The scheme-validation commit (e77a3f2c) was too strict: a user with
legacy ''baseUrl: localhost:8000'' (no ''http://'' prefix) in their
''~/.honcho/config.json'' would get ''No API key configured'' from the
CLI after that change, even though their setup worked before.

urlparse on a schemeless host:port treats the host segment as the
scheme and leaves netloc empty, so the http/https check rejected it.

Falls back to a lenient check for schemeless strings that look like
hosts: contain '.' or ':', aren't a boolean/null literal, aren't pure
digits. The SDK still rejects truly malformed URLs at connect time
with a clearer error than ours.

Three new tests: legacy schemeless hosts accepted; obvious garbage
literals (''true'', ''null'', ''12345'') still rejected.  Reviewer
noted concern #1: schemeless regression for self-hosters with old
configs.

* ci(nix): auto-fix stale npm hashes on push to main

When a PR merges to main with updated package-lock.json or package.json
in ui-tui/ or web/, the new auto-fix-main job detects stale npmDepsHash
values and pushes a fix commit directly to main.

This eliminates the recurring manual hash-bump PRs (NousResearch#15420, NousResearch#15314,
NousResearch#15272, NousResearch#15244) by reusing the existing fix-lockfiles --apply pipeline.

The fix commit only touches nix/*.nix files, which are outside the push
path filter (package-lock.json / package.json), so it cannot re-trigger
itself.

Closes NousResearch#15314

* fix(ci): use GitHub App token for auto-fix-main push

GITHUB_TOKEN commits are invisible to workflow triggers (GitHub's
infinite-loop prevention). The auto-fix-main job pushes directly to
main, so the fix commit never triggered downstream nix.yml verification.

Mint a short-lived token via the repo's GitHub App (daimon-nous, APP_ID
+ APP_PRIVATE_KEY secrets) so the push is treated as a real event and
nix.yml fires to verify the corrected hashes.

Tested via workflow_dispatch dry-run: app token minted successfully,
checkout with app token succeeded, fix job correctly gated.

Resolves review feedback from Bugbot (r3144569551).

* ci(nix): rename lockfile check job for required status check

Rename 'check' → 'nix-lockfile-check' so the status check name is
unambiguous when added as a required check on main.

* fix(ci): harden auto-fix-main against races, loops, and silent failures

Address adversarial review findings:

1. Race condition (#1): Job-level concurrency with cancel-in-progress
   collapses back-to-back pushes; ref: main checkout always gets latest
   branch state; explicit push target (origin HEAD:main).

2. Loop prevention (#2): File-whitelist check before commit aborts if
   any file outside nix/{tui,web}.nix was modified, preventing
   accidental self-triggering.

3. Silent infra failures (NousResearch#8): nix-lockfile-check now fails explicitly
   when fix-lockfiles exits without reporting stale status (catches nix
   setup failures, network errors, script bugs that bypass continue-on-error).

4. Commit traceability (NousResearch#11): Auto-fix commits include source SHA and
   workflow run URL in the commit body.

5. Explicit push target (NousResearch#12): git push origin HEAD:main instead of
   bare git push.

---------

Co-authored-by: alt-glitch <alt-glitch@users.noreply.github.com>

…ch#16706)

* fix(tui): drop stale stream events after ctrl-c interrupt

Once interruptTurn() flips this.interrupted, only recordMessageDelta
short-circuited.  recordReasoningDelta/Available, recordToolStart/
Progress/Complete, and recordInlineDiffToolComplete kept populating
turnState until the python loop reached its next _interrupt_requested
check (~1s on busy turns), making it look like ctrl-c was ignored
while late "thinking" + tool calls kept landing in the UI.

Add the same interrupted guard to every stream-side recorder, and
clear the flag at startMessage() so the next turn isn't suppressed
if the previous turn never delivered message.complete.

