Summary

When profile isolation is active ({HERMES_HOME}/home/ exists), child processes receive HOME={HERMES_HOME}/home/ for tool config isolation (git, ssh, gh, npm). However, scripts using Path.home() to locate ~/.hermes/ would incorrectly resolve to the isolated profile home, breaking helpers and custom tooling.

Before

# In execute_code subprocess:
import os
from pathlib import Path
print(Path.home())
# => /home/user/.hermes/profiles/worker/home  (WRONG)
print(os.environ["HOME"])
# => /home/user/.hermes/profiles/worker/home  (isolated, by design)
# No way to find the real user home!

After

# In execute_code subprocess:
import os
from pathlib import Path
print(os.environ["HOME"])
# => /home/user/.hermes/profiles/worker/home  (isolated, by design)
print(os.environ.get("HERMES_REAL_HOME", os.environ["HOME"]))
# => /home/user  (the real user home)

Changes

1. New get_real_home() helper in hermes_constants.py — resolves the actual user home independently of profile isolation:

   • Priority: HERMES_REAL_HOME env → HOME env → expanduser("~") → /tmp

2. 4 subprocess spawners now inject HERMES_REAL_HOME alongside the profile HOME:

   • tools/code_execution_tool.py (execute_code)
   • tools/environments/local.py (terminal background + run_env)
   • agent/copilot_acp_client.py (Copilot ACP)

Usage pattern for skill helpers

import os
from pathlib import Path

# Find the real .hermes/ regardless of profile isolation
_real_home = Path(os.environ.get("HERMES_REAL_HOME", os.environ.get("HOME", str(Path.home()))))
HERMES_BASE = _real_home / ".hermes"

Testing

• 8 new tests:
  • 4 unit tests for get_real_home() (HOME env, HERMES_REAL_HOME priority, expanduser fallback, /tmp fallback)
  • 3 subprocess env tests (execute_code, local env, no isolation case)
  • 1 integration test (subprocess finds .hermes/ via HERMES_REAL_HOME)
• 150 existing subprocess/code_execution tests passing (0 regressions)

Files changed

Closes #25114