIconWithTooltip({
-  children,
-  collapsed,
-  label,
-  tooltipWarmRef,
-}: SidebarIconWithTooltipProps) {
-  const ref = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
-  const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);
-
-  return (
-    <div
-      ref={ref}
-      className={cn(
-        "relative w-fit",
-        collapsed && "group/icon",
-      )}
-      onMouseEnter={collapsed ? () => setHovered(true) : undefined}
-      onMouseLeave={collapsed ? () => setHovered(false) : undefined}
-    >
-      {children}
-
-      {collapsed && (
-        <span
-          aria-hidden
-          className="absolute inset-y-0 inset-x-[-0.375rem] bg-midground opacity-0 pointer-events-none transition-opacity duration-200 group-hover/icon:opacity-5 hidden lg:block"
-        />
-      )}
-
-      {collapsed && hovered && ref.current && (
-        <SidebarTooltip anchor={ref.current} label={label} warmRef={tooltipWarmRef} />
-      )}
-    </div>
-  );
-}
-
-function GatewayDot({ collapsed, status, tooltipWarmRef }: GatewayDotProps) {
-  const { t } = useI18n();
-  const ref = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
-  const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);
-
-  const toneToColor: Record<string, string> = {
-    "text-success": "bg-success",
-    "text-warning": "bg-warning",
-    "text-destructive": "bg-destructive",
-    "text-muted-foreground": "bg-muted-foreground",
-  };
-
-  let color: string;
-  let label: string;
-
-  if (!status) {
-    color = "bg-midground/20";
-    label = t.status.gateway;
-  } else {
-    const gw = gatewayLine(status, t);
-    color = toneToColor[gw.tone] ?? "bg-muted-foreground";
-    label = `${t.status.gateway} ${gw.label}`;
-  }
-
-  return (
-    <div
-      ref={ref}
-      className={cn(
-        "hidden lg:flex py-3 pl-[1.625rem] transition-opacity duration-300",
-        collapsed ? "lg:opacity-100" : "lg:opacity-0 lg:h-0 lg:py-0 lg:overflow-hidden",
-      )}
-      role="status"
-      aria-label={label}
-      tabIndex={collapsed ? 0 : -1}
-      onMouseEnter={collapsed ? () => setHovered(true) : undefined}
-      onMouseLeave={collapsed ? () => setHovered(false) : undefined}
-      onFocus={collapsed ? () => setHovered(true) : undefined}
-      onBlur={collapsed ? () => setHovered(false) : undefined}
-    >
-      <span
-        aria-hidden
-        className={cn("h-1.5 w-1.5 rounded-full", color)}
-      />
-
-      {hovered && ref.current && (
-        <SidebarTooltip anchor={ref.current} label={label} warmRef={tooltipWarmRef} />
-      )}
-    </div>
-  );
-}
-
-function SidebarTooltip({ anchor, label, warmRef }: SidebarTooltipProps) {
-  const rect = anchor.getBoundingClientRect();
-  const sidebar = document.getElementById("app-sidebar");
-  const sidebarRight = sidebar?.getBoundingClientRect().right ?? rect.right;
-
-  const isWarm = warmRef ? Date.now() - warmRef.current < 300 : false;
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (warmRef) warmRef.current = Date.now();
-    return () => {
-      if (warmRef) warmRef.current = Date.now();
-    };
-  }, [warmRef]);
-
-  return createPortal(
-    <span
-      className={cn(
-        "fixed z-[100] pointer-events-none",
-        "px-2 py-1",
-        "bg-background-base/95 border border-current/20 backdrop-blur-sm shadow-lg",
-        "font-mondwest text-display text-xs tracking-[0.1em] text-midground uppercase",
-      )}
-      style={{
-        top: rect.top + rect.height / 2,
-        left: sidebarRight + 8,
-        transform: "translateY(-50%)",
-        opacity: isWarm ? 1 : undefined,
-        animation: isWarm ? "none" : "sidebar-tooltip-in 120ms ease-out",
-      }}
-    >
-      {label}
-    </span>,
-    document.body,
-  );
-}
-
-type TooltipWarmRef = React.RefObject<number>;
-
-interface GatewayDotProps {
-  collapsed: boolean;
-  status: StatusResponse | null;
-  tooltipWarmRef: TooltipWarmRef;
-}
-
 interface NavItem {
   icon: ComponentType<{ className?: string }>;
   label: string;
@@ -1128,42 +831,10 @@ interface NavItem {
   path: string;
 }
 
