fix(cli): clear overlay states when interrupting a running agent by neo-2026 · Pull Request #14026 · NousResearch/hermes-agent

neo-2026 · 2026-04-22T14:00:46Z

Problem

When the user types a new message while the agent is running, the interrupt fires (agent.interrupt()) but the active overlay states (_approval_state, _clarify_state, _sudo_state, _secret_state) are not cleared. Any of these being non-None after the interrupt leaves input locked:

The read_only=Condition(...) on the prompt_toolkit input field gates on _command_running, and the hint bar shows "command in progress · input temporarily disabled"
The keypress filter (introduced in TUI approval overlay freezes terminal — useInput handlers compete, keystrokes never reach ApprovalPrompt #13618 / 52a79d9) passes through only Ctrl+C when $isBlocked is true — all other keystrokes are silently dropped

The result: the CLI appears completely frozen after interrupting. No keystrokes register. The user has to kill and restart Hermes.

Root Cause

The bug was exposed/introduced by 52a79d9 which set the approval callback inside the agent thread. When an approval prompt is active and the user fires an interrupt, the thread's finally block clears the callback — but _approval_state remains pointing at a stale dict with a dead response_queue. The overlay stays "active" even though nothing is servicing it.

Fix

When firing an interrupt, explicitly drain and nil out all active overlay states. Each state's response_queue is sent a terminal value ("deny" for approval, None for others) so any thread blocked on .get() unblocks cleanly.

# approval → deny (safe default), clarify/sudo/secret → None (cancel)
if self._approval_state:
    self._approval_state["response_queue"].put("deny")
    self._approval_state = None
if self._clarify_state:
    self._clarify_state["response_queue"].put(None)
    self._clarify_state = None
    self._clarify_freetext = False
# ... same for _sudo_state, _secret_state

Reproducer

Run a command that triggers an approval prompt (e.g. a dangerous terminal command)
While the approval prompt is displayed, type a new message and press Enter
Before fix: terminal freezes until the 60s approval timeout expires
After fix: interrupt fires cleanly, overlay clears, new message is processed

Relates to / closes #13618

When the user types a new message while the agent is running, the interrupt fires (agent.interrupt()) but the active overlay states (_approval_state, _clarify_state, _sudo_state, _secret_state) are NOT cleared. Any of these being non-None after the interrupt leaves input locked: - _approval_state / _clarify_state / _sudo_state: the prompt_toolkit read_only=Condition(...) gates the input field - _clarify_state: the keypress filter passes through only Ctrl+C when blocked, silently swallowing all other keystrokes The bug was introduced/exposed by 52a79d9 which changed the approval callback to be set inside the agent thread. When an approval prompt is active and the user interrupts, the callback gets cleared by the thread's finally block but _approval_state is left pointing at a stale dict with a dead response_queue. The CLI appears completely frozen — no keystrokes register, Ctrl+C does nothing visible. Fix: when firing an interrupt, explicitly drain and clear all active overlay states. Each state's response_queue is sent a terminal value (deny for approval, None for others) so any thread blocked waiting on the queue unblocks cleanly rather than hanging forever. Reproducer: run a command that triggers an approval prompt (e.g. a dangerous terminal command), then type a new message — the terminal freezes until the 60s approval timeout expires. Closes or relates to NousResearch#13618

mxnstrexgl

🤖 Automated PR Review

Security Scan

✓ No hardcoded secrets in diff
✓ No injection / shell-risk patterns in diff

Code Quality

⚠ Blocking: interrupted sudo prompts leave _modal_input_snapshot behind, so the pre-modal draft is not restored and later modals can inherit stale snapshot state
💡 Please add a regression test for interrupting an active overlay (sudo/approval/clarify) so this path stays covered

Summary

Status: NEEDS CHANGES (1 blocking correctness issue, 1 test gap)

Good direction. Overlay cleanup for interrupt is right fix area. But sudo path still leaks modal snapshot state.

