…ult (NousResearch#1922)

SOUL.md now loads in slot #1 of the system prompt, replacing the
hardcoded DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY. This lets users fully customize
the agent's identity and personality by editing ~/.hermes/SOUL.md
without it conflicting with the built-in identity text.

When SOUL.md is loaded as identity, it's excluded from the context
files section to avoid appearing twice. When SOUL.md is missing,
empty, unreadable, or skip_context_files is set, the hardcoded
DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY is used as a fallback.

The default SOUL.md (seeded on first run) already contains the full
Hermes personality, so existing installs are unaffected.

Co-authored-by: Test <[email protected]>

Update all SOUL.md documentation to reflect that it now occupies
slot #1 in the system prompt, replacing the hardcoded default identity.

Updated pages:
- user-guide/features/personality.md — SOUL.md is primary identity, not just a layer
- developer-guide/prompt-assembly.md — updated prompt layer order, context files list
- guides/use-soul-with-hermes.md — SOUL.md replaces built-in identity
- user-guide/configuration.md — updated context files table and directory tree

Co-authored-by: Test <[email protected]>

merge from remote

…ts (NousResearch#11745)

Move moonshotai/kimi-k2.5 to position #1 in every model picker list:
- OPENROUTER_MODELS (with 'recommended' tag)
- _PROVIDER_MODELS: nous, kimi-coding, opencode-zen, opencode-go, alibaba, huggingface
- _model_flow_kimi() Coding Plan model list in main.py

kimi-coding-cn and moonshot lists already had kimi-k2.5 first.

When the live Vercel AI Gateway catalog exposes a Moonshot model with
zero input AND output pricing, it's promoted to position #1 as the
recommended default — even if the exact ID isn't in the curated
AI_GATEWAY_MODELS list. This enables dynamic discovery of new free
Moonshot variants without requiring a PR to update curation.

Paid Moonshot models are unaffected; falls back to the normal curated
recommended tag when no free Moonshot is live.

…#13354)

Classic-CLI /steer typed during an active agent run was queued through
self._pending_input alongside ordinary user input.  process_loop, which
drains that queue, is blocked inside self.chat() for the entire run,
so the queued command was not pulled until AFTER _agent_running had
flipped back to False — at which point process_command() took the idle
fallback ("No agent running; queued as next turn") and delivered the
steer as an ordinary next-turn user message.

From Utku's bug report on PR NousResearch#13205: mid-run /steer arrived minutes
later at the end of the turn as a /queue-style message, completely
defeating its purpose.

Fix: add _should_handle_steer_command_inline() gating — when
_agent_running is True and the user typed /steer, dispatch
process_command(text) directly from the prompt_toolkit Enter handler
on the UI thread instead of queueing.  This mirrors the existing
_should_handle_model_command_inline() pattern for /model and is
safe because agent.steer() is thread-safe (uses _pending_steer_lock,
no prompt_toolkit state mutation, instant return).

No changes to the idle-path behavior: /steer typed with no active
agent still takes the normal queue-and-drain route so the fallback
"No agent running; queued as next turn" message is preserved.

Validation:
- 7 new unit tests in tests/cli/test_cli_steer_busy_path.py covering
  the detector, dispatch path, and idle-path control behavior.
- All 21 existing tests in tests/run_agent/test_steer.py still pass.
- Live PTY end-to-end test with real agent + real openrouter model:
    22:36:22 API call #1 (model requested execute_code)
    22:36:26 ENTER FIRED: agent_running=True, text='/steer ...'
    22:36:26 INLINE STEER DISPATCH fired
    22:36:43 agent.log: 'Delivered /steer to agent after tool batch'
    22:36:44 API call #2 included the steer; response contained marker
  Same test on the tip of main without this fix shows the steer
  landing as a new user turn ~20s after the run ended.

Previously the breaker was only cleared when the post-reconnect retry
call itself succeeded (via _reset_server_error at the end of the try
block). If OAuth recovery succeeded but the retry call happened to
fail for a different reason, control fell through to the
needs_reauth path which called _bump_server_error — adding to an
already-tripped count instead of the fresh count the reconnect
justified. With fix #1 in place this would still self-heal on the
next cooldown, but we should not pay a 60s stall when we already
have positive evidence the server is viable.

Move _reset_server_error(server_name) up to immediately after the
reconnect-and-ready-wait block, before the retry_call. The
subsequent retry still goes through _bump_server_error on failure,
so a genuinely broken server re-trips the breaker as normal — but
the retry starts from a clean count (1 after a failure), not a
stale one.

