fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality by austinpickett · Pull Request #20942 · NousResearch/hermes-agent

austinpickett · 2026-05-06T23:31:39Z

What does this PR do?

Fixes /personality in the TUI so it no longer destroys the current session. Previously, switching personality called _reset_session_agent() which created a brand new agent, wiped conversation history, and effectively started a new session. Now it updates the personality in-place within the current session.

Additionally injects a "pivot marker" into conversation history so the model actually switches its tone mid-conversation. Without this, LLMs tend to pattern-match their prior responses and continue the established tone regardless of system prompt changes.

Related Issue

None — discovered during manual testing of /personality in the TUI.

Type of Change

🐛 Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
✨ New feature (non-breaking change that adds functionality)
🔒 Security fix
📝 Documentation update
✅ Tests (adding or improving test coverage)
♻️ Refactor (no behavior change)
🎯 New skill (bundled or hub)

Changes Made

tui_gateway/server.py: Rewrote _apply_personality_to_session() — no longer calls _reset_session_agent(). Instead updates agent.ephemeral_system_prompt in-place and injects a user-role pivot marker into conversation history so the model knows to switch style.
ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/session.ts: Updated help text from 'switch or reset personality (history reset on set)' to 'switch personality for this session'.
tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py: Renamed and rewrote test_config_set_personality_resets_history_and_returns_info → test_config_set_personality_preserves_history_and_returns_info to verify history preservation, pivot marker injection, and in-place ephemeral prompt update.

How to Test

hermes --tui
Say "hi" and get a response
/personality catgirl — session is NOT reset, no new session created
Say "hi" — model responds in catgirl style (nya~, kaomoji, etc.)
/personality shakespeare — again, session preserved
Say "hi" — model responds in Shakespearean style
/personality none — clears personality, model returns to default

Checklist

Code

I've read the Contributing Guide
My commit messages follow Conventional Commits (fix(scope):, feat(scope):, etc.)
I searched for existing PRs to make sure this isn't a duplicate
My PR contains only changes related to this fix/feature (no unrelated commits)
I've run pytest tests/ -q and all tests pass
I've added tests for my changes (required for bug fixes, strongly encouraged for features)
I've tested on my platform: Ubuntu 24.04 (WSL2)

Documentation & Housekeeping

I've updated relevant documentation (README, docs/, docstrings) — or N/A
I've updated cli-config.yaml.example if I added/changed config keys — or N/A
I've updated CONTRIBUTING.md or AGENTS.md if I changed architecture or workflows — or N/A
I've considered cross-platform impact (Windows, macOS) per the compatibility guide — or N/A
I've updated tool descriptions/schemas if I changed tool behavior — or N/A

Screenshots / Logs

Before fix: /personality catgirl would create a new session, clearing all history.

After fix: personality switches in-place. The model receives a pivot marker in the conversation and adopts the new persona while preserving the full conversation context.

Previously, /personality in the TUI called _reset_session_agent() which destroyed the agent, cleared conversation history, and effectively started a new session. This made personality switching disruptive — users lost their entire conversation context. Now /personality updates the agent's ephemeral_system_prompt in-place and injects a pivot marker into the conversation history. The marker tells the model to adopt the new persona from that point forward, which is necessary because LLMs tend to pattern-match their prior responses and continue the established tone without an explicit signal. Changes: - tui_gateway/server.py: Rewrite _apply_personality_to_session to update the agent in-place instead of resetting. Inject a user-role pivot marker so the model actually switches style mid-conversation. - ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/session.ts: Update help text (no longer mentions history reset). - tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py: Update test to verify history is preserved, pivot marker is injected, and ephemeral prompt is set.

github-actions · 2026-05-06T23:32:05Z

🚨 CRITICAL Supply Chain Risk Detected

This PR contains a pattern that has been used in real supply chain attacks. A maintainer must review the flagged code carefully before merging.

🚨 CRITICAL: Install-hook file added or modified

These files can execute code during package installation or interpreter startup.

