Summary

I’d like to propose a non-interrupting "side question" workflow for cases where the main task is still running, but I want to ask something in the same chat that may be completely unrelated to the main task.

I’m opening this as a design/alignment issue first because there seems to be a product-semantic question here, not just an implementation question.

Current state

/btw

/btw <question> already exists and is documented as:

Ephemeral side question using session context (no tools, not persisted).

From the current implementation, /btw:

• uses current session/conversation context
• runs with enabled_toolsets=[]
• uses skip_memory=True
• uses persist_session=False
• does not write the side exchange back into the main session history

So /btw is good for contextual follow-up questions, but not necessarily for a question that is unrelated to the current task.

Busy-session behavior

There is already an open issue about /btw not bypassing the active-session guard during active runs:

• [Bug] /btw and /branch should bypass active-session guard in Telegram gateway #7547

Prior /side attempt

There was also a previous closed PR proposing /side:

• feat: add /side side-question command #7733

That PR’s behavior was roughly:

• run during active tasks without interrupting them
• no tools
• no persistence into the main session
• still use current session context

The design question

Should Hermes support a detached side-question command for unrelated questions during active runs?

The concrete use case is:

• the main task is busy and should keep running
• I want to ask a quick question in the same chat
• the question may be unrelated to the main task
• I do not want that side question to contaminate the main task’s context/history

Proposed semantics

I think there are two distinct concepts here:

1. Contextual side question

   • uses current session history
   • good for "by the way, what does this part of the current task mean?"
   • this is close to what /btw already does

2. Detached side question

   • does not inherit current session history by default
   • does not interrupt the active task
   • no tools
   • not persisted to the main session
   • returns asynchronously to the same chat
   • good for "while this is running, answer something unrelated"

Possible directions

Option A — keep /btw contextual, add /side as detached

• /btw = contextual ephemeral side question
• /side = detached ephemeral side question

Option B — extend /btw with an explicit detached mode

Example:

• /btw <question> = contextual
• /btw --detached <question> = detached

Option C — make /btw detached by default and add an explicit contextual variant

I think this is probably the most confusing option, but including it for completeness.

My preference

I’d currently lean toward Option A:

• keep /btw as the contextual "by the way" command
• add /side as the detached/non-interrupting command for unrelated questions

That seems to make the distinction the clearest:

• /btw = related to current context
• /side = parallel/unrelated side question

Why I’m asking before implementing

Because the main uncertainty here is semantic overlap:

• [Bug] /btw and /branch should bypass active-session guard in Telegram gateway #7547 suggests /btw should become available during active runs
• feat: add /side side-question command #7733 proposed /side, but with contextual behavior
• my actual need is closer to non-interrupting + non-persistent + detached from main context

I’d prefer to align on product behavior first, then implement whichever direction maintainers prefer.

If this direction sounds reasonable

I’m happy to prepare a PR after confirmation, including tests for:

• command registration/help
• active-session bypass behavior
• running-agent bypass behavior
• no persistence into the main session
• detached-vs-contextual semantics