mxnstrexgl · 2026-04-22T14:05:00Z

+                                        self._sudo_state["response_queue"].put(None)
+                                    except Exception:
+                                        pass
+                                    self._sudo_state = None


Blocking: _sudo_password_callback() captures _modal_input_snapshot and normally restores it on every exit path (cli.py:7907, cli.py:7918-7935). This interrupt cleanup clears _sudo_state, but never restores or clears that snapshot. After interrupting a sudo prompt, the pre-modal draft stays stranded and later modals stop snapshotting because _capture_modal_input_snapshot() returns early once _modal_input_snapshot is already set. Please call _restore_modal_input_snapshot() here and reset _sudo_deadline when aborting sudo.

mxnstrexgl · 2026-04-22T14:05:14Z

🤖 Automated PR Review

Security Scan

✓ No hardcoded secrets found
✓ No injection / command-risk patterns in diff

Code Quality

⚠ Blocking: interrupted sudo prompts leave _modal_input_snapshot behind, so the pre-modal draft is not restored and later modals can inherit stale snapshot state
💡 Add a regression test for interrupting an active overlay (sudo/approval/clarify)

Summary

Status: NEEDS CHANGES (1 blocking correctness issue, 1 test gap)

When the chat is stuck (stale _approval_state / _clarify_state / etc. left by a previous interrupted turn), pressing Ctrl+C hit the overlay cancel branch and returned immediately — the agent-interrupt branch at the bottom was never reached. A second Ctrl+C would then fall through to the exit path (since _agent_running is False), killing Hermes entirely instead of unfreezing the session. Fix: remove the early returns from each overlay cancel branch. Instead, accumulate a _overlay_cleared flag and fall through to the agent-interrupt check. Add a guard so we only skip the exit path if overlays were cleared but the agent is idle (the normal non-frozen case where Ctrl+C should just dismiss the prompt, not interrupt or exit).

…nterrupt When an interrupt fires while a sudo prompt is active, the previous code cleared _sudo_state but left _modal_input_snapshot pointing at the captured pre-modal draft and left _sudo_deadline non-zero. This caused two bugs: 1. _capture_modal_input_snapshot() returns early if _modal_input_snapshot is not None, so subsequent modals silently skip snapshotting and can never restore the user's draft. 2. _sudo_deadline remaining non-zero leaves cruft that can confuse the sudo UI on the next invocation. Fix: call _restore_modal_input_snapshot() and set _sudo_deadline = 0 in both interrupt paths: - the agent-running interrupt handler (~line 8500) - the Ctrl+C key binding handler (~line 9480) Also adds three regression tests in TestOverlayInterruptCleanup: - test_interrupt_clears_sudo_state_and_restores_snapshot - test_ctrlc_clears_sudo_state_and_restores_snapshot - test_interrupt_unblocks_blocked_thread Addresses blocking feedback on NousResearch#14026.

…l/clarify/sudo) Adds TestInterruptOverlayClearance covering: - test_interrupt_clears_approval_state_and_sends_deny - test_interrupt_unblocks_approval_callback_thread - test_interrupt_clears_clarify_state - test_interrupt_unblocks_clarify_callback_thread Sudo interrupt was already covered by TestOverlayInterruptCleanup. Addresses reviewer request in PR NousResearch#14026.

mxnstrexgl suggested changes Apr 22, 2026

View reviewed changes

alt-glitch added type/bug Something isn't working P1 High — major feature broken, no workaround comp/cli CLI entry point, hermes_cli/, setup wizard labels Apr 22, 2026

mxnstrexgl reviewed Apr 22, 2026

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neo-2026 added 3 commits April 22, 2026 16:07

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fix(cli): clear overlay states when interrupting a running agent#14026

fix(cli): clear overlay states when interrupting a running agent#14026
neo-2026 wants to merge 4 commits into
NousResearch:mainfrom
neo-2026:fix/clear-overlay-state-on-interrupt

neo-2026 commented Apr 22, 2026

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neo-2026 commented Apr 22, 2026

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