feat(voice): make beep notification volume configurable in config.yaml

[hashbender]

Summary

tools.voice_mode:play_beep() hardcoded the tone amplitude at 0.3 (NousResearch#55908), so the CLI voice-mode record start/stop beeps were too quiet on low-volume systems / headphones. Users couldn't adjust it without editing source. This PR adds voice.beep_volume to config.yaml with a 0.3 default, preserving existing behavior for unconfigured installs.

---

Changes

tools/voice_mode.py

• play_beep() — replaces the literal 0.3 with a dynamic value read from config.
• Adds _get_beep_volume() next to play_beep() (same module, audio-cue section):
  • Returns 0.3 when the key is absent — byte-for-byte identical to current behavior.
  • Reads via hermes_cli.config.load_config(), the same pattern already used by cli.py:_voice_beeps_enabled() (L10986-10995) and hermes_cli/voice.py:_beeps_enabled() (L247-257).
  • Lazy-imports load_config inside the function (parity with the two existing call sites) so a broken ~/.hermes/config.yaml can never break module import.
  • Clamps 0.0–1.0; falls back to default on out-of-range, NaN, non-numeric, bool, or load_config exception. The bool guard mirrors the long-standing isinstance(_threshold, (int, float)) and not isinstance(_threshold, bool) pattern at cli.py:10764-10765 for silence_threshold.

hermes_cli/config.py — _DEFAULT_CONFIG_SCHEMA

• Adds one line in the voice: section default, adjacent to beep_enabled (L2024):

"beep_enabled": True,
"beep_volume": 0.3,    # Beep amplitude multiplier (0.0-1.0)

tests/tools/test_voice_mode.py — 2 new test classes:

• TestGetBeepVolume (12 cases): default-when-missing, default-when-section-missing, custom value, boundary 0.0 / 1.0, out-of-range high/low, numeric string coercion, non-numeric fallback, bool fallback, NaN fallback, exception fallback, wrong-type-voice-section fallback.
• TestPlayBeepVolumeWiring (1 case): inspect.getsource guard against re-introducing a hardcoded 0.3 literal at the amplitude line — regression guard for the original symptom.

website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md

• Adds one line in the voice: reference block (L1580) with an inline comment matching the other entries' style. Locale translations (zh-Hans, etc.) are intentionally untouched — handled by the regular i18n sync pipeline.

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How to Test

# New tests
pytest tests/tools/test_voice_mode.py::TestGetBeepVolume -v
# ✅ 12/12 passed

pytest tests/tools/test_voice_mode.py::TestPlayBeepVolumeWiring -v
# ✅ 1/1 passed

# Full voice test suites
pytest tests/tools/test_voice_mode.py
# ✅ 84/87 (3 pre-existing Docker+PipeWire env-detection failures on main, unrelated)

pytest tests/tools/test_voice_cli_integration.py
# ✅ 84/84 passed

pytest tests/hermes_cli/test_voice_wrapper.py
# ✅ 44/44 passed

# Config drift / validation
pytest tests/hermes_cli/test_config_drift.py tests/hermes_cli/test_config_validation.py tests/tools/test_config_null_guard.py
# ✅ 32/32 passed

# Lint
ruff check tools/voice_mode.py hermes_cli/config.py tests/tools/test_voice_mode.py
# ✅ All checks passed

---

User Migration

No action required. Users who haven't configured voice.beep_volume keep the existing 0.3 amplitude byte-for-byte. To make the beep louder:

# ~/.hermes/config.yaml
voice:
  beep_volume: 0.6   # any value in 0.0–1.0

Out-of-range values silently use the default — a typo cannot brick the voice loop.

---

Checklist

• Tests pass — 13/13 new, 84/87 full file (3 pre-existing unrelated failures)
• ruff check — PASS, 0 warnings
• Follows Conventional Commits
• Changes scoped to this feature only — 4 files (+136/-1)
• No new public API, no new env vars — config key per AGENTS.md "config over env vars" rule

---

Risk & Impact

None. No behavior change without an opt-in voice.beep_volume key in config. All fallback paths degrade to the existing 0.3 default. A bad config value can't break the voice loop.

