Summary

Rapid Telegram photo bursts/albums can arrive as multiple near-simultaneous PHOTO updates. The gateway treats later images as fresh user interrupts while the model is still responding, which can surface this error:

Operation interrupted: waiting for model response (0.5s elapsed).

Repro pattern

• send multiple Telegram photos quickly (album or burst)
• while Hermes is still processing the first image turn, later PHOTO updates arrive
• the running agent is interrupted even though the updates are part of the same logical image send

Expected

Photo bursts/albums should be batched/queued and processed as one logical follow-up without interrupting the active run.

Actual

The run can be interrupted mid-response, producing the user-visible interruption error.

Notes

We validated this behavior in a local Telegram gateway setup and prepared a fix that:

• batches Telegram photo bursts/albums
• avoids priority interrupts for PHOTO follow-ups
• adds regression coverage for Telegram photo batching and image enrichment handling