Surface pinPeerName in hermes memory setup wizard for multi-instance Honcho setups
Problem
When running two Hermes installations that share a Honcho workspace (e.g. a cloud VPS with a Telegram gateway + a Mac CLI for browser/file work), the Telegram gateway hard-codes the Telegram user ID as the Honcho user peer name, overriding the peerName value configured in ~/.hermes/honcho.json. As a result, Honcho models the same human as two distinct user peers (e.g. alice for CLI sessions and 123456789 for Telegram messages), the dialectic synthesis builds two parallel user models, and cross-instance recall via honcho_reasoning / honcho_search returns empty across the gap.
The fix landed in #15381 as the pinPeerName: true flag (per-host or root-level in honcho.json). When enabled, the configured peerName wins and gateway IDs become the fallback.
What's working
- The flag is implemented and functional in
v0.14.0 (2026.5.16) (verified by grep pinPeerName ~/.hermes/hermes-agent/)
- Test coverage exists in
tests/honcho_plugin/test_pin_peer_name.py
- Once set, the Telegram → CLI peer unification works as expected
What's missing
The default of false is correct for multi-user-bot deployments. But for the canonical single-user, multi-instance pattern (one human, many front-ends), the current default produces broken cross-instance memory silently — the symptom looks like "Honcho recall doesn't work," not "two peers are being modeled."
Suggested fix
One or more of:
- Wizard prompt —
hermes memory setup already asks the user for the AI peer name, user peer name, workspace ID, observation mode, write frequency, recall mode, context tokens, dialectic cadence, reasoning level, and session strategy. Adding one more prompt for "Single human across multiple front-ends? (pin peerName) [N]" with clear yes/no semantics would catch this at install time.
- Docs note — the integration guide page should call out the multi-instance pattern and
pinPeerName: true as the recommended setting for one-user-many-front-ends deployments.
hermes honcho status surface — add a line like Pin peer name: true/false so users can see the effective value without parsing honcho.json directly.
- Smarter default — if a Hermes install ever needs to detect "the user peer name in config differs from the gateway-supplied user ID," auto-pin and log a warning. Probably more invasive than the other fixes.
Reproduction
- Set up two Hermes installations (e.g. VPS + Mac) with the same Honcho workspace and the same configured
peerName (e.g. alice) in honcho.json.
- Enable a Telegram gateway on one instance, allowlisted to a single user ID.
- Send a message to the bot via Telegram, then run
hermes interactively on the other instance and tell the agent a fact.
- Inspect the Honcho UI's Peers tab for the shared workspace. Observed: two user peers exist (the configured name + the Telegram user ID). Expected: one user peer.
Encountered in
v0.14.0 (2026.5.16), May 2026. Spent ~5 hours debugging the symptom before locating the pinPeerName flag via source-code grep. Setting "pinPeerName": true in both installs' ~/.hermes/honcho.json host blocks resolved it immediately.
Why this matters
For the documented "ambient thinking partner that follows you across devices" pattern that Hermes + Honcho enables, multi-instance is the default mode, not the edge case. Catching the user-peer split at setup time (or via clearer docs) would save real time and avoid the failure mode where the cross-instance bridge appears wired but is silently building two user models.
Surface
pinPeerNameinhermes memory setupwizard for multi-instance Honcho setupsProblem
When running two Hermes installations that share a Honcho workspace (e.g. a cloud VPS with a Telegram gateway + a Mac CLI for browser/file work), the Telegram gateway hard-codes the Telegram user ID as the Honcho user peer name, overriding the
peerNamevalue configured in~/.hermes/honcho.json. As a result, Honcho models the same human as two distinct user peers (e.g.alicefor CLI sessions and123456789for Telegram messages), the dialectic synthesis builds two parallel user models, and cross-instance recall viahoncho_reasoning/honcho_searchreturns empty across the gap.The fix landed in #15381 as the
pinPeerName: trueflag (per-host or root-level inhoncho.json). When enabled, the configuredpeerNamewins and gateway IDs become the fallback.What's working
v0.14.0 (2026.5.16)(verified bygrep pinPeerName ~/.hermes/hermes-agent/)tests/honcho_plugin/test_pin_peer_name.pyWhat's missing
hermes memory setupwizard does not prompt forpinPeerName. A user setting up Honcho across two installations has no in-wizard signal that this flag exists or matters.pinPeerName, the related issue honcho: peerName in config should win over platform user ID for single-user setups #14984, or the multi-instance gotcha.hermes honcho statusdoes not surface the currentpinPeerNamevalue in its config block, so there's no easy diagnostic.The default of
falseis correct for multi-user-bot deployments. But for the canonical single-user, multi-instance pattern (one human, many front-ends), the current default produces broken cross-instance memory silently — the symptom looks like "Honcho recall doesn't work," not "two peers are being modeled."Suggested fix
One or more of:
hermes memory setupalready asks the user for the AI peer name, user peer name, workspace ID, observation mode, write frequency, recall mode, context tokens, dialectic cadence, reasoning level, and session strategy. Adding one more prompt for "Single human across multiple front-ends? (pin peerName) [N]" with clear yes/no semantics would catch this at install time.pinPeerName: trueas the recommended setting for one-user-many-front-ends deployments.hermes honcho statussurface — add a line likePin peer name: true/falseso users can see the effective value without parsinghoncho.jsondirectly.Reproduction
peerName(e.g.alice) inhoncho.json.hermesinteractively on the other instance and tell the agent a fact.Encountered in
v0.14.0 (2026.5.16), May 2026. Spent ~5 hours debugging the symptom before locating thepinPeerNameflag via source-code grep. Setting"pinPeerName": truein both installs'~/.hermes/honcho.jsonhost blocks resolved it immediately.Why this matters
For the documented "ambient thinking partner that follows you across devices" pattern that Hermes + Honcho enables, multi-instance is the default mode, not the edge case. Catching the user-peer split at setup time (or via clearer docs) would save real time and avoid the failure mode where the cross-instance bridge appears wired but is silently building two user models.