* fix(tui): guard recordTodos against post-interrupt mutation; fake-timers in test

Copilot review on PR NousResearch#16706:

1. `recordToolStart` is interruption-guarded, but `tool.start`
   handler also calls `recordTodos(payload.todos)` first — so a
   late tool.start carrying todos could still mutate `turnState.todos`
   after Ctrl-C, leaving ghost rows in the panel.  Adds the same
   `if (this.interrupted) return` early-exit to `recordTodos` so
   *all* tool.start side-effects are dropped post-interrupt.

2. The interrupt test was leaking a real `setTimeout` (interrupt
   cooldown) across test files, which could fire later and mutate
   uiStore from the wrong test context.  Wraps the test in
   `vi.useFakeTimers()` + `vi.runAllTimers()` and restores real
   timers in finally.

3. Extends the same test with a todos payload on the post-interrupt
   tool.start so we have explicit regression coverage for #1.

* fix(tui): guard pushTrail post-interrupt; harden interrupt-test cleanup

Round 2 Copilot review on PR NousResearch#16706:

1. `tool.generating` events route through `pushTrail`, which was not
   interruption-guarded — late events could still write 'drafting …'
   into `turnTrail` after Ctrl-C, leaving a stale shimmer in the UI.
   Adds the same `if (this.interrupted) return` early-exit.

2. Test cleanup moved `vi.runAllTimers()` into `finally` (before
   `vi.useRealTimers()`) so a mid-test assertion failure can't leak
   the interrupt-cooldown setTimeout across other test files.

3. Replaced the misleading 'pre-interrupt todos … expected to be
   cleared by the interrupt cycle' comment with an accurate one
   reflecting current behaviour (interrupt does NOT clear todos).

4. Added an explicit assertion that a post-interrupt `tool.generating`
   event does not extend `turnTrail` — regression coverage for #1.

Fifth and final slice polish on top of @dlkakbs's docs + skill. Three
things ship here:

1. Subscription renewal cron recipe (the #1 operational footgun).

   Microsoft Graph webhook subscriptions expire at 72 hours max and
   don't auto-renew. The shipped operator runbook mentioned
   `maintain-subscriptions --dry-run` as a "daily or periodic check"
   but never told operators how to actually automate it. Without a
   scheduled job, any production deployment silently stops ingesting
   meetings three days after go-live.

   Adds an "Automating subscription renewal (REQUIRED for production)"
   section to website/docs/guides/operate-teams-meeting-pipeline.md
   with three concrete options and copy-pasteable configs:

   - Option 1: Hermes cron (`hermes cron add --schedule "0 */12 * * *"
     --script-only --command "hermes teams-pipeline maintain-subscriptions"`)
   - Option 2: systemd service + timer (12h cadence, Persistent=true
     so missed runs catch up after reboots)
   - Option 3: plain crontab with a wrapper that sources .env for
     credentials

   Go-Live Checklist gains a bolded mandatory item for the schedule
   being in place, with a cross-link to the section.

   website/docs/user-guide/messaging/teams-meetings.md adds a
   `:::warning:::` admonition right after the manual `subscribe`
   examples so anyone who creates a subscription manually is told
   the same day that it will silently expire in 72 hours.

2. Sidebar wiring. Shela's new docs pages (teams-meetings.md and
   operate-teams-meeting-pipeline.md) weren't in website/sidebars.ts,
   so they were orphaned URLs — reachable only if someone knew the
   path. Wired teams-meetings into Messaging Platforms next to the
   existing teams entry, and operate-teams-meeting-pipeline into
   Guides & Tutorials next to microsoft-graph-app-registration from
   PR NousResearch#21922. Adjacent placement keeps the related pages discoverable
   from each other.

