fix(gateway): remove stale default pid file on startup

gateway/status.py

@@ -216,10 +216,7 @@ def _cleanup_invalid_pid_path(pid_path: Path, *, cleanup_stale: bool) -> None:
     if not cleanup_stale:
         return
     try:
-        if pid_path == _get_pid_path():
-            remove_pid_file()
-        else:
-            pid_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        pid_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
     except Exception:
         pass
 

tests/gateway/test_status.py

@@ -105,6 +105,24 @@ def test_get_running_pid_accepts_explicit_pid_path_without_cleanup(self, tmp_pat
         assert status.get_running_pid(pid_path, cleanup_stale=False) == os.getpid()
         assert pid_path.exists()
 
+    def test_get_running_pid_removes_stale_default_pid_file(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
+        pid_path = tmp_path / "gateway.pid"
+        pid_path.write_text(json.dumps({
+            "pid": 99999,
+            "kind": "hermes-gateway",
+            "argv": ["python", "-m", "hermes_cli.main", "gateway", "run", "--replace"],
+            "start_time": 123,
+        }))
+
+        def fake_kill(pid, sig):
+            raise ProcessLookupError
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(status.os, "kill", fake_kill)
+
+        assert status.get_running_pid() is None
+        assert not pid_path.exists()
+
 
 class TestGatewayRuntimeStatus:
     def test_write_runtime_status_overwrites_stale_pid_on_restart(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):