* fix(terminal): three-layer defense against watch_patterns notification spam
Background processes that stack notify_on_complete=True with watch_patterns
can flood the user with duplicate, delayed notifications — matches deliver
asynchronously via the completion queue and continue arriving minutes after
the process has exited. The docstring warning against this (PR #12113) has
proven insufficient; agents still misuse the combination.
Three layered defenses, each sufficient on its own:
1. Mutual exclusion (terminal_tool.py): When both flags are set on a
background process, drop watch_patterns with a warning. notify_on_complete
wins because 'let me know when it's done' is the more useful signal and
fires exactly once. Extracted as _resolve_notification_flag_conflict() so
the rule is testable in isolation.
2. Suppress-after-exit (process_registry.py): _check_watch_patterns() now
bails the moment session.exited is True. Post-exit chunks (buffered reads
draining after the process is gone) no longer produce notifications. This
is the fix flagged as future work in session 20260418_020302_79881c.
3. Global circuit breaker (process_registry.py): Per-session rate limits don't
catch the sibling-flood case — N concurrent processes can each stay under
8/10s and still collectively spam. New WATCH_GLOBAL_MAX_PER_WINDOW=15 cap
trips a 30-second cooldown across ALL sessions, emits a single
watch_overflow_tripped event, silently counts dropped events, and emits a
watch_overflow_released summary when the cooldown ends.
Also updates the tool schema + docstring to document the new behavior.
Tests: 8 new tests covering all three fixes (suppress-after-exit x2,
mutual-exclusion resolver x4, global breaker trip/cooldown/release x2).
All 60 tests across test_watch_patterns.py, test_notify_on_complete.py,
test_terminal_tool.py pass.
Real-world trigger: self-inflicted in session 20260425_051924 — three
concurrent hermes-sweeper review subprocesses each set watch_patterns=
['failed validation', 'errored'] AND notify_on_complete=True, then iterated
over multiple items, producing enough matches per process to defeat the
per-session cap while staying under the global cap that didn't yet exist.
* fix(terminal): aggressive 1-per-15s watch_patterns rate limit + strike-3 promotion
Per Teknium's direction, the watch_patterns rate limit is now much more
aggressive and self-healing.
## New rule — per session
- HARD cap: 1 watch-match notification per 15 seconds per process.
- Any match arriving inside the cooldown window is dropped and counts as
ONE strike for that window (many drops in the same window still = 1 strike).
- After 3 consecutive strike windows, watch_patterns is permanently disabled
for the session and the session is auto-promoted to notify_on_complete
semantics — exactly one notification when the process actually exits.
- A cooldown window that expires with zero drops resets the consecutive
strike counter — healthy cadence is forgiven.
## Schema + docstring rewritten
The tool schema description now gives the model explicit guidance:
- notify_on_complete is 'the right choice for almost every long-running task'
- watch_patterns is for RARE one-shot signals on LONG-LIVED processes
- Do NOT use watch_patterns with loops/batch jobs — error patterns fire every
iteration and will hit the strike limit fast
- Mutual exclusion is stated on both parameter descriptions
- 1/15s cooldown and 3-strike promotion are stated in the watch_patterns
description so the model sees the contract every turn
## Removed
- WATCH_MAX_PER_WINDOW (8/10s) and WATCH_OVERLOAD_KILL_SECONDS (45) — the
new 1/15s limit subsumes both; keeping them would double-count.
- _watch_window_hits / _watch_window_start / _watch_overload_since fields
on ProcessSession. Replaced by _watch_last_emit_at / _watch_cooldown_until
/ _watch_strike_candidate / _watch_consecutive_strikes.
## Kept
- Global circuit breaker across all sessions (15/10s → 30s cooldown) as a
secondary safety net for concurrent siblings. Still valuable when 20
short-lived processes each fire once — none individually violates the
per-session limit.
- Suppress-after-exit guard.
- Mutual exclusion resolver at the tool entry point.
