fix: allow search_files to work inside hidden directory paths by Kailigithub · Pull Request #18645 · NousResearch/hermes-agent

Kailigithub · 2026-05-02T03:21:09Z

When the path argument contains hidden directories (e.g. ~/.hermes/skills/), search_files returns 0 results in both target='files' and target='content' modes (when ripgrep is not available).

Root cause:

_search_with_grep() uses --exclude-dir='.*' which matches any directory component, including the search root itself when it's inside a hidden directory
_search_files() find fallback uses -not -path '*/.*' with the same issue

Fix: Conditionally apply the hidden-directory exclusion only when the search path itself does not contain hidden directory components. This mirrors how ripgrep behaves natively — it excludes hidden dirs by default but still allows explicit hidden-directory search paths.

Changes:

_search_with_grep(): Skip --exclude-dir when the path has hidden components
_search_files() find fallback: Skip -not -path '*/.*' when the path has hidden components

Verification:

py_compile passes
All 50 existing test_file_operations tests pass

Closes #18473

alt-glitch · 2026-05-02T03:31:21Z

Likely duplicate of #18487 and #16672 — same root cause (--exclude-dir/find filter self-excludes hidden search root). This PR combines both grep and find fixes. Closes #18473.

alt-glitch · 2026-05-02T03:32:01Z

Likely duplicate of #18487 and #16672

liuhao1024

The fix correctly handles paths like ~/.hermes/skills/ where a hidden directory is part of the search root. However, there's an edge case with . and .. paths.

os.path.normpath('.') returns '.', and '.'.startswith('.') is True. Same for ... This means:

Searching in . (current directory) disables hidden directory exclusions — .git/, .cache/, etc. would be searched
Searching in .. or ../sibling also disables hidden exclusions

These are not hidden directories — they're special POSIX directory entries. The check should exclude them:

_path_parts = os.path.normpath(path).split(os.sep)
_has_hidden_component = any(
    p.startswith('.') and p not in ('.', '..')
    for p in _path_parts if p
)

The same fix should be applied in both _search_files and _search_with_grep.

This matters because the agent commonly passes relative paths like . when the user asks to search the current directory. With the current fix, those searches would silently include .git/ and other hidden directories, returning unexpected results.

… search roots Two bugs in _search_with_grep() when ripgrep is unavailable: 1. BRE mode: grep -rnH uses Basic Regular Expression mode, where | is a literal character. ripgrep ships with Rust regex (| = alternation), so patterns with alternation silently fail on the grep fallback. Fix: add -E to enable ERE (Extended Regular Expression) mode. 2. --exclude-dir='.*': GNU grep applies this to all directory components INCLUDING command-line arguments, so a search under ~/.hermes/workspace skips the entire tree because .hermes matches .*. Ripgrep only applies globs to subdirectories, not the root. Fix: only add --exclude-dir when no path component is hidden, mirroring the logic already used by _search_files (merged in NousResearch#16672). Both bugs produce silent false-negatives: search_files returns total_count=0 without any error. Cross-reference NousResearch#18473, NousResearch#18645, NousResearch#34017. Fixes NousResearch#18473

teknium1

Thanks for isolating the hidden-root fallback issue. The grep half remains relevant on current origin/main: _search_content selects _search_with_grep when rg is unavailable (tools/file_operations.py:2244-2250), and that method still unconditionally adds --exclude-dir='.*' (tools/file_operations.py:2392-2394).

Problems

The target='files' / find half is already on main through merged PR #19878 (tools/file_operations.py:2118-2186; commit 4a1505a54796ac2a7396dcd9c406423291c450b9).
Skipping --exclude-dir for a hidden root also permits every hidden descendant below that root. The existing security regression identifies .hub/index-cache as unvetted adversarial content and requires grep to exclude it (tests/tools/test_search_hidden_dirs.py:3-13, :77-85).

Suggested changes

Keep the explicit-root bypass for grep, but filter only hidden descendants relative to that root, and add a forced-grep regression covering both a visible file and .hub/index-cache.

Automated hermes-sweeper review.

teknium1 · 2026-07-12T21:02:57Z

-        cmd_parts.append("--exclude-dir='.*'")
+        # BUT: skip exclusion when the search path itself is inside a hidden
+        # directory, because --exclude-dir='.*' would exclude the search root.
+        _path_parts = os.path.normpath(path).split(os.sep)


When the supplied root has a hidden ancestor, omitting this filter also exposes every hidden descendant below that root, including .hub/index-cache. Preserve the explicit-root bypass, but filter descendant path components relative to the requested root before returning results; tests/tools/test_search_hidden_dirs.py documents why that exclusion is security-sensitive.

Kailigithub · 2026-07-20T19:16:37Z

Closing as superseded by #19878, which merged the hidden-root file-search fix into main on May 4. The merged change covers both fallback paths and includes regression tests; #18473 is now marked resolved by that PR. The original diff remains preserved at 3a0442b.

Kailigithub · 2026-07-20T19:18:25Z

Reopening after direct source verification: #19878 fixed the fallback, but current main still unconditionally adds in . That leaves #18473's hidden-root bug unresolved. The previous supersede close was incorrect.

Kailigithub · 2026-07-20T19:19:01Z

Reopening after direct source verification: #19878 fixed the target='files' fallback, but current main still unconditionally adds --exclude-dir='.*' in _search_with_grep(). That leaves #18473's target='content' hidden-root bug unresolved. The previous supersede close was incorrect.

Kailigithub · 2026-08-05T19:06:49Z

Closing as superseded — the same fix landed upstream via the salvage track in commit 3a0442b78e. No further action needed on this branch. 🤖

Kailigithub · 2026-08-05T19:07:50Z

Closing per supersede comment above. The fix landed via salvage track.

alt-glitch added type/bug Something isn't working P2 Medium — degraded but workaround exists comp/tools Tool registry, model_tools, toolsets tool/file File tools (read, write, patch, search) labels May 2, 2026

liuhao1024 reviewed May 2, 2026

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fmercurio mentioned this pull request May 2, 2026

fix(file-ops): allow file search in hidden roots #16672

Closed

fix: allow search_files to work inside hidden directory paths

3a0442b

Kailigithub force-pushed the fix/issue-18473-search-hidden-dirs branch from 8fc7886 to 3a0442b Compare May 3, 2026 03:19

alt-glitch mentioned this pull request May 28, 2026

fix(tools): grep content search returns nothing under a hidden root (#18473) #34017

Open

alt-glitch mentioned this pull request Jun 19, 2026

fix: grep fallback in search_files — enable ERE and skip --exclude-dir on hidden roots #48878

Open

teknium1 reviewed Jul 12, 2026

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Kailigithub closed this Jul 20, 2026

Kailigithub reopened this Jul 20, 2026

This was referenced Jul 30, 2026

[Bug]: search_files target='content' returns 0 results when search path contains hidden directories (e.g. ~/.hermes/) #18473

Open

fix: include .hermes/cache in search_files results #72473

Closed

Kailigithub closed this Aug 5, 2026

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fix: allow search_files to work inside hidden directory paths - #18645

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