Add opt-in terminal.docker_run_as_host_user config flag that passes
--user $(id -u):$(id -g) to the Docker backend so files written into
bind-mounted directories (/workspace, /root, docker_volumes entries) are
owned by the host user instead of root.
When enabled on POSIX platforms, also drops SETUID/SETGID caps since the
container no longer needs gosu/su to switch users. Falls back cleanly on
platforms without os.getuid (e.g. native Windows Docker) with a warning.
Wired through all three config.yaml -> TERMINAL_* env-var bridges:
- cli.py env_mappings (CLI + TUI startup)
- gateway/run.py _terminal_env_map (gateway / messaging platforms)
- hermes_cli/config.py _config_to_env_sync (`hermes config set`)
Also fixes docker_mount_cwd_to_workspace silently failing in gateway
mode -- it was missing from gateway/run.py's _terminal_env_map.
Adds tests/tools/test_terminal_config_env_sync.py to guard against
future drift between the three bridges (same bug class shipped twice
in one month).
Bundled Hermes image won't work with this flag since its entrypoint
expects to start as root for the usermod/gosu hermes flow; works with
the default nikolaik/python-nodejs image and plain Debian/Ubuntu.
The Docker terminal backend runs containers with `--cap-drop ALL`
and re-adds only DAC_OVERRIDE, CHOWN, FOWNER. Since commit fee0e0d3
("run as non-root user, use virtualenv") the image entrypoint drops
from root to the `hermes` user via `gosu`, which requires CAP_SETUID
and CAP_SETGID. Without them every sandbox container exits
immediately with:
Dropping root privileges
error: failed switching to 'hermes': operation not permitted
Breaking every terminal/file tool invocation in `terminal.backend: docker`
mode.
Fix: add SETUID and SETGID to the cap-add list. The `no-new-privileges`
security-opt is kept, so gosu still cannot escalate back to root after
the one-way drop — the hardening posture is preserved.
Reproduction
------------
With any image whose ENTRYPOINT calls `gosu <user>`, the container
exits immediately under the pre-fix cap set. Post-fix, the drop
succeeds and the container proceeds normally.
docker run --rm \
--cap-drop ALL \
--cap-add DAC_OVERRIDE --cap-add CHOWN --cap-add FOWNER \
--security-opt no-new-privileges \
--entrypoint /usr/local/bin/gosu \
hermes-claude:latest hermes id
# -> error: failed switching to 'hermes': operation not permitted
# Same command with SETUID+SETGID added:
# -> uid=10000(hermes) gid=10000(hermes) groups=10000(hermes)
Tests
-----
Added `test_security_args_include_setuid_setgid_for_gosu_drop` that
asserts both caps are present and the overall hardening posture
(cap-drop ALL + no-new-privileges) is preserved.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- find_docker() now checks HERMES_DOCKER_BINARY env var first, then
docker on PATH, then podman on PATH, then macOS known locations
- Entrypoint respects HERMES_HOME env var (was hardcoded to /opt/data)
- Entrypoint uses groupmod -o to tolerate non-unique GIDs (fixes macOS
GID 20 conflict with Debian's dialout group)
- Entrypoint makes chown best-effort so rootless Podman continues
instead of failing with 'Operation not permitted'
- 5 new tests covering env var override, podman fallback, precedence
Based on work by alanjds (PR #3996) and malaiwah (PR #8115).
Closes#4084.
Two issues with sandbox container spawning:
1. PID 1 was `sleep 2h` which doesn't call wait() — every background
process that exited became a zombie (<defunct>), and the process
tool reported them as "running" because zombie PIDs still exist in
the process table. Fix: add --init to docker run, which uses
tini (Docker) or catatonit (Podman) as PID 1 to reap children
automatically. Both runtimes support --init natively.
2. The fixed 2-hour lifetime was arbitrary and sometimes too short
for long agent sessions. Fix: replace 'sleep 2h' with
'sleep infinity'. The idle reaper (_cleanup_inactive_envs, gated
by terminal.lifetime_seconds, default 300s) already handles
cleanup based on last activity timestamp — there's no need for
the container itself to have a fixed death timer.
