fix(kanban): type goal-loop blocks as transient

[yinkev]

Summary

• thread the optional Kanban block kind through the quiet goal-worker CLI callback
• classify both machine-generated goal-loop exits as kind="transient"
  • turn budget exhausted
  • output judged complete, but the worker did not call kanban_complete after the finalize nudge
• add behavior-contract coverage for both exits and for propagation through the CLI wrapper into kanban_db.block_task

This changes classification only. It does not add a new retry policy, routing rule, schema, or configuration surface.

Contributor credit / relationship to #71071

This cleanly salvages the focused #71050 commit from @webtecnica and preserves their authorship in git history. PR #71071 currently carries an earlier unrelated parent commit; this branch isolates the reported bug and adds the missing end-to-end callback regression coverage.

Fixes #71050.

Verification

• python -m pytest tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_goal_mode.py tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_block_kinds.py -q -o addopts= → 28 passed
• python -m ruff check cli.py hermes_cli/goals.py tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_goal_mode.py
• python -m py_compile cli.py hermes_cli/goals.py tests/hermes_cli/test_kanban_goal_mode.py
• git diff --check upstream/main...HEAD

[alt-glitch]

This was generated by AI during triage.

Related to #71071 and #71050: this PR isolates the transient-kind forwarding fix and tests CLI propagation, while #71071 also changes kanban lifecycle policy and includes unrelated changes. Please choose which scope to retain.

[yinkev]

I’m keeping this one narrow. #71088 only fixes propagation of kind="transient" through the existing CLI goal-loop path and pins that contract with focused coverage. It does not take on the broader kanban lifecycle changes in #71071, so I don’t think the two scopes should be combined unless maintainers explicitly prefer that policy change.

[teknium1]

Thanks for keeping the salvage focused. The current-main goal loop calls block_fn without a kind at hermes_cli/goals.py:1751 and :1767, while the only production wrapper drops that metadata before kanban_db.block_task() at cli.py:17404-17407. The proposed changes cover both exits and the propagation boundary; the tracked caller search found no additional production goal-loop wrapper.

Suggested changes

• Update the injected block_fn contract in hermes_cli/goals.py:1692-1694: after this change it accepts the optional kind keyword, but the docstring still describes it as (reason: str -> None).

Automated hermes-sweeper review.

[GottZ]

This was generated by AI during triage.

Summary

Two PRs address Issue #71050 by classifying both machine-generated goal-loop exits as transient and forwarding that kind through the CLI callback to Kanban. #71088 isolates this cause-level fix and adds focused behavior and propagation coverage; #71071 contains the same core change but also carries unrelated lifecycle, dashboard, and provider edits.

Related pull requests

• fix(kanban): add kind='transient' to goal loop blocks to enable auto recovery (#71050) #71071 [closed] duplicate — (+28/-23) — verify: n/a: forwards the optional block kind through cli.py and passes kind="transient" at both goal-loop exits, directly addressing the untyped-block cause, but also changes lifecycle documentation, dashboard wiring, and provider definitions. Closed as superseded by fix(kanban): type goal-loop blocks as transient #71088; it remains relevant as the original implementation whose core commit and authorship were preserved there.
• fix(kanban): type goal-loop blocks as transient #71088 best fix — (+84/-4) — verify: n/a: threads kind through the CLI callback, marks both the finalize-nudge and turn-budget exits as transient, and adds focused tests for both exits and the CLI→DB propagation boundary. The narrow salvage path preserves the reported fix while excluding fix(kanban): add kind='transient' to goal loop blocks to enable auto recovery (#71050) #71071's unrelated policy and provider changes; the maintainer-bot keep_open review identifies only the stale block_fn contract documentation as follow-up.

Duplicates

#71071 and #71088 implement the same core transient-kind classification and CLI propagation. #71071 is superseded by #71088 and can remain closed.

Suggested consolidation

keep open with a salvage path: retain #71088 as the focused implementation, address the stale block_fn contract documentation noted in its maintainer-bot review, and then let maintainers evaluate that narrow branch. Keep #71071 closed as superseded by #71088, consistent with its contributor author's explicit closure and authorship-preservation note.

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
    I71050(["issue #71050 (open)"])
    subgraph Dup71071 ["PRs duplicating each other"]
        P71071["PR #71071 (closed)"]
        P71088["PR #71088 (open)"]
    end
    P71088 -->|best fix| I71050
    class I71050 open
    class P71071 closed
    class P71088 open
    class P71088 best
    class P71088 target
    click I71050 "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/71050"
    click P71071 "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/71071"
    click P71088 "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/71088"

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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 (state tag in the node label).

Cross-PR triage: Reviewed 2 pull requests and 1 issue in this complex. Each diff was read against this issue; Assessment working set: 12 kB of PR diffs, 6 kB of issue/PR text, 2 kB of discussion (6 comments), 3 verify verdicts. verdicts reflect diff content, not PR titles. Part of an automated triage batch.

[yinkev]

Author-status audit — 2026-08-05: this PR is cleanly mergeable and its current-head CI completed successfully. The only remaining review item is documentation-only: in hermes_cli/goals.py, update the injected block_fn contract from (reason: str -> None) to state that the callback accepts reason: str and optional keyword kind: str | None = None. No implementation or test change is otherwise requested. The current GitHub installation cannot update the fork branch, and maintainer_can_modify remains false.