- entry.tsx no longer writes bootBanner() to the main screen before the
  alt-screen enters. The <Banner> renders inside the alt screen via the
  seeded intro row, so nothing is lost — just the flash that preceded it.
  Fixes the torn first frame reported on Alacritty (blitz row 5 NousResearch#17) and
  shaves the 'starting agent' hang perception (row 5 #1) since the UI
  paints straight into the steady-state view
- AlternateScreen prefixes ERASE_SCROLLBACK (\x1b[3J) to its entry so
  strict emulators start from a pristine grid; named constants replace
  the inline sequences for clarity
- bootBanner.ts deleted — dead code

…matrix, troubleshooting (NousResearch#15135)

The initial Spotify docs page shipped in NousResearch#15130 was a setup guide. This
expands it into a full feature reference:

- Per-tool parameter table for all 9 tools, extracted from the real
  schemas in tools/spotify_tool.py (actions, required/optional args,
  premium gating).
- Free vs Premium feature matrix — which actions work on which tier,
  so Free users don't assume Spotify tools are useless to them.
- Active-device prerequisite called out at the top; this is the #1
  cause of '403 no active device' reports for every Spotify
  integration.
- SSH / headless section explaining that browser auto-open is skipped
  when SSH_CLIENT/SSH_TTY is set, and how to tunnel the callback port.
- Token lifecycle: refresh on 401, persistence across restarts, how
  to revoke server-side via spotify.com/account/apps.
- Example prompt list so users know what to ask the agent.
- Troubleshooting expanded: no-active-device, Premium-required, 204
  now_playing, INVALID_CLIENT, 429, 401 refresh-revoked, wizard not
  opening browser.
- 'Where things live' table mapping auth.json / .env / Spotify app.

Verified with 'node scripts/prebuild.mjs && npx docusaurus build'
— page compiles, no new warnings.

The scheme-validation commit (e77a3f2c) was too strict: a user with
legacy ''baseUrl: localhost:8000'' (no ''http://'' prefix) in their
''~/.honcho/config.json'' would get ''No API key configured'' from the
CLI after that change, even though their setup worked before.

urlparse on a schemeless host:port treats the host segment as the
scheme and leaves netloc empty, so the http/https check rejected it.

Falls back to a lenient check for schemeless strings that look like
hosts: contain '.' or ':', aren't a boolean/null literal, aren't pure
digits. The SDK still rejects truly malformed URLs at connect time
with a clearer error than ours.

Three new tests: legacy schemeless hosts accepted; obvious garbage
literals (''true'', ''null'', ''12345'') still rejected.  Reviewer
noted concern #1: schemeless regression for self-hosters with old
configs.

* ci(nix): auto-fix stale npm hashes on push to main

When a PR merges to main with updated package-lock.json or package.json
in ui-tui/ or web/, the new auto-fix-main job detects stale npmDepsHash
values and pushes a fix commit directly to main.

This eliminates the recurring manual hash-bump PRs (NousResearch#15420, NousResearch#15314,
NousResearch#15272, NousResearch#15244) by reusing the existing fix-lockfiles --apply pipeline.

The fix commit only touches nix/*.nix files, which are outside the push
path filter (package-lock.json / package.json), so it cannot re-trigger
itself.

Closes NousResearch#15314

* fix(ci): use GitHub App token for auto-fix-main push

GITHUB_TOKEN commits are invisible to workflow triggers (GitHub's
infinite-loop prevention). The auto-fix-main job pushes directly to
main, so the fix commit never triggered downstream nix.yml verification.

Mint a short-lived token via the repo's GitHub App (daimon-nous, APP_ID
+ APP_PRIVATE_KEY secrets) so the push is treated as a real event and
nix.yml fires to verify the corrected hashes.

Tested via workflow_dispatch dry-run: app token minted successfully,
checkout with app token succeeded, fix job correctly gated.

Resolves review feedback from Bugbot (r3144569551).

* ci(nix): rename lockfile check job for required status check

Rename 'check' → 'nix-lockfile-check' so the status check name is
unambiguous when added as a required check on main.

* fix(ci): harden auto-fix-main against races, loops, and silent failures

Address adversarial review findings:

1. Race condition (#1): Job-level concurrency with cancel-in-progress
   collapses back-to-back pushes; ref: main checkout always gets latest
   branch state; explicit push target (origin HEAD:main).

2. Loop prevention (#2): File-whitelist check before commit aborts if
   any file outside nix/{tui,web}.nix was modified, preventing
   accidental self-triggering.

3. Silent infra failures (NousResearch#8): nix-lockfile-check now fails explicitly
   when fix-lockfiles exits without reporting stale status (catches nix
   setup failures, network errors, script bugs that bypass continue-on-error).