Fixes#6908.
Automated dead code audit using vulture + coverage.py + ast-grep intersection,
confirmed by Opus deep verification pass. Every symbol verified to have zero
production callers (test imports excluded from reachability analysis).
Removes ~1,534 lines of dead production code across 46 files and ~1,382 lines
of stale test code. 3 entire files deleted (agent/builtin_memory_provider.py,
hermes_cli/checklist.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_setup_model_selection.py).
Co-authored-by: alt-glitch <balyan.sid@gmail.com>
Fixes 9 test failures on current main, incorporating ideas from PR stack
#6219-#6222 by xinbenlv with corrections:
- model_metadata: sync HF context length key casing
(minimaxai/minimax-m2.5 → MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.5)
- cli.py: route quick command error output through self.console
instead of creating a new ChatConsole() instance
- docker.py: explicit docker_forward_env entries now bypass the
Hermes secret blocklist (intentional opt-in wins over generic filter)
- auxiliary_client: revert _read_main_provider() to simple
provider.strip().lower() — the _normalize_aux_provider() call
introduced in 5c03f2e7 stripped the custom: prefix, breaking
named custom provider resolution
- auxiliary_client: flip vision auto-detection order to
active provider → OpenRouter → Nous → stop (was OR → Nous → active)
- test: update vision priority test to match new order
Based on PR #6219-#6222 by xinbenlv.
Shell injection via unquoted workdir interpolation in docker, singularity,
and SSH backends. When workdir contained shell metacharacters (e.g.
~/;id), arbitrary commands could execute.
Changes:
- Add shlex.quote() at each interpolation point in docker.py,
singularity.py, and ssh.py with tilde-aware quoting (keep ~
unquoted for shell expansion, quote only the subpath)
- Add _validate_workdir() allowlist in terminal_tool.py as
defense-in-depth before workdir reaches any backend
Original work by Mariano A. Nicolini (PR #5620). Salvaged with fixes
for tilde expansion (shlex.quote breaks cd ~/path) and replaced
incomplete deny-list with strict character allowlist.
Co-authored-by: Mariano A. Nicolini <entropidelic@users.noreply.github.com>
Add docker_env option to terminal config — a dict of key-value pairs that
get set inside Docker containers via -e flags at both container creation
(docker run) and per-command execution (docker exec) time.
This complements docker_forward_env (which reads values dynamically from
the host process environment). docker_env is useful when Hermes runs as a
systemd service without access to the user's shell environment — e.g.
setting SSH_AUTH_SOCK or GNUPGHOME to known stable paths for SSH/GPG
agent socket forwarding.
Precedence: docker_env provides baseline values; docker_forward_env
overrides for the same key.
Config example:
terminal:
docker_env:
SSH_AUTH_SOCK: /run/user/1000/ssh-agent.sock
GNUPGHOME: /root/.gnupg
docker_volumes:
- /run/user/1000/ssh-agent.sock:/run/user/1000/ssh-agent.sock
- /run/user/1000/gnupg/S.gpg-agent:/root/.gnupg/S.gpg-agent
The config key skills.external_dirs and core resolution (get_all_skills_dirs,
get_external_skills_dirs in agent/skill_utils.py) already existed but several
code paths still only scanned SKILLS_DIR. Now external dirs are respected
everywhere:
- skills_categories(): scan all dirs for category discovery
- _get_category_from_path(): resolve categories against any skills root
- skill_manager_tool._find_skill(): search all dirs for edit/patch/delete
- credential_files.get_skills_directory_mount(): mount all dirs into
Docker/Singularity containers (external dirs at external_skills/<idx>)
- credential_files.iter_skills_files(): list files from all dirs for
Modal/Daytona upload
- tools/environments/ssh.py: rsync all skill dirs to remote hosts
- gateway _check_unavailable_skill(): check disabled skills across all dirs
Usage in config.yaml:
skills:
external_dirs:
- ~/repos/agent-skills/hermes
- /shared/team-skills
- Add .zip to SUPPORTED_DOCUMENT_TYPES so gateway platforms (Telegram,
Slack, Discord) cache uploaded zip files instead of rejecting them.
