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[Brev][Agent&Skills] hermes whatsapp QR pairing fails with EACCES — npm install cannot write to /opt/hermes/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/node_modules #4764

@mercl-lau

Description

@mercl-lau

Description

Running hermes whatsapp inside a Hermes Agent sandbox fails during the WhatsApp bridge dependency installation step. The command attempts npm install under /opt/hermes/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/, but that directory is owned by root and the sandbox user (sandbox) has no write permission. The QR code pairing screen is never reached.

Environment

Device:        Brev n2d-standard-4 (nemoclaw-52ca05)
OS:            Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
Architecture:  x86_64
Node.js:       v22.22.2
npm:           10.9.7
Docker:        29.1.3
OpenShell CLI: 0.0.44
NemoClaw:      v0.0.58
Hermes Agent:  v0.14.0 (2026.5.16)

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install NemoClaw v0.0.58 with NEMOCLAW_INSTALL_TAG=v0.0.58
  2. Onboard with Hermes agent: nemoclaw onboard --agent hermes --non-interactive --yes
  3. Add WhatsApp channel: nemoclaw hermes channels add whatsapp
  4. Rebuild sandbox: nemoclaw hermes rebuild --yes
  5. Connect to sandbox: nemoclaw hermes connect
  6. Run: hermes whatsapp
  7. Select allowed users: *
  8. Observe npm install failure

Expected Result

WhatsApp bridge dependencies install successfully and a QR code is displayed for phone pairing.

Actual Result

→ Installing WhatsApp bridge dependencies (this can take a few minutes)...
  ✗ npm install failed:
npm error code EACCES
npm error syscall mkdir
npm error path /opt/hermes/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/node_modules
npm error errno -13
npm error Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/opt/hermes/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/node_modules'
npm error The operation was rejected by your operating system.
npm error It is likely you do not have the permissions to access this file as the current user

Logs

Full npm debug log at /sandbox/.npm/_logs/2026-06-04T10_47_10_434Z-debug-0.log inside the sandbox.

Directory ownership:
  ls -la /opt/hermes/scripts/whatsapp-bridge/
  drwxrwxr-x 2 root root 4096 May 16 09:58 .

The sandbox user is `sandbox`, which cannot mkdir under root-owned /opt/hermes/.
The sandbox filesystem policy marks /opt/hermes as read-only.

NVB#6268208

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NV QABugs found by the NVIDIA QA Teamarea: sandboxOpenShell sandbox lifecycle, runtime, config, or recoveryintegration: hermesHermes integration behaviorintegration: whatsappWhatsApp integration or channel behaviorv0.0.64Release target

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