fix(gateway): eliminate blank console window on Windows login

[Weidows]

Problem

When the Hermes gateway starts via Scheduled Task at Windows login, a blank terminal window flashes on screen. This happens because schtasks runs .cmd files through cmd.exe, which is a console-subsystem executable -- Windows must create a Console Window Host (conhost.exe) before it ever reaches pythonw.exe inside the script.

Root cause

cmd.exe is a console-subsystem binary. Windows allocates a new console (conhost.exe) for every console-mode process that doesn't inherit one. The .cmd wrapper launches pythonw.exe (GUI-subsystem, no console) almost immediately, but the console window is already created and visible before the child even starts.

Fix

Replace the cmd.exe -> .cmd -> pythonw.exe chain with wscript.exe -> .vbs -> pythonw.exe for the Scheduled Task /TR action.

wscript.exe is a GUI-subsystem executable built into every Windows install since Windows 98. It never creates a console, so no blank terminal window ever appears.

Changes

1. _build_vbs_launcher() -- New function that generates CRLF-terminated VBScript content. The VBS script:

   • Creates a WScript.Shell COM object
   • Sets CurrentDirectory to the project root
   • Exports HERMES_HOME, PYTHONIOENCODING, VIRTUAL_ENV, HERMES_GATEWAY_DETACHED via WshShell.Environment("PROCESS")
   • Calls WshShell.Run(cmd, 0, False) where 0 = SW_HIDE (no window) and False = async (non-blocking)

2. _write_vbs_launcher() -- Writes the .vbs file to <HERMES_HOME>/gateway-service/<task_name>.vbs, alongside the existing .cmd wrapper

3. _install_scheduled_task() -- Signature changed from (task_name, script_path: Path) to (task_name, tr_command: str) so the caller passes the full already-quoted /TR command string (e.g. wscript.exe //B //Nologo "C:...\Hermes_Gateway.vbs")

4. install() -- Now writes the .vbs launcher and builds the wscript.exe command for /TR. The .cmd wrapper is still written for manual use and the Startup-folder fallback.

5. uninstall() -- Also removes the .vbs file during cleanup.

Testing

• Python syntax verified (AST parse)
• All functions import correctly
• VBS launcher uses WshShell.Run with SW_HIDE and async
• VBS quoting handles paths with spaces via subprocess.list2cmdline + VBS double-quote convention
• uninstall() cleans up .vbs alongside .cmd

Notes

• The existing .cmd wrapper is preserved for backward compatibility (manual hermes gateway start, debugging).
• The Startup-folder fallback path still uses start /min cmd.exe -- that path is less common and users who hit it likely chose it intentionally. A follow-up could apply the same VBS approach there too.

[rodriguez46p-ui]

Hourly commander review note: this looks like the right direction for suppressing the login console flash (wscript.exe + pythonw.exe). One edge case to fix before merge: the scheduled-task /TR currently builds wscript.exe //B //Nologo {vbs_path} and then quotes the whole string. If HERMES_HOME / profile path contains spaces (e.g. C:\Users\Paul Rodriguez\...), wscript.exe will receive the .vbs path split across arguments because the script path itself is not quoted inside the command line.

Suggested shape:

tr_command = _quote_schtasks_arg(
    subprocess.list2cmdline(["wscript.exe", "//B", "//Nologo", str(vbs_path)])
)

I verified in an isolated worktree that hermes_cli/gateway_windows.py imports/py-compiles, and the existing gateway service test file is fully skipped on this non-Windows test substrate (pytest ... test_gateway_service.py exits 5 with 1 skipped).

[Weidows]

Good catch on the space-in-path edge case. Fixed in db23487 — now uses subprocess.list2cmdline() to quote each argument individually before the outer _quote_schtasks_arg(), so a path like C:\Users\Paul Rodriguez\Hermes_Gateway.vbs survives both the schtasks parser and wscript.exe argv splitting.

[Weidows]

Confirmed fixed in practice. Closing as the blank terminal window no longer appears on session start.

[Weidows]

User confirmed the blank terminal no longer appears. The fix from this PR was incorporated upstream in #40909 (commit fc086da8b by teknium1) which rewrote the entire Windows gateway service layer with CREATE_NO_WINDOW flags and the VBS launcher approach — a superset of this change.