- Add get_cache_directory_mounts() and iter_cache_files() to
credential_files.py for host-side cache directory passthrough
(documents, images, audio, screenshots).
- Docker: bind-mount cache dirs read-only alongside credentials/skills.
Changes are live (bind mount semantics).
- Modal: mount cache files at sandbox creation + resync before each
command via _sync_files() with mtime+size change detection.
- Handles backward-compat with legacy dir names (document_cache,
image_cache, audio_cache, browser_screenshots) via get_hermes_dir().
- Container paths always use the new cache/<subdir> layout regardless
of host layout.
This replaces the need for a dedicated extract_archive tool (PR #4819)
— the agent can now use standard terminal commands (unzip, tar) on
uploaded files inside remote containers.
Closes: related to PR #4819 by kshitijk4poor
Skills with scripts/, templates/, and references/ subdirectories need
those files available inside sandboxed execution environments. Previously
the skills directory was missing entirely from remote backends.
Live sync — files stay current as credentials refresh and skills update:
- Docker/Singularity: bind mounts are inherently live (host changes
visible immediately)
- Modal: _sync_files() runs before each command with mtime+size caching,
pushing only changed credential and skill files (~13μs no-op overhead)
- SSH: rsync --safe-links before each command (naturally incremental)
- Daytona: _upload_if_changed() with mtime+size caching before each command
Security — symlink filtering:
- Docker/Singularity: sanitized temp copy when symlinks detected
- Modal/Daytona: iter_skills_files() skips symlinks
- SSH: rsync --safe-links skips symlinks pointing outside source tree
- Temp dir cleanup via atexit + reuse across calls
Non-root user support:
- SSH: detects remote home via echo $HOME, syncs to $HOME/.hermes/
- Daytona: detects sandbox home before sync, uploads to $HOME/.hermes/
- Docker/Modal/Singularity: run as root, /root/.hermes/ is correct
Also:
- credential_files.py: fix name/path key fallback in required_credential_files
- Singularity, SSH, Daytona: gained credential file support
- 14 tests covering symlink filtering, name/path fallback, iter_skills_files
Two related fixes for remote terminal backends (Modal/Docker):
1. NEW: Credential file mounting system
Skills declare required_credential_files in frontmatter. Files are
mounted into Docker (read-only bind mounts) and Modal (mounts at
creation + sync via exec on each command for mid-session changes).
Google Workspace skill updated with the new field.
2. FIX: Docker backend now includes env_passthrough vars
Skills that declare required_environment_variables (e.g. Notion with
NOTION_API_KEY) register vars in the env_passthrough system. The
local backend checked this, but Docker's forward_env was a separate
disconnected list. Now Docker exec merges both sources, so
skill-declared env vars are forwarded into containers automatically.
This fixes the reported issue where NOTION_API_KEY in ~/.hermes/.env
wasn't reaching the Docker container despite being registered via
the Notion skill's prerequisites.
Closes#3665
Drop the mini-swe-agent git submodule. All terminal backends now use
hermes-agent's own environment implementations directly.
Docker backend:
- Inline the `docker run -d` container startup (was 15 lines in
minisweagent's DockerEnvironment). Our wrapper already handled
execute(), cleanup(), security hardening, volumes, and resource limits.
Modal backend:
- Import swe-rex's ModalDeployment directly instead of going through
minisweagent's 90-line passthrough wrapper.
- Bake the _AsyncWorker pattern (from environments/patches.py) directly
into ModalEnvironment for Atropos compatibility without monkey-patching.