4. Commit traceability (NousResearch#11): Auto-fix commits include source SHA and
   workflow run URL in the commit body.

5. Explicit push target (NousResearch#12): git push origin HEAD:main instead of
   bare git push.

---------

Co-authored-by: alt-glitch <[email protected]>

…ch#16706)

* fix(tui): drop stale stream events after ctrl-c interrupt

Once interruptTurn() flips this.interrupted, only recordMessageDelta
short-circuited.  recordReasoningDelta/Available, recordToolStart/
Progress/Complete, and recordInlineDiffToolComplete kept populating
turnState until the python loop reached its next _interrupt_requested
check (~1s on busy turns), making it look like ctrl-c was ignored
while late "thinking" + tool calls kept landing in the UI.

Add the same interrupted guard to every stream-side recorder, and
clear the flag at startMessage() so the next turn isn't suppressed
if the previous turn never delivered message.complete.

* fix(tui): guard recordTodos against post-interrupt mutation; fake-timers in test

Copilot review on PR NousResearch#16706:

1. `recordToolStart` is interruption-guarded, but `tool.start`
   handler also calls `recordTodos(payload.todos)` first — so a
   late tool.start carrying todos could still mutate `turnState.todos`
   after Ctrl-C, leaving ghost rows in the panel.  Adds the same
   `if (this.interrupted) return` early-exit to `recordTodos` so
   *all* tool.start side-effects are dropped post-interrupt.

2. The interrupt test was leaking a real `setTimeout` (interrupt
   cooldown) across test files, which could fire later and mutate
   uiStore from the wrong test context.  Wraps the test in
   `vi.useFakeTimers()` + `vi.runAllTimers()` and restores real
   timers in finally.

3. Extends the same test with a todos payload on the post-interrupt
   tool.start so we have explicit regression coverage for #1.

* fix(tui): guard pushTrail post-interrupt; harden interrupt-test cleanup

Round 2 Copilot review on PR NousResearch#16706:

1. `tool.generating` events route through `pushTrail`, which was not
   interruption-guarded — late events could still write 'drafting …'
   into `turnTrail` after Ctrl-C, leaving a stale shimmer in the UI.
   Adds the same `if (this.interrupted) return` early-exit.

2. Test cleanup moved `vi.runAllTimers()` into `finally` (before
   `vi.useRealTimers()`) so a mid-test assertion failure can't leak
   the interrupt-cooldown setTimeout across other test files.

3. Replaced the misleading 'pre-interrupt todos … expected to be
   cleared by the interrupt cycle' comment with an accurate one
   reflecting current behaviour (interrupt does NOT clear todos).

4. Added an explicit assertion that a post-interrupt `tool.generating`
   event does not extend `turnTrail` — regression coverage for #1.

Fifth and final slice polish on top of @dlkakbs's docs + skill. Three
things ship here:

1. Subscription renewal cron recipe (the #1 operational footgun).

   Microsoft Graph webhook subscriptions expire at 72 hours max and
   don't auto-renew. The shipped operator runbook mentioned
   `maintain-subscriptions --dry-run` as a "daily or periodic check"
   but never told operators how to actually automate it. Without a
   scheduled job, any production deployment silently stops ingesting
   meetings three days after go-live.

   Adds an "Automating subscription renewal (REQUIRED for production)"
   section to website/docs/guides/operate-teams-meeting-pipeline.md
   with three concrete options and copy-pasteable configs:

   - Option 1: Hermes cron (`hermes cron add --schedule "0 */12 * * *"
     --script-only --command "hermes teams-pipeline maintain-subscriptions"`)
   - Option 2: systemd service + timer (12h cadence, Persistent=true
     so missed runs catch up after reboots)
   - Option 3: plain crontab with a wrapper that sources .env for
     credentials

   Go-Live Checklist gains a bolded mandatory item for the schedule
   being in place, with a cross-link to the section.

   website/docs/user-guide/messaging/teams-meetings.md adds a
   `:::warning:::` admonition right after the manual `subscribe`
   examples so anyone who creates a subscription manually is told
   the same day that it will silently expire in 72 hours.

2. Sidebar wiring. Shela's new docs pages (teams-meetings.md and
   operate-teams-meeting-pipeline.md) weren't in website/sidebars.ts,
   so they were orphaned URLs — reachable only if someone knew the
   path. Wired teams-meetings into Messaging Platforms next to the
   existing teams entry, and operate-teams-meeting-pipeline into
   Guides & Tutorials next to microsoft-graph-app-registration from
   PR NousResearch#21922. Adjacent placement keeps the related pages discoverable
   from each other.

