fix(sessions): don't let the empty-session sweep delete an archived transcript - #96401
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`count_empty_sessions` / `delete_empty_sessions` — the dashboard's
"Delete empty (N)" affordance — defined "empty" as `sessions.message_count
= 0`. That column is a denormalized counter over the LIVE (`active = 1`)
rows only, and two production transcript-rewrite paths reset it on purpose
while keeping every dropped turn on disk as `active = 0`:
* `replace_messages(..., archive_dropped=True)` — the rewind / edit /
regenerate mode added in NousResearch#82756 so a taken-back turn stays recoverable.
* `archive_and_compact` — in-place compaction, which archives the
pre-compaction transcript under the same session id (NousResearch#38763).
A chat rewound to its first turn, or compacted with an empty live set,
therefore reports `message_count = 0` while still holding its entire
history — and those soft-archived rows are the only copy. A gateway reload
is what makes the row eligible: it stamps `ended_at` on every detached
session (`end_reason='ws_orphan_reap'`), satisfying the sweep's
`ended_at IS NOT NULL` gate. The next sweep then hard-deleted the session
row AND `DELETE FROM messages`, destroying the transcript silently.
Every other emptiness test in `hermes_state` already defends the counter
with a real `EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM messages ...)` probe
(`delete_session_if_empty`, `prune_empty_ghost_sessions`,
`list_never_active_keyed_sessions`, `find_recoverable_session`). This
sweep was the only destructive path that trusted the counter alone. It now
uses the same probe, via one `_EMPTY_SESSION_WHERE` selector shared by the
count and the delete so the button's N and the sweep it triggers can never
disagree again. The counter stays as a cheap prefilter; `EXISTS` is the
authority.
Genuinely message-less rows are still swept — the feature is unchanged for
the case it was built for.
Fixes NousResearch#95868
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_011zTDHnWcBvQsJSX1fBLhuv
…esearch#95868 guards Precision pass on the comments added by the previous commit: prompt.submit reaches replace_messages(archive_dropped=True) with an empty prefix on a confirmed ordinal-0 rewind, which is the production shape that lands a populated session on message_count = 0. archive_and_compact normally publishes at least a summary row, so it is pinned as defense in depth rather than claimed as an equally reachable trigger. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_011zTDHnWcBvQsJSX1fBLhuv
Deduplicate the explanation across the constant comment, count_empty_sessions docstring, and delete_empty_sessions docstring. Keep the incident refs (NousResearch#70516/NousResearch#80763/NousResearch#82756/NousResearch#95868) and the core WHY on the constant; cross-reference from the methods.
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Summary
Salvage of PR #96092 (@JoaoMarcos44) with a comment trim follow-up: the empty-session sweep can no longer hard-delete a session whose transcript survives as soft-archived (
active=0) rows after a rewind or in-place compaction.Root cause:
count_empty_sessions()/delete_empty_sessions()selected onmessage_count = 0alone. That counter tracks live (active=1) rows only, and two production paths deliberately reset it while keeping dropped turns on disk asactive=0—replace_messages(archive_dropped=True)(rewind, #82756) andarchive_and_compact(in-place compaction). After a gateway reload stampsended_at, such a row satisfied the sweep's gates and was hard-deleted together with itsmessagesrows — silently, with no log line (#95868).Changes
hermes_state.py: shared_EMPTY_SESSION_WHEREselector addsNOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM messages WHERE messages.session_id = sessions.id)as the authority;message_count = 0stays as a cheap prefilter. Same shape as all four sibling guards (delete_session_if_empty,prune_empty_ghost_sessions,list_never_active_keyed_sessions,find_recoverable_session).hermes_cli/web_routers/sessions.py: endpoint docstring updated to match.tests/hermes_state/test_empty_sweep_archived_transcript_95868.py: 5 new tests (3 fail without the fix).#:comment and docstrings to avoid triple-duplication of the same explanation.Validation
Closes #96092
Fixes #95868