Cleanup:
- Remove minisweagent_path.py (submodule path resolution helper)
- Remove submodule init/install from install.sh and setup-hermes.sh
- Remove mini-swe-agent from .gitmodules
- environments/patches.py is now a no-op (kept for backward compat)
- terminal_tool.py no longer does sys.path hacking for minisweagent
- mini_swe_runner.py guards imports (optional, for RL training only)
- Update all affected tests to mock the new direct subprocess calls
- Update README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md
No functionality change — all Docker, Modal, local, SSH, Singularity,
and Daytona backends behave identically. 6093 tests pass.
When container_persistent=false, the inner mini-swe-agent cleanup only
runs 'docker stop' in the background, leaving containers in Exited state.
Now cleanup() also runs 'docker rm -f' to fully remove the container.
Also fixes pre-existing test failures in model_metadata (gpt-4.1 1M context),
setup tests (TTS provider step), and adds MockInnerDocker.cleanup().
Original fix by crazywriter1. Cherry-picked and adapted for current main.
Fixes#1679
Docker terminal sessions are secret-dark by default. This adds
terminal.docker_forward_env as an explicit allowlist for env vars
that may be forwarded into Docker containers.
Values resolve from the current shell first, then fall back to
~/.hermes/.env. Only variables the user explicitly lists are
forwarded — nothing is auto-exposed.
Cherry-picked from PR #1449 by @teknium1, conflict-resolved onto
current main.
Fixes#1436
Supersedes #1439
Keep Docker sandboxes isolated by default. Add an explicit terminal.docker_mount_cwd_to_workspace opt-in, thread it through terminal/file environment creation, and document the security tradeoff and config.yaml workflow clearly.
Fixes#1445 — When using Docker backend, the user's current working
directory is now automatically bind-mounted to /workspace inside the
container. This allows users to run `cd my-project && hermes` and have
their project files accessible to the agent without manual volume config.
Changes:
- Add host_cwd and auto_mount_cwd parameters to DockerEnvironment
- Capture original host CWD in _get_env_config() before container fallback
- Pass host_cwd through _create_environment() to Docker backend
- Add TERMINAL_DOCKER_NO_AUTO_MOUNT env var to disable if needed
- Skip auto-mount when /workspace is already explicitly mounted
- Add tests for auto-mount behavior
- Add documentation for the new feature
The auto-mount is skipped when:
1. TERMINAL_DOCKER_NO_AUTO_MOUNT=true is set
2. User configured docker_volumes with :/workspace
3. persistent_filesystem=true (persistent sandbox mode)
This makes the Docker backend behave more intuitively — the agent
operates on the user's actual project directory by default.
* feat: improve context compaction handoff summaries
Adapt PR #916 onto current main by replacing the old context summary marker
with a clearer handoff wrapper, updating the summarization prompt for
resume-oriented summaries, and preserving the current call_llm-based
compression path.
* fix: clearer error when docker backend is unavailable
* fix: preserve docker discovery in backend preflight
Follow up on salvaged PR #940 by reusing find_docker() during the new
availability check so non-PATH Docker Desktop installs still work. Add
a regression test covering the resolved executable path.
---------
Co-authored-by: aydnOktay <xaydinoktay@gmail.com>
On macOS, Docker Desktop installs the CLI to /usr/local/bin/docker, but
when Hermes runs as a gateway service (launchd) or in other non-login
contexts, /usr/local/bin is often not in PATH. This causes the Docker
requirements check to fail with 'No such file or directory: docker' even
though docker works fine from the user's terminal.
Add find_docker() helper that uses shutil.which() first, then probes
common Docker Desktop install paths on macOS (/usr/local/bin,
/opt/homebrew/bin, Docker.app bundle). The resolved path is cached and
passed to mini-swe-agent via its 'executable' parameter.
- tools/environments/docker.py: add find_docker(), use it in
_storage_opt_supported() and pass to _Docker(executable=...)
