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fix(cli): pin HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD at chat boot to stop subprocess board drift#20094

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fix(cli): pin HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD at chat boot to stop subprocess board drift#20094
0xDevNinja wants to merge 1 commit intoNousResearch:mainfrom
0xDevNinja:fix/20074-pin-kanban-board-env

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@0xDevNinja 0xDevNinja commented May 5, 2026

What does this PR do?

In cmd_chat, pin the resolved kanban board into HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD once at boot when the env var isn't already set. Without this, in-process kanban_* tools and shelled-out hermes kanban … subprocesses resolve the board on different paths — env-var pin if present, otherwise the global <root>/kanban/current file. A concurrent hermes kanban boards switch from another session can flip that file mid-turn, so the same chat ends up routing tool calls to board A while its shell calls hit board B, surfacing as phantom "no such task" errors when an orchestrator immediately tries to harness kanban show <id> after kanban_create.

This mirrors the behaviour the dispatcher already has for spawned workers (hermes_cli/kanban_db.py:2622-2623) — pin the board into the child env so every code path resolves the same DB. Idempotent and a no-op when the caller has already exported the env (e.g. dispatcher-spawned worker, ad-hoc shell pin).

Related Issue

Fixes #20074

Type of Change

  • 🐛 Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
  • ✨ New feature (non-breaking change that adds functionality)
  • 🔒 Security fix
  • 📝 Documentation update
  • ✅ Tests (adding or improving test coverage)
  • ♻️ Refactor (no behavior change)
  • 🎯 New skill (bundled or hub)

Changes Made

  • hermes_cli/main.py: add _pin_kanban_board_env() helper and call it from cmd_chat after the existing env-flag block, before forking to TUI vs CLI.
  • tests/hermes_cli/test_pin_kanban_board_env.py: cover the three branches — pin when unset, no-op when already set, swallow get_current_board() failures (boot must never crash because the kanban dir is missing or unreadable).

How to Test

  1. harness kanban boards switch space (Terminal 1)
  2. harness -p space-orchestrator chat (Terminal 1) — leave it sitting at the prompt.
  3. harness kanban boards switch harness-facet (Terminal 2, concurrent).
  4. Back in Terminal 1's chat, ask the orchestrator to kanban_create a task and then immediately shell harness kanban show <id>. Before the fix, the shell-out lands on harness-facet and reports "no such task". After the fix, both calls resolve to space because HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD=space was pinned at chat boot.
  5. Unit tests: pytest tests/hermes_cli/test_pin_kanban_board_env.py -v (3/3 pass).

Checklist

Code

  • I've read the Contributing Guide
  • My commit messages follow Conventional Commits (fix(scope):, feat(scope):, etc.)
  • I searched for existing PRs to make sure this isn't a duplicate
  • My PR contains only changes related to this fix/feature (no unrelated commits)
  • I've run pytest tests/ -q and all tests pass (15 pre-existing failures in gateway/web_server/bedrock unrelated to this change; full hermes_cli suite green except those)
  • I've added tests for my changes (required for bug fixes, strongly encouraged for features)
  • I've tested on my platform: macOS 14.2 (Darwin 23.2.0)

Documentation & Housekeeping

  • I've updated relevant documentation (README, docs/, docstrings) — N/A (helper docstring covers the rationale; no user-facing surface added)
  • I've updated cli-config.yaml.example if I added/changed config keys — N/A
  • I've updated CONTRIBUTING.md or AGENTS.md if I changed architecture or workflows — N/A
  • I've considered cross-platform impact (Windows, macOS) per the compatibility guide — env-pin is platform-agnostic; mirrors existing dispatcher behaviour.
  • I've updated tool descriptions/schemas if I changed tool behavior — N/A

@0xDevNinja
fix(cli): pin HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD at chat boot to stop subprocess boa…
687f6fd 
…rd drift

Without an explicit pin, in-process kanban tools and shelled-out
`hermes kanban …` subprocesses resolve the active board on different
paths: the env var when set, otherwise the global `<root>/kanban/current`
file. When a concurrent session toggles the current-board pointer
mid-turn, the same chat ends up routing tool calls to board A while its
shell calls hit board B, surfacing as phantom "no such task" errors.

Pin the resolved board into env once at `cmd_chat` boot when
HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD isn't already set. Mirrors what the dispatcher does
for spawned workers (kanban_db.py:2622-2623). Idempotent and a no-op
when the env is already pinned by the caller.

Closes NousResearch#20074
@alt-glitch alt-glitch added type/bug Something isn't working comp/cli CLI entry point, hermes_cli/, setup wizard P3 Low — cosmetic, nice to have labels May 5, 2026
@teknium1 teknium1 mentioned this pull request May 5, 2026
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teknium1 commented May 5, 2026

Merged via PR #20186 (commit f8a6db6). Your commit was cherry-picked onto current main with your authorship preserved in git log.

One small follow-up landed alongside: your test file used monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD") for cleanup, but the helper under test writes to os.environ directly — monkeypatch only tracks its own mutations, so the "space" value survived teardown and broke 9 tests in TestSharedBoardPaths when run in the same suite (xdist hid it; serial run made it obvious). Added an autouse snapshot/restore fixture. Filed as a separate commit so your original is clean.

Thanks for the tight fix, clear repro, and the concrete suggestion on where to put the pin — made the salvage trivial.

#20186

@teknium1 teknium1 closed this May 5, 2026
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0xDevNinja commented May 6, 2026

Appreciate the salvage and the fixture catch. monkeypatch.delenv vs a helper that writes os.environ directly is a sharp footgun — only undoes its own mutations, so anything the function-under-test sets stays set after teardown. Will reach for an autouse snapshot fixture by default whenever the code path mutates os.environ outside monkeypatch. Thanks for keeping the original commit clean.

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[Bug]: harness kanban CLI invoked from agent session ignores active-board pin, races current file with concurrent boards switch

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