Files:

hermes_cli/setup.py

Scanner only fires on high-signal indicators: .pth files, base64+exec/eval combos, subprocess with encoded commands, or install-hook files. Low-signal warnings were removed intentionally — if you're seeing this comment, the finding is worth inspecting.

github-actions · 2026-05-06T23:32:35Z

🔎 Lint report: `austin/fix/personality` vs `origin/main`

ruff

Total: 0 on HEAD, 0 on base (➖ 0)

🆕 New issues: none

✅ Fixed issues: none

Unchanged: 0 pre-existing issues carried over.

ty (type checker)

Total: 7444 on HEAD, 7428 on base (🆕 +16)

🆕 New issues (42):

Rule	Count
`invalid-argument-type`	31
`unresolved-attribute`	6
`unsupported-operator`	4
`not-subscriptable`	1

First entries

run_agent.py:2389: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_is_oauth_token` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `(Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[str, str] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 4 union elements`
tests/agent/test_codex_cloudflare_headers.py:181: [unsupported-operator] unsupported-operator: Operator `in` is not supported between objects of type `Literal["originator"]` and `(Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[str, str] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:8993: [unresolved-attribute] unresolved-attribute: Attribute `lower` is not defined on `dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] & ~AlwaysFalsy`, `int & ~AlwaysFalsy`, `dict[Unknown, Unknown] & ~AlwaysFalsy` in union `(str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:2386: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `build_anthropic_client` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `(Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[str, str] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 4 union elements`
run_agent.py:7972: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `build_anthropic_client` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
tests/agent/test_codex_cloudflare_headers.py:163: [unresolved-attribute] unresolved-attribute: Attribute `get` is not defined on `str & ~AlwaysFalsy`, `int & ~AlwaysFalsy` in union `(Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[str, str] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:2889: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_provider_stale_timeout` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:7889: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to bound method `ContextCompressor.update_model` is incorrect: Expected `int`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:11163: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `apply_anthropic_cache_control` is incorrect: Expected `bool`, found `int | str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:7973: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_provider_request_timeout` is incorrect: Expected `str | None`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:11906: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `estimate_usage_cost` is incorrect: Expected `str | None`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:3661: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to `AIAgent.__init__` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:4626: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `parse_rate_limit_headers` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:12769: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to bound method `ContextCompressor.update_model` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:12318: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `len` is incorrect: Expected `Sized`, found `(str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[Unknown, Unknown] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (Any & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:7973: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_provider_request_timeout` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
tests/run_agent/test_provider_attribution_headers.py:130: [unsupported-operator] unsupported-operator: Operator `not in` is not supported between objects of type `Literal["X-OpenRouter-Cache"]` and `Unknown | str | dict[str, str] | ... omitted 3 union elements`
tests/run_agent/test_provider_attribution_headers.py:65: [unresolved-attribute] unresolved-attribute: Attribute `startswith` is not defined on `dict[str, str]` in union `Unknown | str | dict[str, str]`
tests/run_agent/test_provider_attribution_headers.py:131: [unsupported-operator] unsupported-operator: Operator `not in` is not supported between objects of type `Literal["X-OpenRouter-Cache-TTL"]` and `Unknown | str | dict[str, str] | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:2437: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_model_context_length` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | dict[str, str] | Any | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:2303: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `ensure_lmstudio_model_loaded` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:8714: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `lmstudio_model_reasoning_options` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:8551: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_get_anthropic_max_output` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
cli.py:7973: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `estimate_usage_cost` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
run_agent.py:4078: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `save_trajectory` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | int | dict[Unknown, Unknown]`
... and 17 more

✅ Fixed issues (40):

Rule	Count
`invalid-argument-type`	34
`unresolved-attribute`	5
`unsupported-operator`	1