- tools/terminal_tool.py: use find_docker() in requirements check
- tests/tools/test_docker_find.py: 4 tests (PATH, fallback, not found, cache)
2877 tests pass.
cap-drop ALL removes DAC_OVERRIDE, which root needs to write to
bind-mounted directories owned by the host user (uid 1000). This
broke persistent Docker sandboxes — the container couldn't write
to /workspace or /root.
Add back the minimum capabilities needed:
- DAC_OVERRIDE: root can write to bind-mounted dirs owned by host user
- CHOWN: package managers (pip, npm, apt) need to set file ownership
- FOWNER: needed for operations on files owned by other users
Still drops all other capabilities (NET_RAW, SYS_ADMIN, etc.) and
keeps no-new-privileges. Security boundary is the container itself.
Verified end-to-end: create files → destroy container → new container
with same task_id → files persist on host and are accessible in the
new container.
The Docker sandbox previously used --read-only on the root filesystem and
noexec on /tmp. This broke 30+ skills that need to install packages:
- npm install -g (codex, claude-code, mcporter, powerpoint)
- pip install (20+ mlops/media/productivity skills)
- apt install (minecraft-modpack-server, ml-paper-writing)
- Build tools that compile in /tmp (pip wheels, node-gyp)
The container is already fully isolated from the host. Industry standard
(E2B, Docker Sandboxes, OpenAI Codex) does not use --read-only — the
container itself is the security boundary.
Retained security hardening:
- --cap-drop ALL (zero capabilities)
- --security-opt no-new-privileges (no escalation)
- --pids-limit 256 (no fork bombs)
- Size-limited tmpfs for /tmp, /var/tmp, /run
- nosuid on all tmpfs mounts
- noexec on /var/tmp and /run (rarely need exec there)
- Resource limits (CPU, memory, disk)
- Ephemeral containers (destroyed after use)
Fixes#189.
- Updated the installation script to check for necessary build tools on Debian/Ubuntu systems and prompt the user to install them if missing.
- Improved user interaction by redirecting input from /dev/tty for prompts, ensuring compatibility when the script is piped from curl.
- Added checks to verify the successful installation of the main package and provide guidance if installation fails.
- Enhanced the handling of shell configuration files to ensure ~/.local/bin is added to PATH for various shell types.
- Introduced a static method to verify if the Docker storage driver supports the --storage-opt size= option.
- Enhanced resource argument handling in DockerEnvironment to conditionally include storage options based on the support check.
- Added caching for the support check result to optimize performance across instances.
Three issues prevented the Docker terminal backend from working:
1. `effective_image` was referenced but never defined — only the Modal
backend sets this variable. Use `image` directly instead.
2. `--storage-opt size=N` is unsupported on Docker Desktop for Mac
(requires overlay2 with xfs backing). Skip the flag on Darwin.
3. Docker requires absolute paths for `-w` (working directory) but the
default cwd was `~`, which Docker does not expand. Default to `/root`
and translate any `~` passed in from callers.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Added a new section in the README for Inference Providers, detailing setup instructions for Nous Portal, OpenRouter, and Custom Endpoints, improving user guidance for LLM connections.
- Updated messaging platform setup instructions to include Slack and WhatsApp, providing clearer steps for configuration.
- Introduced a new environment variable, TERMINAL_SANDBOX_DIR, to allow users to customize the sandbox storage location for Docker and Singularity environments.
- Refactored the Docker and Singularity environment classes to utilize the new sandbox directory for persistent workspaces, enhancing organization and usability.
- Improved handling of working directories across various environments, ensuring compatibility and clarity in execution paths.
- Introduced a shared interrupt signaling mechanism to allow tools to check for user interrupts during long-running operations.
- Updated the AIAgent to handle interrupts more effectively, ensuring in-progress tool calls are canceled and multiple interrupt messages are combined into one prompt.
- Enhanced the CLI configuration to include container resource limits (CPU, memory, disk) and persistence options for Docker, Singularity, and Modal environments.
- Improved documentation to clarify interrupt behaviors and container resource settings, providing users with better guidance on configuration and usage.
