What does this PR do?

This PR adds an optional configuration flag message_timestamp_prefix that prepends a compact timestamp to inbound user messages before they are passed to the agent.

When enabled, Hermes will prefix inbound messages like:

[04-14 23:47] hello

Related Issue

Fixes #9628

Type of Change

• 🐛 Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
• [着 ] ✨ 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

Config support

Added new optional gateway config:

gateway.message_timestamp_prefix: true

Implemented:

• config parsing support
• nested gateway: YAML compatibility
• serialization/deserialization handling

Files:

gateway/config.py

Runtime timestamp injection

Prepends timestamp during inbound message preprocessing:

gateway/run.py::_prepare_inbound_message_text()

Adds helper:

_format_inbound_message_timestamp()

Behavior:

• format: [MM-DD HH:MM]
• default timezone: UTC
• override via:

HERMES_TIMEZONE=America/New_York

Gracefully falls back to UTC if timezone invalid.

Ordering guarantees

Preserves sender-prefix ordering in shared threads:

[timestamp] [username] message

Example:

[04-14 23:47] [alice] can you check this later?

Tests added

Added coverage for:

• config parsing via nested gateway: dict
• config.yaml loading bridge behavior
• timestamp prefix formatting
• ordering with username prefixes
• UTC default handling

Files:

tests/gateway/test_stt_config.py

How to Test

1. Enable the feature in config:

gateway:
  message_timestamp_prefix: true

2. Run Hermes normally

hermes

3. Send a message from any platform

Expected:

[MM-DD HH:MM] your message

Optional timezone override:

export HERMES_TIMEZONE=America/New_York

Restart Hermes and verify updated timestamps.

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:

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

For New Skills

• This skill is broadly useful to most users (if bundled) — see Contributing Guide
• SKILL.md follows the standard format (frontmatter, trigger conditions, steps, pitfalls)
• No external dependencies that aren't already available (prefer stdlib, curl, existing Hermes tools)
• I've tested the skill end-to-end: hermes --toolsets skills -q "Use the X skill to do Y"

Screenshots / Logs