3. SKILL.md rewrite (v1.0.0 → v1.1.0).

   The original skill had five Turkish-only trigger phrases, which
   works in a Turkish-speaking session but doesn't match English
   triggers. Rewrote the skill to:

   - Describe triggers by intent instead of exact phrases, with
     explicit "works in any language" framing and example phrases
     in both English and Turkish.
   - Add a Decision Tree section covering the three most common user
     asks (missing summary, setup verification, re-run request) and
     the specific CLI command sequence for each.
   - Add a dedicated "Critical pitfall: Graph subscriptions expire
     in 72 hours" section that tells the agent exactly what to do
     when a user reports "worked yesterday, nothing today" — the
     most common operational failure mode.
   - Expand the command reference into three labeled groups (Status
     and inspection / Re-running and debugging / Subscription
     management) so the agent can reach for the right command
     without scanning.
   - Add cross-links to all four related docs pages (Azure app
     registration, webhook listener setup, full pipeline setup,
     operator runbook).

Validation:
- npm run build: all new pages route, anchor to
  #automating-subscription-renewal-required-for-production resolves
  from both the runbook TOC and the teams-meetings.md admonition.
- scripts/run_tests.sh on the relevant test suites (607 tests): all
  pass.

…olve on first launch

Three interrelated bugs from teknium1's first interactive chat on Windows:

1. **Snapshot/cwd file paths unquoted in bash command strings.**  The session
   bootstrap and per-command wrapper interpolated
   ``self._snapshot_path`` / ``self._cwd_file`` unquoted into bash commands
   like ``export -p > C:/Users/ryanc/.../hermes-snap-xxx.sh``.  Git Bash's
   MSYS2 layer handles ``C:/...`` paths correctly ONLY when quoted; unquoted,
   the colon and forward-slash get glob-parsed and the redirect targets a
   bogus path.  Symptom: every terminal command emitted two
   ``C:/Users/.../hermes-snap-*.sh (No such file or directory)`` lines that
   bled into stdout (``stderr=STDOUT`` on the local backend) and corrupted
   file contents when the agent wrote to scratch paths via the terminal
   tool.  Fix: ``shlex.quote()`` every interpolation of ``_snapshot_path``
   and ``_cwd_file`` in base.py — no-op on POSIX (the paths contain no
   shell-metachars), critical on Windows.

2. **Stale PATH on first hermes launch after install.**  ``install.ps1``
   adds the PortableGit ``cmd`` / ``bin`` / ``usr\bin`` directories to the
   Windows **User** PATH via ``SetEnvironmentVariable(..., "User")``.  That
   write propagates to newly *spawned* processes only — already-running
   shells (including the one the user types ``hermes`` into immediately
   after install) retain their old PATH.  So hermes starts with a PATH that
   doesn't include bash, rg, grep, ssh — and ``search_files`` reports
   "rg/find not available" when the user clearly just installed them.

   Fix: new ``_augment_path_with_known_tools()`` helper called from
   ``configure_windows_stdio()`` on startup.  Prepends the Hermes-managed
   Git directories + the WinGet Links directory (where ripgrep lands) to
   ``os.environ['PATH']`` if they exist on disk but aren't already in
   PATH.  Subsequent subprocess calls (including bash spawns via
   ``_find_bash()``) inherit the augmented PATH and find everything.
   No-op on POSIX and when the directories don't exist.

3. **Root cause of "file content corruption".**  #1 was the proximate cause.
   Errors like ``C:/Users/.../hermes-snap-xxx.sh: No such file or directory``
   were emitted on stderr by the failed redirect, captured into stdout via
   ``stderr=subprocess.STDOUT``, and if the agent used terminal commands
   like ``cat > file`` the leaked error bytes became part of the file.
   Fixing #1 eliminates this entirely.

## Tests

All 77 Windows-compat tests still pass on Linux (POSIX path is
shlex.quote('/tmp/foo.sh') → '/tmp/foo.sh' — unchanged).

