fix(delegate): declare stateless channel in one-shot and cron so background delegations return results

[teknium1]

Summary

delegate_task background=true and terminal notify_on_complete now fall back to synchronous execution in hermes -z one-shot runs and cron jobs, instead of handing out a completion handle that is silently dropped when the single-turn process/turn ends.

Salvages @cgarwood82's PR #63866 (earliest and only complete fix in the cluster). Fixes #53027.

Root cause

Top-level delegation is forced async-by-default. That's correct for the interactive CLI and gateway (their processes persist and drain process_registry.completion_queue), but a one-shot prints once and exits, and a cron job delivers its result then ends — neither has a live consumer left. The daemon thread dies mid-flight and the async_delegations row is orphaned at state: running forever. async_delivery_supported() defaulted True when unbound, and neither runner bound it.

Changes

• hermes_cli/oneshot.py: run_oneshot() calls declare_stateless_channel() before the turn starts.
• cron/scheduler.py: run_job() passes async_delivery=False to set_session_vars().
• gateway/session_context.py: adds declare_stateless_channel() — binds only the delivery capability var, deliberately NOT the _session_context_engaged latch (which set_session_vars trips), so a one-shot declaring a capability doesn't flip its subprocess env bridge into ContextVar-authoritative mode.
• tools/delegate_tool.py, tools/terminal_tool.py: user-facing fallback notes now name one-shot / cron alongside the stateless HTTP API.

Validation

Check	Result
PR's own suite (test_async_delivery_capability.py)	15/15 pass
E2E: unbound (CLI/gateway)	async_delivery_supported() → True
E2E: one-shot via declare_stateless_channel()	→ False, engaged latch stays False
E2E: cron via set_session_vars(async_delivery=False)	→ False
E2E: background=true batch in stateless channel	falls back to SYNC, returns both results inline

Related

Supersedes the partial fixes #64609 (one-shot only, no tests), #65491 (one-shot only), #53062 (cron only) — closing those with credit pointing here.

Infographic

[alt-glitch]

This was generated by AI during triage.

Related to #63866 and the #53027 family: this maintainer salvage carries the stateless-channel approach across both one-shot and cron. Keep it as an active review alternative rather than marking it duplicate.

[tonydwb]

Code Review Summary

Verdict: Approved with Comment

PR #66617 — fix(delegate): declare stateless channel in one-shot and cron so background delegations return results

• Fixes stateless channel declaration in one-shot and cron modes for background delegations.
• 168 additions, 11 deletions — targeted fix with clear root cause.
• No security concerns.

Suggestions

• Ensure the fix is covered by integration tests for the delegation path.

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Reviewed by Hermes Agent

[tonydwb]

{
"event": "COMMENT",

Code Review Summary

Verdict: Comment (prior COMMENT activity noted)

Fixes cron/one-shot background delegation so that delegate_task uses its inline/synchronous path (results return within the job's turn) rather than async delivery. Adds declare_stateless_channel() function in gateway/session_context.py that sets only the delivery capability without latching _session_context_engaged (which would switch the env bridge mode). Passes async_delivery=False to set_session_vars in run_job.

---

Reviewed by Hermes Agent",
"comments": []
}