Summary

Open a concrete follow-up to #624 focused on making session naming actually usable in day-to-day CLI/session workflows.

Hermes should generate a human-readable session title automatically after the first prompt/response exchange, surface that title in recent session views, and let the user inspect or override it via /title.

Why

Right now recent sessions and session listings are still hard to interpret quickly because they mostly rely on timestamps, previews, and IDs. Even once automatic title generation exists in principle, the UX is incomplete unless:

• the title is visible where users browse recent sessions
• the title generation does not delay the first reply
• the user can inspect the current title and session ID easily
• a user-set title wins over the model-generated one

Requested behavior

1. Model-generated session title

• After the first complete user → assistant exchange, Hermes should generate a session title automatically.
• This title should be generated asynchronously after the first response is already sent.
• The first user-visible response must not wait on title generation.
• The generated title should be short and easy to scan in recent session views.

2. Surface titles in recent session flows

• hermes sessions list / recent session views should show the model-generated title prominently so sessions are easy to identify.
• This should become the primary human-readable identifier instead of making the user infer intent from timestamps and previews.

3. /title with no argument should inspect current title state

Calling /title without a name should show:

• the current session ID
• the current title
• whether that title is model-generated or user-set (if that distinction is tracked)

At minimum it should show the session ID and the current title.

4. User override should win permanently

• If the user explicitly sets a title, that should overwrite the model-generated title.
• Once a user title is set, Hermes should not replace it with a later automatic title.

Suggested implementation details

• Treat this as a scoped implementation/UX follow-up to Feature: Automatic Session Title Generation — Lightweight LLM-Based Title After First Exchange (inspired by DeerFlow) #624, not a separate unrelated title system.
• Trigger title generation once, after the first prompt has been answered.
• Run generation in the background so it cannot add latency to the first response.
• Persist enough metadata to distinguish model-generated vs user-set titles if useful.

Acceptance criteria

• First assistant reply is sent without waiting for title generation.
• After the first exchange, the session receives an automatic human-readable title.
• Recent sessions/session list surfaces that title clearly.
• /title with no args shows current session ID and title.
• /title <name> overrides the model-generated title.
• A user-set title is not replaced by later automatic generation.

Related

• Related broad issue: Feature: Automatic Session Title Generation — Lightweight LLM-Based Title After First Exchange (inspired by DeerFlow) #624
• This issue is intended as the concrete product/UX requirements pass for that capability.