3. SKILL.md rewrite (v1.0.0 → v1.1.0).

   The original skill had five Turkish-only trigger phrases, which
   works in a Turkish-speaking session but doesn't match English
   triggers. Rewrote the skill to:

   - Describe triggers by intent instead of exact phrases, with
     explicit "works in any language" framing and example phrases
     in both English and Turkish.
   - Add a Decision Tree section covering the three most common user
     asks (missing summary, setup verification, re-run request) and
     the specific CLI command sequence for each.
   - Add a dedicated "Critical pitfall: Graph subscriptions expire
     in 72 hours" section that tells the agent exactly what to do
     when a user reports "worked yesterday, nothing today" — the
     most common operational failure mode.
   - Expand the command reference into three labeled groups (Status
     and inspection / Re-running and debugging / Subscription
     management) so the agent can reach for the right command
     without scanning.
   - Add cross-links to all four related docs pages (Azure app
     registration, webhook listener setup, full pipeline setup,
     operator runbook).

Validation:
- npm run build: all new pages route, anchor to
  #automating-subscription-renewal-required-for-production resolves
  from both the runbook TOC and the teams-meetings.md admonition.
- scripts/run_tests.sh on the relevant test suites (607 tests): all
  pass.

…olve on first launch

Three interrelated bugs from teknium1's first interactive chat on Windows:

1. **Snapshot/cwd file paths unquoted in bash command strings.**  The session
   bootstrap and per-command wrapper interpolated
   ``self._snapshot_path`` / ``self._cwd_file`` unquoted into bash commands
   like ``export -p > C:/Users/ryanc/.../hermes-snap-xxx.sh``.  Git Bash's
   MSYS2 layer handles ``C:/...`` paths correctly ONLY when quoted; unquoted,
   the colon and forward-slash get glob-parsed and the redirect targets a
   bogus path.  Symptom: every terminal command emitted two
   ``C:/Users/.../hermes-snap-*.sh (No such file or directory)`` lines that
   bled into stdout (``stderr=STDOUT`` on the local backend) and corrupted
   file contents when the agent wrote to scratch paths via the terminal
   tool.  Fix: ``shlex.quote()`` every interpolation of ``_snapshot_path``
   and ``_cwd_file`` in base.py — no-op on POSIX (the paths contain no
   shell-metachars), critical on Windows.

2. **Stale PATH on first hermes launch after install.**  ``install.ps1``
   adds the PortableGit ``cmd`` / ``bin`` / ``usr\bin`` directories to the
   Windows **User** PATH via ``SetEnvironmentVariable(..., "User")``.  That
   write propagates to newly *spawned* processes only — already-running
   shells (including the one the user types ``hermes`` into immediately
   after install) retain their old PATH.  So hermes starts with a PATH that
   doesn't include bash, rg, grep, ssh — and ``search_files`` reports
   "rg/find not available" when the user clearly just installed them.

   Fix: new ``_augment_path_with_known_tools()`` helper called from
   ``configure_windows_stdio()`` on startup.  Prepends the Hermes-managed
   Git directories + the WinGet Links directory (where ripgrep lands) to
   ``os.environ['PATH']`` if they exist on disk but aren't already in
   PATH.  Subsequent subprocess calls (including bash spawns via
   ``_find_bash()``) inherit the augmented PATH and find everything.
   No-op on POSIX and when the directories don't exist.

3. **Root cause of "file content corruption".**  #1 was the proximate cause.
   Errors like ``C:/Users/.../hermes-snap-xxx.sh: No such file or directory``
   were emitted on stderr by the failed redirect, captured into stdout via
   ``stderr=subprocess.STDOUT``, and if the agent used terminal commands
   like ``cat > file`` the leaked error bytes became part of the file.
   Fixing #1 eliminates this entirely.

## Tests

All 77 Windows-compat tests still pass on Linux (POSIX path is
shlex.quote('/tmp/foo.sh') → '/tmp/foo.sh' — unchanged).

## Not addressed here (would need a bigger design)

- Python file tools (``write_file``, ``read_file``) and the bash-backed
  terminal tool see DIFFERENT views of ``/tmp`` on Windows.  Python treats
  ``/tmp`` as ``C:\tmp`` (drive-relative), Git Bash's MSYS2 treats it as
  a virtual mount to the PortableGit install's ``tmp\``.  Would need a
  translation shim in the Python tools to resolve bash-virtual paths to
  their native-Windows equivalents.  Workaround for users today: use
  absolute native paths (``C:\Users\you\...``) instead of ``/tmp/...``
  when crossing between terminal and Python file tools.