## Not addressed here (would need a bigger design)

- Python file tools (``write_file``, ``read_file``) and the bash-backed
  terminal tool see DIFFERENT views of ``/tmp`` on Windows.  Python treats
  ``/tmp`` as ``C:\tmp`` (drive-relative), Git Bash's MSYS2 treats it as
  a virtual mount to the PortableGit install's ``tmp\``.  Would need a
  translation shim in the Python tools to resolve bash-virtual paths to
  their native-Windows equivalents.  Workaround for users today: use
  absolute native paths (``C:\Users\you\...``) instead of ``/tmp/...``
  when crossing between terminal and Python file tools.

…search#22920)

Found 18 real Hermes-Agent stories from HN, X, and Reddit not yet
captured on the page. All URLs HTTP-verified to return 200 with
matching titles.

Reddit (15): r/hermesagent (Obsidian-as-memory writeup at 794 upvotes,
LLM cheatsheet at 635 upvotes, Kanban game-changer post, OpenRouter #1
ranking, AMA from the Nous team, etc.); r/LocalLLaMA, r/Rag,
r/openclaw, r/SideProject, r/LocalLLM threads where users describe
their actual setups (Qwen3.5-9b on 16gb VRAM, 5060Ti + Telegram, smart
routing tiers).

X (3): @vmiss33's 'what I use Hermes for' guide, @HeyYanvi's
X-to-NotebookLM podcast workflow, @ExileAI_0's spare-laptop Iris
running RenPy + ComfyUI, @brucexu_eth's Hermes Inc. Telegram startup
sim from the hackathon, Hype's deep-dive blog.

HN (1): 'I'm using Hermes — sandbox it like any agent.'

No component changes — all new entries fit the existing schema
(real URL, real author, real date).

…3456)

* feat(goals): /goal checklist + /subgoal user controls

Two-phase judge for /goal — Phase A decomposes the goal into a detailed
checklist on first turn; Phase B evaluates each pending item harshly
against the agent's most recent response. The goal completes only when
every item is in a terminal status (completed or impossible). Adds
/subgoal so the user can append, complete, mark impossible, undo,
remove, or clear items the judge missed or got wrong.

Mechanics:
- GoalState gains `checklist` and `decomposed` fields, both backwards
  compatible (old state_meta rows load unchanged).
- Phase A: aux call writes a harsh, exhaustive checklist; biased toward
  more items not fewer. Falls through to legacy freeform judge when
  decompose fails.
- Phase B: judge gets the checklist + last-response snippet + path to
  a per-session conversation dump at <HERMES_HOME>/goals/<sid>.json.
  A bounded read_file tool (max 5 calls per turn, restricted to that
  one file) lets the judge inspect history when the snippet is
  ambiguous. Stickiness in code: terminal items are frozen, only the
  user can revert via /subgoal undo.
- Continuation prompt shows checklist progress when non-empty;
  reverts to old prompt when empty.
- Status line shows M/N done counts.

CLI + gateway + TUI gateway all pass the agent reference into
evaluate_after_turn so the dump can be written. Gateway-side
/subgoal is allowed mid-run since it only modifies the checklist
the judge consults at turn boundaries.

Tests: 24 new cases — backcompat round-trip, Phase A decompose,
Phase B updates + new_items + stickiness, user override flows,
conversation dump (incl. unsafe-sid sanitization), judge read_file
restriction. Existing freeform-mode tests updated to patch the
renamed `judge_goal_freeform` and skip Phase A explicitly.

* fix(goals): off-by-one in judge index, message-list plumbing, prompt tuning

Three live-test findings from running /goal end-to-end against
gemini-3-flash-preview as the judge:

1. Off-by-one bug — the judge sees the checklist rendered with 1-based
   indices ('1. [ ] foo, 2. [ ] bar') but the apply layer indexed
   state.checklist as 0-based. Result: every judge update landed on
   the wrong item, evidence got attached to neighbouring rows, and
   the genuine 'first pending' item (usually #1) never got marked.
   Fix: convert 1 → 0 in _parse_evaluate_response. Also tightened the
   user prompt to call out the 1-based scheme explicitly. New tests
   cover the parser conversion + an end-to-end fake-judge round-trip.