-interface SidebarIconWithTooltipProps {
-  children: ReactNode;
-  collapsed: boolean;
-  label: string;
-  tooltipWarmRef: TooltipWarmRef;
-}
-
 interface SidebarNavLinkProps {
   closeMobile: () => void;
-  collapsed: boolean;
   item: NavItem;
   t: Translations;
-  tooltipWarmRef: TooltipWarmRef;
-}
-
-interface SidebarSystemActionsProps {
-  collapsed: boolean;
-  onNavigate: () => void;
-  status: StatusResponse | null;
-  tooltipWarmRef: TooltipWarmRef;
-}
-
-interface SidebarTooltipProps {
-  anchor: HTMLElement;
-  label: string;
-  warmRef?: TooltipWarmRef;
-}
-
-interface SystemActionButtonProps {
-  collapsed: boolean;
-  disabled: boolean;
-  isPending: boolean;
-  isRunning: boolean;
-  item: SystemActionItem;
-  onClick: () => void;
-  tooltipWarmRef: TooltipWarmRef;
 }
 
 interface SystemActionItem {

apps/dashboard/src/components/AutoField.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { Select, SelectOption } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/select";
 import { Switch } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/switch";
-import { Input } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/input";
-import { Label } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/label";
+import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input";
+import { Label } from "@/components/ui/label";
 
 function FieldHint({ schema, schemaKey }: { schema: Record<string, unknown>; schemaKey: string }) {
   const keyPath = schemaKey.includes(".") ? schemaKey : "";