## Tests
- 6 new tests in TestPerSessionRateLimit covering: first match delivers,
second in cooldown suppressed, multi-drop = single strike, 3 strikes
disables + promotes, clean window resets counter, suppressed count
carried to next emit.
- Global circuit breaker tests rewritten to use fresh sessions instead of
hacking removed per-window fields.
- 50/50 watch_patterns + notify_on_complete tests pass.
- 60/60 including test_terminal_tool.py pass.
* feat(dashboard): page-scoped plugin slots for built-in pages
Dashboard plugins can now inject components into specific built-in
pages (Sessions, Analytics, Logs, Cron, Skills, Config, Env, Docs,
Chat) without overriding the whole route.
Previously, plugins could only:
1. Add new tabs (tab.path)
2. Replace whole built-in pages (tab.override)
3. Inject into global shell slots (header-*, footer-*, pre-main, ...)
None of those let a plugin add a banner, card, or widget to an
existing page. The new <page>:top / <page>:bottom slots close that
gap, reusing the existing registerSlot() API.
Changes
- web/src/plugins/slots.ts: 18 new KNOWN_SLOT_NAMES entries
(sessions:top, sessions:bottom, analytics:top, ..., chat:bottom),
grouped under "Shell-wide" vs "Page-scoped" in the docblock
- web/src/pages/*: each built-in page now renders
<PluginSlot name="<page>:top" />
as the first child of its outer wrapper and
<PluginSlot name="<page>:bottom" />
as the last child -- zero visual cost when no plugin registers
- plugins/example-dashboard: registers a demo banner into
sessions:top via registerSlot(), with matching slots entry in
the manifest -- so freshly-setup users can see what page-scoped
slots look like without writing any plugin code
- website/docs: new "Page-scoped slots" table in the plugin
authoring guide, with a worked example
- tests/hermes_cli/test_web_server.py: round-trip test for
colon-bearing slot names (sessions:top, analytics:bottom, ...)
Validation
- npm run build: clean (tsc -b + vite build, 2761 modules)
- scripts/run_tests.sh tests/hermes_cli/test_web_server.py::TestDashboardPluginManifestExtensions: 5/5 pass
Themes and plugins can now pull off arbitrary dashboard reskins (cockpit
HUD, retro terminal, etc.) without touching core code.
Themes gain four new fields:
- layoutVariant: standard | cockpit | tiled — shell layout selector
- assets: {bg, hero, logo, crest, sidebar, header, custom: {...}} —
artwork URLs exposed as --theme-asset-* CSS vars
- customCSS: raw CSS injected as a scoped <style> tag on theme apply
(32 KiB cap, cleaned up on theme switch)
- componentStyles: per-component CSS-var overrides (clipPath,
borderImage, background, boxShadow, ...) for card/header/sidebar/
backdrop/tab/progress/badge/footer/page
Plugin manifests gain three new fields:
- tab.override: replaces a built-in route instead of adding a tab
- tab.hidden: register component + slots without adding a nav entry
- slots: declares shell slots the plugin populates
10 named shell slots: backdrop, header-left/right/banner, sidebar,
pre-main, post-main, footer-left/right, overlay. Plugins register via
window.__HERMES_PLUGINS__.registerSlot(name, slot, Component). A
<PluginSlot> React helper is exported on the plugin SDK.
Ships a full demo at plugins/strike-freedom-cockpit/ — theme YAML +
slot-only plugin that reproduces a Gundam cockpit dashboard: MS-STATUS
sidebar with live telemetry, COMPASS crest in header, notched card
corners via componentStyles, scanline overlay via customCSS, gold/cyan
palette, Orbitron typography.
Validation:
- 15 new tests in test_web_server.py covering every extended field
- tests/hermes_cli/: 2615 passed (3 pre-existing unrelated failures)
- tsc -b --noEmit: clean
- vite build: 418 kB bundle, ~2 kB delta for slots/theme extensions
Co-authored-by: Teknium <p@nousresearch.com>