2. Conversation dump never happened — _extract_agent_messages tried
   common AIAgent attribute names (.messages, .conversation_history,
   etc.) but AIAgent doesn't expose the message list as an instance
   attribute; it lives inside run_conversation()'s scope. Result: the
   judge's read_file tool always saw history_path=unavailable. Fix:
   added an explicit messages= kwarg to evaluate_after_turn that all
   three call sites (CLI, gateway, TUI gateway) now pass directly.
   Agent-attribute extraction kept as back-compat fallback.

3. Prompt was too harsh on simple goals. The original 'be HARSH,
   default to leaving items pending' wording made the judge refuse
   to mark 'file exists' completed even after the agent ran ls,
   test -f, os.path.isfile, and find — burning the entire 8-turn
   budget on a fizzbuzz task. Softened to 'strict but not absurd'
   with explicit guidance on what counts as evidence and a directive
   not to require re-proving items already established earlier.

Re-tested live with the same fizzbuzz goal: now terminates in 2
turns with all 8 checklist items correctly attributed to their
own evidence. /subgoal user-action flow (add / complete / undo /
impossible) verified live as well.

Fifth and final slice polish on top of @dlkakbs's docs + skill. Three
things ship here:

1. Subscription renewal cron recipe (the #1 operational footgun).

   Microsoft Graph webhook subscriptions expire at 72 hours max and
   don't auto-renew. The shipped operator runbook mentioned
   `maintain-subscriptions --dry-run` as a "daily or periodic check"
   but never told operators how to actually automate it. Without a
   scheduled job, any production deployment silently stops ingesting
   meetings three days after go-live.

   Adds an "Automating subscription renewal (REQUIRED for production)"
   section to website/docs/guides/operate-teams-meeting-pipeline.md
   with three concrete options and copy-pasteable configs:

   - Option 1: Hermes cron (`hermes cron add --schedule "0 */12 * * *"
     --script-only --command "hermes teams-pipeline maintain-subscriptions"`)
   - Option 2: systemd service + timer (12h cadence, Persistent=true
     so missed runs catch up after reboots)
   - Option 3: plain crontab with a wrapper that sources .env for
     credentials

   Go-Live Checklist gains a bolded mandatory item for the schedule
   being in place, with a cross-link to the section.

   website/docs/user-guide/messaging/teams-meetings.md adds a
   `:::warning:::` admonition right after the manual `subscribe`
   examples so anyone who creates a subscription manually is told
   the same day that it will silently expire in 72 hours.

2. Sidebar wiring. Shela's new docs pages (teams-meetings.md and
   operate-teams-meeting-pipeline.md) weren't in website/sidebars.ts,
   so they were orphaned URLs — reachable only if someone knew the
   path. Wired teams-meetings into Messaging Platforms next to the
   existing teams entry, and operate-teams-meeting-pipeline into
   Guides & Tutorials next to microsoft-graph-app-registration from
   PR NousResearch#21922. Adjacent placement keeps the related pages discoverable
   from each other.

3. SKILL.md rewrite (v1.0.0 → v1.1.0).

   The original skill had five Turkish-only trigger phrases, which
   works in a Turkish-speaking session but doesn't match English
   triggers. Rewrote the skill to:

   - Describe triggers by intent instead of exact phrases, with
     explicit "works in any language" framing and example phrases
     in both English and Turkish.
   - Add a Decision Tree section covering the three most common user
     asks (missing summary, setup verification, re-run request) and
     the specific CLI command sequence for each.
   - Add a dedicated "Critical pitfall: Graph subscriptions expire
     in 72 hours" section that tells the agent exactly what to do
     when a user reports "worked yesterday, nothing today" — the
     most common operational failure mode.
   - Expand the command reference into three labeled groups (Status
     and inspection / Re-running and debugging / Subscription
     management) so the agent can reach for the right command
     without scanning.
   - Add cross-links to all four related docs pages (Azure app
     registration, webhook listener setup, full pipeline setup,
     operator runbook).