apps/dashboard/src/components/BottomPickSheet.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,225 @@
+import {
+  type PointerEvent as ReactPointerEvent,
+  type ReactNode,
+  useEffect,
+  useRef,
+  useState,
+} from "react";
+import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
+import { Typography } from "@/components/NouiTypography";
+import { cn, themedBody } from "@/lib/utils";
+
+const CLOSE_DRAG_MIN_PX = 72;
+const CLOSE_DRAG_RATIO = 0.18;
+const SHEET_TRANSITION_MS = 280;
+
+/**
+ * Mobile-first picker shell: fixed backdrop + bottom sheet, portaled to `body`
+ * so nested overflow/transform in the sidebar cannot clip menus (theme /
+ * language switchers). Open/close uses slide + fade; teardown is delayed until
+ * the exit animation finishes so animations can complete.
+ *
+ * Drag the header/handle downward to dismiss (skipped when reduced motion is on).
+ */
+export function BottomPickSheet({
+  backdropDismissLabel = "Dismiss",
+  children,
+  onClose,
+  open,
+  title,
+}: BottomPickSheetProps) {
+  const [renderPortal, setRenderPortal] = useState(open);
+  const [entered, setEntered] = useState(false);
+  const [dragOffsetPx, setDragOffsetPx] = useState(0);
+  const [dragActive, setDragActive] = useState(false);
+
+  const closeTimerRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
+  const sheetRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const dragTrackingRef = useRef(false);
+  const dragStartYRef = useRef(0);
+  const dragOffsetRef = useRef(0);
+
+  const reducedMotion =
+    typeof window !== "undefined" &&
+    window.matchMedia("(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)").matches;
+
+  const syncDragPx = (next: number) => {
+    dragOffsetRef.current = next;
+    setDragOffsetPx(next);
+  };
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (closeTimerRef.current) {
+      clearTimeout(closeTimerRef.current);
+      closeTimerRef.current = null;
+    }
+
+    const ms = reducedMotion ? 0 : SHEET_TRANSITION_MS;
+
+    let openRafId = 0;
+    let exitRafId = 0;
+
+    if (open) {
+      openRafId = requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        dragTrackingRef.current = false;
+        dragOffsetRef.current = 0;
+        setDragActive(false);
+        setDragOffsetPx(0);
+        setRenderPortal(true);
+        requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+          requestAnimationFrame(() => setEntered(true));
+        });
+      });
+    } else {
+      exitRafId = requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        dragTrackingRef.current = false;
+        setDragActive(false);
+        setEntered(false);
+        closeTimerRef.current = window.setTimeout(() => {
+          dragOffsetRef.current = 0;
+          setDragOffsetPx(0);
+          setRenderPortal(false);
+          closeTimerRef.current = null;
+        }, ms);
+      });
+    }
+
+    return () => {
+      cancelAnimationFrame(openRafId);
+      cancelAnimationFrame(exitRafId);
+      if (closeTimerRef.current) {
+        clearTimeout(closeTimerRef.current);
+        closeTimerRef.current = null;
+      }
+    };
+  }, [open, reducedMotion]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!renderPortal) return;
+    const prev = document.body.style.overflow;
+    document.body.style.overflow = "hidden";
+    return () => {
+      document.body.style.overflow = prev;
+    };
+  }, [renderPortal]);
+
+  if (!renderPortal || typeof document === "undefined") return null;
+
+  const durationClass = reducedMotion ? "duration-0" : "duration-[280ms]";
+
+  const draggingVisual = dragActive || dragOffsetPx > 0;
+
+  const onDragPointerDown = (e: ReactPointerEvent<HTMLDivElement>) => {
+    if (reducedMotion || !entered) return;
+    if (e.pointerType === "mouse" && e.button !== 0) return;
+
+    dragTrackingRef.current = true;
+    setDragActive(true);
+    dragStartYRef.current = e.clientY;
+    syncDragPx(0);
+    e.currentTarget.setPointerCapture(e.pointerId);
+  };
+
+  const onDragPointerMove = (e: ReactPointerEvent<HTMLDivElement>) => {
+    if (!dragTrackingRef.current) return;
+    const dy = e.clientY - dragStartYRef.current;
+    const next = Math.max(0, dy);
+    const sheetH = sheetRef.current?.offsetHeight ?? 560;
+    syncDragPx(Math.min(next, sheetH));
+  };
+
+  const endDrag = (e: ReactPointerEvent<HTMLDivElement>) => {
+    if (!dragTrackingRef.current) return;
+    dragTrackingRef.current = false;
+    setDragActive(false);
+    try {
+      e.currentTarget.releasePointerCapture(e.pointerId);
+    } catch {
+      /* already released */
+    }
+
+    const sheetH = sheetRef.current?.offsetHeight ?? 560;
+    const threshold = Math.max(CLOSE_DRAG_MIN_PX, sheetH * CLOSE_DRAG_RATIO);
+    const d = dragOffsetRef.current;
+
+    if (d >= threshold) {
+      onClose();
+      return;
+    }
+    syncDragPx(0);
+  };
+
+  return createPortal(
+    <div className="fixed inset-0 z-[200] flex flex-col justify-end">
+      <button
+        type="button"
+        aria-label={backdropDismissLabel}
+        className={cn(
+          "absolute inset-0 bg-black/55 backdrop-blur-[2px]",
+          "transition-opacity ease-out motion-reduce:transition-none",
+          durationClass,
+          entered ? "opacity-100" : "opacity-0",
+        )}
+        onClick={onClose}
+      />
+
+      <div
+        aria-label={title}
+        aria-modal="true"
+        ref={sheetRef}
+        className={cn(
+          themedBody,
+          "relative flex max-h-[85dvh] min-h-0 flex-col rounded-t-xl border border-current/20",
+          "bg-background-base/98 pb-[max(1rem,env(safe-area-inset-bottom))]",
+          "shadow-[0_-12px_40px_-8px_rgba(0,0,0,0.55)] backdrop-blur-md",
+          "ease-out motion-reduce:transition-none transform-gpu",
+          draggingVisual ? "transition-none" : cn("transition-transform", durationClass),
+          entered ? "translate-y-0" : "translate-y-full",
+        )}
+        role="dialog"
+        style={
+          entered && dragOffsetPx > 0
+            ? { transform: `translateY(${dragOffsetPx}px)` }
+            : undefined
+        }
+      >
+        <div
+          className={cn(
+            "flex shrink-0 flex-col gap-2 border-b border-current/15 px-4 pb-3 pt-2",
+            "touch-none select-none",
+            reducedMotion ? "cursor-default" : "cursor-grab active:cursor-grabbing",
+          )}
+          onPointerCancel={endDrag}
+          onPointerDown={onDragPointerDown}
+          onPointerMove={onDragPointerMove}
+          onPointerUp={endDrag}
+        >
+          <div
+            aria-hidden
+            className="mx-auto h-1 w-10 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-current/20"
+          />
+
+          <Typography
+            mondwest
+            className="text-display text-xs tracking-[0.12em] text-text-tertiary"
+          >
+            {title}
+          </Typography>
+        </div>
+
+        <div className="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-y-auto overscroll-contain">
+          {children}
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </div>,
+    document.body,
+  );
+}
+
+interface BottomPickSheetProps {
+  backdropDismissLabel?: string;
+  children: ReactNode;
+  onClose: () => void;
+  open: boolean;
+  title: string;
+}

apps/dashboard/src/components/ChatSidebar.tsx

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 import { Button } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/button";
 import { Badge } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/badge";
-import { Card } from "@nous-research/ui/ui/components/card";
+import { Card } from "@/components/ui/card";
 
 import { ModelPickerDialog } from "@/components/ModelPickerDialog";
 import { ToolCall, type ToolEntry } from "@/components/ToolCall";
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ export function ChatSidebar({ channel, className }: ChatSidebarProps) {
                 <ChevronDown className="text-text-secondary" />
               ) : undefined
             }
-            className="self-start min-w-0 px-0 py-0 normal-case tracking-normal text-sm font-medium hover:underline disabled:no-underline"
+            className="self-start min-w-0 px-0 py-0 normal-case tracking-normal text-sm font-medium underline-offset-4 decoration-current/40 hover:underline disabled:no-underline"
             title={info.model ?? "switch model"}
           >
             <span className="truncate">{modelLabel}</span>