…search#22920)

Found 18 real Hermes-Agent stories from HN, X, and Reddit not yet
captured on the page. All URLs HTTP-verified to return 200 with
matching titles.

Reddit (15): r/hermesagent (Obsidian-as-memory writeup at 794 upvotes,
LLM cheatsheet at 635 upvotes, Kanban game-changer post, OpenRouter #1
ranking, AMA from the Nous team, etc.); r/LocalLLaMA, r/Rag,
r/openclaw, r/SideProject, r/LocalLLM threads where users describe
their actual setups (Qwen3.5-9b on 16gb VRAM, 5060Ti + Telegram, smart
routing tiers).

X (3): @vmiss33's 'what I use Hermes for' guide, @HeyYanvi's
X-to-NotebookLM podcast workflow, @ExileAI_0's spare-laptop Iris
running RenPy + ComfyUI, @brucexu_eth's Hermes Inc. Telegram startup
sim from the hackathon, Hype's deep-dive blog.

HN (1): 'I'm using Hermes — sandbox it like any agent.'

No component changes — all new entries fit the existing schema
(real URL, real author, real date).

…3456)

* feat(goals): /goal checklist + /subgoal user controls

Two-phase judge for /goal — Phase A decomposes the goal into a detailed
checklist on first turn; Phase B evaluates each pending item harshly
against the agent's most recent response. The goal completes only when
every item is in a terminal status (completed or impossible). Adds
/subgoal so the user can append, complete, mark impossible, undo,
remove, or clear items the judge missed or got wrong.

Mechanics:
- GoalState gains `checklist` and `decomposed` fields, both backwards
  compatible (old state_meta rows load unchanged).
- Phase A: aux call writes a harsh, exhaustive checklist; biased toward
  more items not fewer. Falls through to legacy freeform judge when
  decompose fails.
- Phase B: judge gets the checklist + last-response snippet + path to
  a per-session conversation dump at <HERMES_HOME>/goals/<sid>.json.
  A bounded read_file tool (max 5 calls per turn, restricted to that
  one file) lets the judge inspect history when the snippet is
  ambiguous. Stickiness in code: terminal items are frozen, only the
  user can revert via /subgoal undo.
- Continuation prompt shows checklist progress when non-empty;
  reverts to old prompt when empty.
- Status line shows M/N done counts.

CLI + gateway + TUI gateway all pass the agent reference into
evaluate_after_turn so the dump can be written. Gateway-side
/subgoal is allowed mid-run since it only modifies the checklist
the judge consults at turn boundaries.

Tests: 24 new cases — backcompat round-trip, Phase A decompose,
Phase B updates + new_items + stickiness, user override flows,
conversation dump (incl. unsafe-sid sanitization), judge read_file
restriction. Existing freeform-mode tests updated to patch the
renamed `judge_goal_freeform` and skip Phase A explicitly.

* fix(goals): off-by-one in judge index, message-list plumbing, prompt tuning

Three live-test findings from running /goal end-to-end against
gemini-3-flash-preview as the judge:

1. Off-by-one bug — the judge sees the checklist rendered with 1-based
   indices ('1. [ ] foo, 2. [ ] bar') but the apply layer indexed
   state.checklist as 0-based. Result: every judge update landed on
   the wrong item, evidence got attached to neighbouring rows, and
   the genuine 'first pending' item (usually #1) never got marked.
   Fix: convert 1 → 0 in _parse_evaluate_response. Also tightened the
   user prompt to call out the 1-based scheme explicitly. New tests
   cover the parser conversion + an end-to-end fake-judge round-trip.

2. Conversation dump never happened — _extract_agent_messages tried
   common AIAgent attribute names (.messages, .conversation_history,
   etc.) but AIAgent doesn't expose the message list as an instance
   attribute; it lives inside run_conversation()'s scope. Result: the
   judge's read_file tool always saw history_path=unavailable. Fix:
   added an explicit messages= kwarg to evaluate_after_turn that all
   three call sites (CLI, gateway, TUI gateway) now pass directly.
   Agent-attribute extraction kept as back-compat fallback.

3. Prompt was too harsh on simple goals. The original 'be HARSH,
   default to leaving items pending' wording made the judge refuse
   to mark 'file exists' completed even after the agent ran ls,
   test -f, os.path.isfile, and find — burning the entire 8-turn
   budget on a fizzbuzz task. Softened to 'strict but not absurd'
   with explicit guidance on what counts as evidence and a directive
   not to require re-proving items already established earlier.

Re-tested live with the same fizzbuzz goal: now terminates in 2
turns with all 8 checklist items correctly attributed to their
own evidence. /subgoal user-action flow (add / complete / undo /
impossible) verified live as well.