Type: ✨ New feature
Closes: NousResearch#55908

---

Mirror-of: NousResearch#56116
NousResearch#56116

[tenki-reviewer]

Review Complete

Files Reviewed: 4
Findings: 1

By Severity:

• 🟡 Medium: 1

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This PR removes the prompt_caching.enabled config key from defaults and docs while the runtime still supports it as a kill switch, creating a documentation-code inconsistency that hides a needed escape hatch from users.

Files Reviewed (4 files)

hermes_cli/config.py
tests/tools/test_voice_mode.py
tools/voice_mode.py
website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md

[tenki-reviewer]

Risk: 🟡 Medium (45/100) — 1 medium finding · 149 LOC across 4 files

---

Summary

1 finding (medium severity) flagged in hermes_cli/config.py.

Key Issue: Incomplete migration of prompt_caching.enabled kill switch

The PR removes the enabled: True key from DEFAULT_CONFIG["prompt_caching"] in hermes_cli/config.py (line 1395-1397) and updates the website docs to claim "No knob exists to disable this — caching is always-on." However:

• agent/agent_runtime_helpers.py:1446-1459 still contains a "Global kill switch" block that reads _pc_cfg.get("enabled") and returns False, False when explicitly set to False.
• agent/agent_init.py:524 confirms with a comment that prompt_caching.enabled=false is honored.
• Tests in tests/run_agent/test_anthropic_prompt_cache_policy.py:335-409 still verify the kill switch works.

Impact: Users behind strict Anthropic-compatible proxies that inject their own cache_control markers need this escape hatch to avoid exceeding Anthropic's 4-breakpoint limit (which causes HTTP 400 errors). The runtime supports it; the docs now falsely deny its existence.

[tenki-reviewer]

🟡 prompt_caching.enabled kill switch removed from config defaults and docs but still honored by runtime (bug)

The PR removes enabled: True from DEFAULT_CONFIG["prompt_caching"] in hermes_cli/config.py (line 1395-1397) and updates website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md to state "No knob exists to disable this — caching is always-on." However, agent/agent_runtime_helpers.py:1446-1459 still contains a "Global kill switch" block that reads _pc_cfg.get("enabled") and returns False, False when explicitly set to False — meaning the escape hatch remains alive and functional for any user who already has or discovers the key. The comment at agent/agent_init.py:524 confirms prompt_caching.enabled=false is honored. Tests in tests/run_agent/test_anthropic_prompt_cache_policy.py:335-409 still verify this kill switch works across native Anthropic, OpenRouter, and third-party proxy endpoints.

Impact: users behind strict Anthropic-compatible proxies that inject their own cache_control markers server-side need to disable client-side markers to avoid exceeding Anthropic's 4-breakpoint limit (which causes HTTP 400 errors). The docs now falsely claim no knob exists, hiding the workaround from affected users while the runtime code continues to support it.

Sources: sweep (swp-001), holistic (holi-001), domain-llm-prompt-caching (dom-001).

💡 Suggestion: Choose one consistent path: (A) Restore the enabled key to DEFAULT_CONFIG and fix the docs to acknowledge the escape hatch (recommended — preserves backward compatibility for users who depend on this); or (B) Fully remove the kill-switch code in agent_runtime_helpers.py and the corresponding test class.

📋 Prompt for AI Agents

In hermes_cli/config.py around line 1395, restore the enabled key to the prompt_caching section alongside cache_ttl:

"prompt_caching": {
"enabled": True,
"cache_ttl": "5m",
},

In website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md around line 910, replace 'No knob exists to disable this — caching is always-on' with accurate documentation of the escape hatch: 'Caching is always-on by default. Set enabled: false only as an escape hatch for strict Anthropic-compatible proxies that inject their own cache_control markers server-side — stacking those on top of Hermes' breakpoints can exceed Anthropic's 4-breakpoint limit and return HTTP 400.'