fix: add HERMES_SKIP_PROFILE_OVERRIDE escape hatch for launcher sandboxes

[OmarB97]

What

Why

How

Scope

This PR is intentionally narrowed to the profile-override escape hatch only:

• hermes_cli/main.py
• tests/hermes_cli/test_apply_profile_override.py

The broader HERMES_LLM_BASE_URL runtime-provider work remains separate in #34332.

Testing

python -m pytest tests/hermes_cli/test_apply_profile_override.py -q

Result: 5 passed in 0.23s.

Risks / gaps

• Low risk: this only affects dispatches that explicitly set HERMES_SKIP_PROFILE_OVERRIDE=1.
• Standard Hermes usage is unchanged.

Relation to #22502

Main now trusts HERMES_HOME when its parent directory is literally named profiles (_apply_profile_override step 1.5). That heuristic does not cover launcher sandboxes whose scratch homes are not profile-shaped (e.g. .../hermes-scratch/<run-id>/), so the unconditional override still clobbers them; this escape hatch remains necessary for that case.

[alt-glitch]

Related: This appears to be a v2 resubmission of #33986 (same author/title, reduced from 19 files to 7 — scope creep removed). Also overlaps with #34332 which is a superset including HERMES_LLM_BASE_URL. Includes additional fixes: chat() KeyError resilience in run_agent.py, skin banner refresh in cli.py.

[OmarB97]

Consolidation update: closed duplicate #35590 and older v1 #33986, leaving this PR as the canonical HERMES_SKIP_PROFILE_OVERRIDE review target per the maintainer request. #34332 remains the broader HERMES_LLM_BASE_URL follow-up and is separate from this narrower profile-override escape hatch.

[OmarB97]

Scope update: force-pushed this branch to current main with only the profile-override escape hatch and its regression test. The PR is now one commit / two files (hermes_cli/main.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_apply_profile_override.py).

Local verification: python -m pytest tests/hermes_cli/test_apply_profile_override.py -q -> 5 passed in 0.23s.

The broader HERMES_LLM_BASE_URL runtime-provider work remains in #34332.

[OmarB97]

Rebased and refreshed this upstream mirror at head 8032e5a0647ba9986c15f0996c2bff5a3a6965b9.

Current state:

• GitHub reports the PR CLEAN / MERGEABLE.
• Required checks are green: tests 1-6, e2e, typechecks, lint, Nix, Docker amd64/arm64, attribution, common ancestor, and supply-chain checks.
• The PR remains intentionally narrow: only hermes_cli/main.py and tests/hermes_cli/test_apply_profile_override.py are changed.
• Local focused verification passed before push: py_compile, git diff --check, and scripts/run_tests.sh tests/hermes_cli/test_apply_profile_override.py -- -q with 9 passed.
• meshctl pr merge --dry-run accepted the PR with a fresh base and no stale overlap.

I attempted the actual merge through meshctl pr merge, but GitHub rejected it because OmarB97 does not have MergePullRequest permission on NousResearch/hermes-agent. This PR is ready for an upstream maintainer to merge.

[teknium1]

Thanks for narrowing this to a focused profile-resolution change and adding a regression test.

This automated hermes-sweeper review is closing it under the standing env-var-for-config policy:

• The PR adds HERMES_SKIP_PROFILE_OVERRIDE, a new non-secret HERMES_* flag that changes profile-selection behavior before startup (hermes_cli/main.py, PR head 0de74e33e58e).
• AGENTS.md:102-107 requires behavioral configuration to use config.yaml, rather than a new user-facing environment-variable control.
• The current non-profile-shaped HERMES_HOME behavior is deliberate: hermes_cli/main.py:461-473 only trusts paths under profiles/<name>, preserving the active_profile behavior introduced by a33c63b9f880 for systemd/root-home deployments.
• A launcher that needs an inherited home without active-profile redirection can use the existing profile-shaped .../profiles/<name> HERMES_HOME contract. Any broader launcher integration should be proposed as a focused configuration/launcher design rather than a new public HERMES_* switch.

This is a design-direction decision, not a judgment on the test coverage or implementation quality.

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Closed as not-planned per standing maintainer policy (env-var-for-config). This is a design-direction decision, not a code-quality judgment — see the Contribution Rubric in AGENTS.md for what the project is looking for. If you believe this policy was misapplied to your change, comment here and a maintainer will take a look.