…registries

Both web_search_registry._resolve() and image_gen_registry.get_active_provider()
walked their registered providers and returned the first one matching the
capability flag — without checking whether that provider was actually
usable. On a fresh install with no credentials at all, this meant
get_active_search_provider() returned `brave-free` (legacy preference
order) even though BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY was unset, leading the
dispatcher to surface a "BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY is not set" error for a
provider the user never chose. Same bug shape in image_gen for FAL.

Resolution semantics now match tools.web_tools._get_backend():

  1. Explicit config name wins, ignoring is_available() — the dispatcher
     surfaces a precise "X_API_KEY is not set" error rather than silently
     switching backends. Matches user expectation: "I configured X, tell
     me what's wrong with X."
  2. Fallback (no explicit config) walks the legacy preference order
     filtered by is_available() — pick the highest-priority backend the
     user actually has credentials for.

is_available() is wrapped in a try/except so a buggy provider doesn't
brick resolution.

E2E verified:
  - No creds + no config: get_active_search_provider() -> None
  - Explicit brave-free + no key: get_active_search_provider() -> brave-free
    (and .is_available() correctly reports False)

This fix was identified during the spike (NousResearch#25182 finding #1) and is
fold-in to the same PR rather than a follow-up.

…sResearch#26672)

The #1 confusing cause of the xAI 403 (per Teknium): X Premium+
subscribers see Grok inside the X app and assume API access is
included.  It is NOT — only standalone SuperGrok subscribers can use
xai-oauth with Hermes today.  Without calling this out, every Premium+
user hits the 403 with no idea why.

PR NousResearch#26666's neutral 4-cause list was correct but buried the most
common cause.  Lead with the Premium+ gotcha, then list the other
possibilities (no subscription, wrong tier, exhausted quota) as
fallbacks.  Same neutral framing — does not accuse anyone of being
unsubscribed.

Three issues flagged by the Copilot review on this PR:

1. Double JSON emit on stage failure (Copilot #1, #2). When -Stage <name>
   ran a worker that threw, Invoke-Stage's finally emitted a JSON result
   frame AND the entry-point catch emitted a second error frame --
   producing two concatenated JSON objects on stdout and breaking the
   one-line-per-invocation contract that drivers parse against. Same
   issue applied to -Json mode on a full install (every stage's finally
   plus a final error frame missing duration_ms/skipped).

   Fix: Invoke-Stage's finally now sets $script:_StageEmittedErrorFrame
   when it emits a failure frame; the entry-point catch checks the flag
   and skips its own emit, still exit 1.

2. $prevEAP uninitialized on early try-block throw (Copilot #3). In
   Install-Uv, Test-Python, Test-Node's winget fallback,
   _Run-NpmInstall, and the playwright block, '$prevEAP =
   $ErrorActionPreference' lived as the first statement INSIDE the
   try. If anything between 'try {' and that line threw (Write-Info on
   an unusual host, the npx-finding loop, etc.), the catch's
   'if ($prevEAP) { ... }' restore was a no-op and EAP could remain
   relaxed.

   Fix: hoist '$prevEAP = $ErrorActionPreference' to the line
   immediately before 'try {' in all five sites. Catch's restore is
   now always meaningful regardless of where in the try the throw
   originated.

No change to Invoke-Stage's success path or to the four lint-clean EAP
sites (Test-Node was the only winget-related catch). All 19 metadata
smoke tests still pass.

Four findings from Copilot's review on PR NousResearch#22891, all in the AX
elements-array cap added by 22fa1ed:

1. The truncation note ("response truncated to N of M elements") was
   appended unconditionally — including in the som/vision multimodal
   path, whose response carries a screenshot rather than an `elements`
   array. The note described a payload field that wasn't present.
   Moved the note into the AX-text branch where the array actually
   appears.

2. `_format_elements(cap.elements)` ran on the full untrimmed list with
   its own `max_lines=40` cap, so a caller passing `max_elements=10`
   would see summary lines referencing `NousResearch#11..NousResearch#40` even though the JSON
   `elements` array only held #1..NousResearch#10. Format on `visible_elements`
   instead so the summary indices always exist in the response.

3. `_coerce_max_elements` enforced a lower bound but no upper bound,
   so `max_elements=10_000_000` silently disabled the safeguard and
   reintroduced the original context-blow-up. Added a hard cap
   (`_MAX_ALLOWED_MAX_ELEMENTS = 1000`) that clamps oversized values.