First entries

run_agent.py:5071: [unresolved-attribute] unresolved-attribute: Attribute `split` is not defined on `dict[Unknown, Unknown]`, `int`, `dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]` in union `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:11877: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `save_context_length` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:2889: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_provider_stale_timeout` is incorrect: Expected `str | None`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:8157: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_transport` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:4626: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `parse_rate_limit_headers` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:12549: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_pool_may_recover_from_rate_limit` is incorrect: Expected `str | None`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:7973: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_provider_request_timeout` is incorrect: Expected `str | None`, found `Divergent | Unknown | str | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:2389: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_is_oauth_token` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `(Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[str, str] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 5 union elements`
run_agent.py:2889: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_provider_stale_timeout` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:6900: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_provider_request_timeout` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:10432: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_fixed_temperature_for_model` is incorrect: Expected `str | None`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:12318: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `len` is incorrect: Expected `Sized`, found `(str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (Any & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 5 union elements`
run_agent.py:2386: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `build_anthropic_client` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `(Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[str, str] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 5 union elements`
run_agent.py:10492: [unresolved-attribute] unresolved-attribute: Attribute `strip` is not defined on `dict[Unknown, Unknown] & ~AlwaysFalsy`, `int & ~AlwaysFalsy`, `dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] & ~AlwaysFalsy` in union `(str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (Unknown & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[Unknown, Unknown] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:8741: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `github_model_reasoning_efforts` is incorrect: Expected `str | None`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:2437: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `get_model_context_length` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | dict[str, str] | Any | ... omitted 4 union elements`
run_agent.py:5071: [unsupported-operator] unsupported-operator: Operator `in` is not supported between objects of type `Literal["/"]` and `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:7889: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to bound method `ContextCompressor.update_model` is incorrect: Expected `int`, found `Divergent | Unknown | str | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:12315: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_is_oauth_token` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | Any | ... omitted 5 union elements`
run_agent.py:7892: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to bound method `ContextCompressor.update_model` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `Divergent | Unknown | str | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:11163: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `apply_anthropic_cache_control` is incorrect: Expected `bool`, found `int | Divergent | Unknown | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:4078: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `save_trajectory` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:7972: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `build_anthropic_client` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `Divergent | Unknown | str | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:2303: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `ensure_lmstudio_model_loaded` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
run_agent.py:8551: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_get_anthropic_max_output` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | Unknown | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | int | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]]`
... and 15 more

Unchanged: 3869 pre-existing issues carried over.

Diagnostics are surfaced as warnings — this check never fails the build.

…rsonality fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality

alt-glitch added type/bug Something isn't working comp/tui Terminal UI (ui-tui/ + tui_gateway/) P2 Medium — degraded but workaround exists labels May 6, 2026

austinpickett merged commit 7f92e55 into main May 7, 2026
10 of 12 checks passed

austinpickett deleted the austin/fix/personality branch May 7, 2026 22:54

bot-ted mentioned this pull request May 8, 2026

chore: sync with upstream main (2026-05-08) bot-ted/hermes-agent#24

Merged

JinyuID pushed a commit to JinyuID/hermes-agent that referenced this pull request May 11, 2026

Merge pull request NousResearch#20942 from NousResearch/austin/fix/pe…

b93c395

…rsonality fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality

jsboige pushed a commit to jsboige/hermes-agent that referenced this pull request May 14, 2026

Merge pull request NousResearch#20942 from NousResearch/austin/fix/pe…

8e45cc3

…rsonality fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality

BrewTestBot mentioned this pull request May 16, 2026

hermes-agent 2026.5.16 Homebrew/homebrew-core#283141

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github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request May 17, 2026

chore: bump NousResearch/hermes-agent version from v2026.5.7 to v2026.5.16 Docker-Hub-sirmark/docker-hermes-agent#6

Merged

gweeteve pushed a commit to gweeteve/hermes-agent that referenced this pull request Jun 2, 2026

Merge pull request NousResearch#20942 from NousResearch/austin/fix/pe…

9d0de85

…rsonality fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality

Egavasyug pushed a commit to Egavasyug/hermes-agent that referenced this pull request Jun 10, 2026

Merge pull request NousResearch#20942 from NousResearch/austin/fix/pe…

541c8b2

…rsonality fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality

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fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality#20942

fix(tui): preserve session when switching personality#20942
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austinpickett commented May 6, 2026 •

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austinpickett commented May 6, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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github-actions Bot commented May 6, 2026

🚨 CRITICAL Supply Chain Risk Detected

🚨 CRITICAL: Install-hook file added or modified

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🔎 Lint report: austin/fix/personality vs origin/main

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austinpickett commented May 6, 2026 •

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🔎 Lint report: `austin/fix/personality` vs `origin/main`