fix: make Hermes launcher survive home directory changes

[Fe2-O3]

This fixes Hermes launcher behavior for users who change usernames, restore a profile onto a new machine, or otherwise end up with a different home directory than the one used at install time.

Today the installer-generated launcher can keep pointing at an old absolute path, which breaks hermes before the app even starts. That forces users to understand and repair internal launcher paths just to get back to a working state.

This change makes the launcher home-agnostic so it resolves from the current environment instead of assuming one fixed user directory.

Why this matters:

• Users should not have to know where the launcher lives internally.
• A username or machine change should not silently break the CLI.
• The fix belongs in the installer-generated launcher, not as an isolated uninstall workaround.

Scope:

• scripts/install.sh launcher generation
• launcher regression tests

Verification:

• Ran the targeted regression tests with uv run --with pytest python -m pytest tests/test_install_sh_pythonpath_sanitization.py tests/test_install_sh_symlink_stomp.py
• Confirmed both tests pass.

[alt-glitch]

This was generated by AI during triage.

Related to closed, unmerged #65292, which carried the same launcher-path change. This is the active submission for the home-directory migration fix.

[Fe2-O3]

This is complementary to the recent $HOME-hardening work rather than overlapping with it: #65286 stops runtime terminal.cwd from persisting $HOME, and #65250 / #65165 stop skills resolving under a stale home. This PR closes the remaining gap — the installer-generated launcher in scripts/install.sh bakes an absolute home path, which breaks hermes at startup after a username change, profile restore, or move to a new machine.

[teknium1]

Thanks for identifying a real launcher-migration gap: current main expands the installer-time HERMES_BIN into the shim at scripts/install.sh:1604 and scripts/install.sh:1642.

Problems

• scripts/install.sh:1642 replaces the resolved executable with $HOME/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/bin/hermes. That bypasses documented explicit install directories (scripts/install.sh:404-408), root FHS installs at /usr/local/lib/hermes-agent (scripts/install.sh:427-438), and the USE_VENV=false PATH branch (scripts/install.sh:1603-1611). Those supported installations would launch the wrong or nonexistent executable.
• The changed assertions in tests/test_install_sh_pythonpath_sanitization.py:30 and tests/test_install_sh_symlink_stomp.py:120 check a literal generated string rather than executing the launcher after a home change. AGENTS.md:1370-1391 prohibits source-shape tests for this reason.

Suggested changes

• Preserve all existing layout-resolution modes while adding runtime resolution for a relocated default installation.
• Add a behavioral launcher test using controlled old/new homes, plus coverage for a non-default install mode.

Automated hermes-sweeper review.

[teknium1]

HERMES_BIN is deliberately resolved above for explicit --dir/HERMES_INSTALL_DIR, root-FHS, and --no-venv installs. Replacing it with the default per-home venv path breaks those supported layouts; retain their resolution while making only the default relocated layout dynamic.

[Fe2-O3]

Updated — both review points addressed, and the branch is rebased onto current main (it was 181 commits behind; AGENTS.md flags the stale-branch merge hazard). Squashed to a single commit.

Layout resolution preserved. The shim now rewrites to a $HOME-relative exec target only when $HERMES_BIN resolves under the installing user's home, so it expands at launch time instead of being frozen at install time. Every install that does not live under $HOME keeps its absolute resolved path — explicit --dir / $HERMES_INSTALL_DIR, the root FHS layout under /usr/local/lib/hermes-agent, and USE_VENV=false installs whose $HERMES_BIN came from PATH are all unaffected.

Behavioral tests, no source-shape assertions. tests/test_install_sh_launcher_home_migration.py drives the real setup_path() shim-write block, physically relocates the home directory, then executes the launcher; a second test covers a non-default out-of-home install and asserts the absolute path survives a HOME change. The PYTHONPATH test now executes the generated shim with a poisoned PYTHONPATH/PYTHONHOME instead of grepping install.sh.

Both tests were checked against the variants they guard, so neither is vacuous: the migration test fails against exec "$HERMES_BIN" (current main), and the out-of-home test fails against the previous hardcoded $HOME/.hermes/... target. Full tests/test_install_sh_*.py suite: 35 passed.

[GottZ]

This was generated by AI during triage.

Summary

Two PRs address the launcher failure caused by embedding an install-time home path: #65292 replaces it with one fixed $HOME layout, while #65304 conditionally makes only in-home installs relocatable and preserves other supported layouts.

Related pull requests

• #65292 [closed] duplicate — (+3/-3) — superseded by #65304: It targets the reported stale-home launcher path, but hard-codes $HOME/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/bin/hermes, breaking explicit install directories, root FHS installs, and USE_VENV=false PATH-based installs; although closed unmerged, it remains relevant as the earlier duplicate implementation.
• #65304 related — (+240/-9) — preferred fix: The diff converts HERMES_BIN to a runtime $HOME-relative target only when it was installed beneath the original home, retains absolute targets otherwise, and adds behavioral coverage for home relocation, out-of-home layouts, environment sanitization, and argument forwarding. This directly addresses the contributor keep_open review on #65304, including its layout-preservation and behavioral-test concerns.

Duplicates

#65292 and #65304 address the same launcher home-migration defect, but #65304 supersedes #65292 with layout-aware resolution and behavioral regression tests.

Suggested consolidation

Merge #65304 as the complete, review-addressed implementation; keep #65292 closed as a superseded duplicate.

Complex graph

flowchart LR
    classDef open fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#1d4ed8,color:#1e3a8a
    classDef merged fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#15803d,color:#14532d
    classDef closed fill:#e5e7eb,stroke:#6b7280,color:#1f2937
    classDef unverified fill:#f3f4f6,stroke:#9ca3af,color:#374151
    classDef best stroke-width:3px,stroke:#b45309
    classDef target stroke-width:3px,stroke:#4338ca
    subgraph Dup65292 ["PRs duplicating each other"]
        P65292["PR #65292 (closed)"]
        P65304["PR #65304 (open)"]
    end
    class P65292 closed
    class P65304 open
    class P65304 target
    click P65292 "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/65292"
    click P65304 "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/65304"

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Graph: solid arrow = fixes / best fix, dashed arrow = partial or unverified (see edge label); boxed group = PRs duplicating each other; amber border = best fix; indigo border = target; gray node = closed or no verify verdict yet (state tag in the node label).

Cross-PR triage: Reviewed 2 pull requests and 0 issues in this complex. Each diff was read against this issue; Assessment working set: 14 kB of PR diffs, 2 kB of issue/PR text, 3 kB of discussion (5 comments), 1 verify verdict. verdicts reflect diff content, not PR titles. Part of an automated triage batch.