4. The schema string said "Default 100" but the property carried no
   `default` field, and claimed `max_elements` had no effect on som/
   vision while the image-missing fallback path can still return an
   elements array. Added `"default": 100`, `"maximum": 1000`, and
   clarified the fallback-path wording.

Each finding gets a regression test:

- test_capture_ax_clamps_oversized_max_elements_to_hard_cap
- test_capture_ax_summary_indices_match_returned_elements
- test_capture_multimodal_summary_omits_truncation_note
- test_schema_max_elements_documents_default_and_upper_bound

Verified with `pytest tests/tools/test_computer_use.py` (53 passed,
including the 5 new cases). Confirmed each new test fails on the
pre-fix code path before applying the production change.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <[email protected]>

Copy an image to clipboard (screenshot, browser, etc.) and paste into
the Hermes CLI. The image is saved to ~/.hermes/images/, shown as a
badge above the input ([📎 Image #1]), and sent to the model as a
base64-encoded OpenAI vision multimodal content block.

Implementation:
- hermes_cli/clipboard.py: clean module with platform-specific extraction
  - macOS: pngpaste (if installed) → osascript fallback (always available)
  - Linux: xclip (apt install xclip)
- cli.py: BracketedPaste key handler checks clipboard on every paste,
  image bar widget shows attached images, chat() converts to multimodal
  content format, Ctrl+C clears attachments

Inspired by @m0at's fork (https://github.com/m0at/hermes-agent) which
implemented image paste support for local vision models. Reimplemented
cleanly as a separate module with tests.

All four platform guides rewritten from thin ~60-line summaries to
comprehensive step-by-step setup guides with current (2025-2026) info:

telegram.md (74 → 196 lines):
- Full BotFather walkthrough with customization commands
- Privacy mode section with critical group chat gotcha
- Multiple user ID discovery methods
- Voice message setup (Whisper STT + TTS bubbles + ffmpeg)
- Group chat usage patterns and admin mode
- Recent Bot API features (privacy policy requirement, streaming)
- Troubleshooting table (6 issues)

discord.md (57 → 260 lines):
- Complete Developer Portal walkthrough (application, bot, intents)
- Detailed Privileged Gateway Intents section with warning about
  Message Content Intent being #1 failure cause
- Invite URL generation via Installation tab (new 2024) and manual
- Permission integer calculation (274878286912 recommended)
- Developer Mode user ID discovery
- Bot behavior documentation (DMs, channels, no-prefix)
- Troubleshooting table (6 issues)

slack.md (57 → 214 lines):
- Warning about classic Slack apps deprecated since March 2025
- Full scope tables (required + optional) with purposes
- Socket Mode setup with App-Level Token (xapp-)
- Event Subscriptions configuration
- User ID discovery via profile
- Two-token architecture explained (xoxb- + xapp-)
- Troubleshooting table

whatsapp.md (77 → 193 lines):
- Clarified whatsapp-web.js (not Business API) with ban risk warnings
- Linux Chromium dependencies (Debian + Fedora)
- Setup wizard QR code scanning workflow
- Session persistence with LocalAuth
- Second phone number options with cost table
- WhatsApp Web protocol update warnings
- Troubleshooting table (7 issues)

Docusaurus build verified clean.

…scopes

The #1 support issue with Slack is 'bot works in DMs but not channels'.
This is almost always caused by missing event subscriptions (message.channels,
message.groups) or missing OAuth scopes (channels:history, groups:history).

Changes:
- slack.md: Move channels:history and groups:history from optional to required
  scopes. Move message.channels and message.groups to required events. Add new
  'How the Bot Responds' section explaining DM vs channel behavior. Add Step 8
  for inviting bot to channels. Expand troubleshooting table with specific
  'works in DMs not channels' entry. Add quick checklist for channel debugging.
- setup.py: Expand Slack setup wizard with all required scopes, event
  subscriptions, and a warning that without message.channels/message.groups
  the bot only works in DMs. Add link to full docs. Improve Member ID
  discovery instructions.
- config.py: Update SLACK_BOT_TOKEN and SLACK_APP_TOKEN descriptions to list
  required scopes and event subscriptions inline.

…ult (NousResearch#1922)

SOUL.md now loads in slot #1 of the system prompt, replacing the
hardcoded DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY. This lets users fully customize
the agent's identity and personality by editing ~/.hermes/SOUL.md
without it conflicting with the built-in identity text.

When SOUL.md is loaded as identity, it's excluded from the context
files section to avoid appearing twice. When SOUL.md is missing,
empty, unreadable, or skip_context_files is set, the hardcoded
DEFAULT_AGENT_IDENTITY is used as a fallback.

The default SOUL.md (seeded on first run) already contains the full
Hermes personality, so existing installs are unaffected.

