fix(telegram): preserve DM topic routing via reply fallback by leehack · Pull Request #22053 · NousResearch/hermes-agent

leehack · 2026-05-08T19:52:28Z

Summary

Fix Telegram replies for Hermes-created private DM topic lanes.

Telegram updates for these private lanes can arrive with message_thread_id plus a reply anchor, but without direct_messages_topic_id. Sending back with that message_thread_id fails with Message thread not found, and using direct_messages_topic_id targets a different Bot API feature unless explicitly available. This PR preserves the inbound reply anchor in metadata and uses it as the routing fallback for Hermes-created Telegram DM topics.

Fixes #22022.

Changes

Add shared helpers for platform-aware thread metadata and reply-anchor selection.
Mark Telegram private DM topic lanes as telegram_dm_topic_reply_fallback only when a real reply anchor is available.
Carry telegram_reply_to_message_id through metadata-only send paths such as progress/status/streaming and follow-up turns.
Keep normal Telegram forum/supergroup topics on message_thread_id.
Keep true Bot API Direct Messages topics available through explicit direct_messages_topic_id metadata.
Preserve routing metadata through base media fallback methods and Telegram media sends.
Avoid routing slash-confirm callback follow-ups with invalid forum General-topic message_thread_id=1 behavior.
Add regression coverage for reply fallback, metadata-only sends, multi-chunk sends, inline keyboard sends, missing-anchor safety, and base media fallback metadata.

How to test

Reproduce on Telegram with a Hermes-created private DM topic lane:

Send a message in the topic lane so the incoming update carries message_thread_id and a reply anchor.
Trigger a normal Hermes response, a streaming/progress response, and a follow-up queued while the agent is running.
Verify replies stay in the same topic lane instead of failing with Message thread not found or falling back to the root chat.
For true Bot API direct-message topics, send with explicit direct_messages_topic_id metadata and verify it still routes via that field.

Validation

Local platform tested: macOS development checkout.
Manual live Telegram test: not run in this PR; behavior is covered by targeted gateway regression tests because it requires specific bot/topic state.
venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/gateway/test_telegram_thread_fallback.py tests/gateway/test_run_progress_topics.py -q
- 45 passed
venv/bin/python -m py_compile gateway/platforms/base.py gateway/platforms/telegram.py gateway/run.py tests/gateway/test_telegram_thread_fallback.py
git diff --check
Codex GPT-5.5 high/xhigh read-only reviews after cleanup:
- final result: No blocking issues found.

Related issues / PRs

Fixes Telegram Bot API 10 breaks private chat topic replies; Hermes falls back to All Messages #22022 — Telegram Bot API 10 breaks private chat topic replies; Hermes falls back to All Messages.
Related: [Bug]: Telegram topic-enabled DM shows typing but never delivers response #21981 — Telegram topic-enabled DM shows typing but never delivers response.
Related: [Bug]: Telegram DM sends fail with 'Message thread not found' — spurious thread_id from reply chains #3206 — Telegram DM sends fail with Message thread not found from spurious thread IDs.
Related: [Bug]: send_model_picker bypasses _message_thread_id_for_send — "Message thread not found" in topic groups #12839 — model picker bypassed thread fallback and hit Message thread not found in topic groups.
Related: fix(telegram): send Direct Messages topics with direct_messages_topic_id #21941 — earlier direct-messages-topic routing PR.

Notes

This is related to Telegram topic routing issues where private-chat topic lanes are not represented as Bot API direct_messages_topic_id on incoming updates. The fix intentionally separates three cases:

forum/supergroup topics: message_thread_id
true Bot API direct-message topics: explicit direct_messages_topic_id
Hermes-created private DM topic lanes: reply-anchor fallback

GodsBoy · 2026-05-08T20:27:32Z

Confirming this is the right fix shape from a code review of both this PR and #21941.

The three-case framing in the body matches what the Bot API actually exposes:

Forum/supergroup topics: message_thread_id
True Bot API Direct Messages topics: explicit direct_messages_topic_id metadata
Hermes-created private DM topic lanes: reply-anchor fallback

The third case is the one #21941 mis-routed; sending Hermes-created lanes with direct_messages_topic_id does not work because the Bot API does not classify them as Direct Messages topics on incoming updates. The reply-anchor approach this PR uses is the actual mechanism Telegram supports for keeping replies in those lanes.

Coverage matches what I flagged on #21941 as the gap (text streaming send was the only site that PR fixed; this PR covers all the other outgoing sites I listed). The propagation through gateway/platforms/base.py (_thread_metadata_for_source, _reply_anchor_for_event) is cleaner than per-platform plumbing because Feishu was already getting an ad-hoc reply-anchor branch in the existing code; this PR generalizes that pattern.

Two small observations, neither blocking:

send_typing is not visibly updated in this diff (the existing _message_thread_id_for_typing path stays). For Hermes-created DM topic lanes, the typing indicator will still be sent with message_thread_id, which Telegram now rejects. The existing comment at L2534 says the failure is swallowed, so this is not a user-visible leak, but the typing indicator will silently no-op for affected lanes. Worth a short follow-up note in the PR body or a parallel _typing_kwargs_for_send if the intent is full parity.
gateway/run.py adds two near-identical inline conditionals around _handle_active_session_busy_message to compute the right reply anchor for Telegram DM topics. Worth extracting to a helper so the logic only lives in one place; minor cleanup suggestion.

Approach is sound. Recommend merging this and closing #21941 as superseded.

Adds jhin.lee@unity3d.com → leehack so contributor_audit.py strict mode passes when the salvage of #22053 (telegram DM topic reply fallback) lands on main.

The send path uses Hermes' reply-anchor fallback for DM topic lanes (message_thread_id + reply_to_message_id), but send_chat_action only accepts message_thread_id — Telegram's Bot API 10.0 rejects it for these lanes. Without this short-circuit, every typing tick (~every 2s during agent runs) makes a doomed API call that gets logged as a 'thread not found' debug warning. Skip the call entirely when the metadata indicates a DM topic reply-fallback lane; the user-visible behavior is unchanged (no typing indicator either way for these lanes), but the logs stay clean. Identified during salvage review of #22053.

kshitijk4poor · 2026-05-09T08:40:28Z

Thanks for this — your fix landed in #22410 (commit b323957 with your authorship preserved). Cherry-picked onto current main with one tiny follow-up commit on top: send_typing now short-circuits for the DM-topic reply-fallback lanes (the same lanes your fix addresses) since send_chat_action only accepts message_thread_id and would emit "thread not found" debug warnings on every typing tick.

Your three-case framing (forum / true Bot API DM topic / Hermes-created DM topic lane) is the correct mental model — the propagation through the shared _thread_metadata_for_source and _reply_anchor_for_event helpers in gateway/platforms/base.py is also kept intact.

Closing as merged via #22410. Thanks again!