Co-authored-by: Test <[email protected]>

Update all SOUL.md documentation to reflect that it now occupies
slot #1 in the system prompt, replacing the hardcoded default identity.

Updated pages:
- user-guide/features/personality.md — SOUL.md is primary identity, not just a layer
- developer-guide/prompt-assembly.md — updated prompt layer order, context files list
- guides/use-soul-with-hermes.md — SOUL.md replaces built-in identity
- user-guide/configuration.md — updated context files table and directory tree

Co-authored-by: Test <[email protected]>

…ts (NousResearch#11745)

Move moonshotai/kimi-k2.5 to position #1 in every model picker list:
- OPENROUTER_MODELS (with 'recommended' tag)
- _PROVIDER_MODELS: nous, kimi-coding, opencode-zen, opencode-go, alibaba, huggingface
- _model_flow_kimi() Coding Plan model list in main.py

kimi-coding-cn and moonshot lists already had kimi-k2.5 first.

When the live Vercel AI Gateway catalog exposes a Moonshot model with
zero input AND output pricing, it's promoted to position #1 as the
recommended default — even if the exact ID isn't in the curated
AI_GATEWAY_MODELS list. This enables dynamic discovery of new free
Moonshot variants without requiring a PR to update curation.

Paid Moonshot models are unaffected; falls back to the normal curated
recommended tag when no free Moonshot is live.

…#13354)

Classic-CLI /steer typed during an active agent run was queued through
self._pending_input alongside ordinary user input.  process_loop, which
drains that queue, is blocked inside self.chat() for the entire run,
so the queued command was not pulled until AFTER _agent_running had
flipped back to False — at which point process_command() took the idle
fallback ("No agent running; queued as next turn") and delivered the
steer as an ordinary next-turn user message.

From Utku's bug report on PR NousResearch#13205: mid-run /steer arrived minutes
later at the end of the turn as a /queue-style message, completely
defeating its purpose.

Fix: add _should_handle_steer_command_inline() gating — when
_agent_running is True and the user typed /steer, dispatch
process_command(text) directly from the prompt_toolkit Enter handler
on the UI thread instead of queueing.  This mirrors the existing
_should_handle_model_command_inline() pattern for /model and is
safe because agent.steer() is thread-safe (uses _pending_steer_lock,
no prompt_toolkit state mutation, instant return).

No changes to the idle-path behavior: /steer typed with no active
agent still takes the normal queue-and-drain route so the fallback
"No agent running; queued as next turn" message is preserved.

Validation:
- 7 new unit tests in tests/cli/test_cli_steer_busy_path.py covering
  the detector, dispatch path, and idle-path control behavior.
- All 21 existing tests in tests/run_agent/test_steer.py still pass.
- Live PTY end-to-end test with real agent + real openrouter model:
    22:36:22 API call #1 (model requested execute_code)
    22:36:26 ENTER FIRED: agent_running=True, text='/steer ...'
    22:36:26 INLINE STEER DISPATCH fired
    22:36:43 agent.log: 'Delivered /steer to agent after tool batch'
    22:36:44 API call #2 included the steer; response contained marker
  Same test on the tip of main without this fix shows the steer
  landing as a new user turn ~20s after the run ended.

Previously the breaker was only cleared when the post-reconnect retry
call itself succeeded (via _reset_server_error at the end of the try
block). If OAuth recovery succeeded but the retry call happened to
fail for a different reason, control fell through to the
needs_reauth path which called _bump_server_error — adding to an
already-tripped count instead of the fresh count the reconnect
justified. With fix #1 in place this would still self-heal on the
next cooldown, but we should not pay a 60s stall when we already
have positive evidence the server is viable.

Move _reset_server_error(server_name) up to immediately after the
reconnect-and-ready-wait block, before the retry_call. The
subsequent retry still goes through _bump_server_error on failure,
so a genuinely broken server re-trips the breaker as normal — but
the retry starts from a clean count (1 after a failure), not a
stale one.

- entry.tsx no longer writes bootBanner() to the main screen before the
  alt-screen enters. The <Banner> renders inside the alt screen via the
  seeded intro row, so nothing is lost — just the flash that preceded it.
  Fixes the torn first frame reported on Alacritty (blitz row 5 NousResearch#17) and
  shaves the 'starting agent' hang perception (row 5 #1) since the UI
  paints straight into the steady-state view
- AlternateScreen prefixes ERASE_SCROLLBACK (\x1b[3J) to its entry so
  strict emulators start from a pristine grid; named constants replace
  the inline sequences for clarity
- bootBanner.ts deleted — dead code