Validation:
- npm run build: all new pages route, anchor to
  #automating-subscription-renewal-required-for-production resolves
  from both the runbook TOC and the teams-meetings.md admonition.
- scripts/run_tests.sh on the relevant test suites (607 tests): all
  pass.

…olve on first launch

Three interrelated bugs from teknium1's first interactive chat on Windows:

1. **Snapshot/cwd file paths unquoted in bash command strings.**  The session
   bootstrap and per-command wrapper interpolated
   ``self._snapshot_path`` / ``self._cwd_file`` unquoted into bash commands
   like ``export -p > C:/Users/ryanc/.../hermes-snap-xxx.sh``.  Git Bash's
   MSYS2 layer handles ``C:/...`` paths correctly ONLY when quoted; unquoted,
   the colon and forward-slash get glob-parsed and the redirect targets a
   bogus path.  Symptom: every terminal command emitted two
   ``C:/Users/.../hermes-snap-*.sh (No such file or directory)`` lines that
   bled into stdout (``stderr=STDOUT`` on the local backend) and corrupted
   file contents when the agent wrote to scratch paths via the terminal
   tool.  Fix: ``shlex.quote()`` every interpolation of ``_snapshot_path``
   and ``_cwd_file`` in base.py — no-op on POSIX (the paths contain no
   shell-metachars), critical on Windows.

2. **Stale PATH on first hermes launch after install.**  ``install.ps1``
   adds the PortableGit ``cmd`` / ``bin`` / ``usr\bin`` directories to the
   Windows **User** PATH via ``SetEnvironmentVariable(..., "User")``.  That
   write propagates to newly *spawned* processes only — already-running
   shells (including the one the user types ``hermes`` into immediately
   after install) retain their old PATH.  So hermes starts with a PATH that
   doesn't include bash, rg, grep, ssh — and ``search_files`` reports
   "rg/find not available" when the user clearly just installed them.

   Fix: new ``_augment_path_with_known_tools()`` helper called from
   ``configure_windows_stdio()`` on startup.  Prepends the Hermes-managed
   Git directories + the WinGet Links directory (where ripgrep lands) to
   ``os.environ['PATH']`` if they exist on disk but aren't already in
   PATH.  Subsequent subprocess calls (including bash spawns via
   ``_find_bash()``) inherit the augmented PATH and find everything.
   No-op on POSIX and when the directories don't exist.

3. **Root cause of "file content corruption".**  #1 was the proximate cause.
   Errors like ``C:/Users/.../hermes-snap-xxx.sh: No such file or directory``
   were emitted on stderr by the failed redirect, captured into stdout via
   ``stderr=subprocess.STDOUT``, and if the agent used terminal commands
   like ``cat > file`` the leaked error bytes became part of the file.
   Fixing #1 eliminates this entirely.

## Tests

All 77 Windows-compat tests still pass on Linux (POSIX path is
shlex.quote('/tmp/foo.sh') → '/tmp/foo.sh' — unchanged).

## Not addressed here (would need a bigger design)

- Python file tools (``write_file``, ``read_file``) and the bash-backed
  terminal tool see DIFFERENT views of ``/tmp`` on Windows.  Python treats
  ``/tmp`` as ``C:\tmp`` (drive-relative), Git Bash's MSYS2 treats it as
  a virtual mount to the PortableGit install's ``tmp\``.  Would need a
  translation shim in the Python tools to resolve bash-virtual paths to
  their native-Windows equivalents.  Workaround for users today: use
  absolute native paths (``C:\Users\you\...``) instead of ``/tmp/...``
  when crossing between terminal and Python file tools.

…search#22920)

Found 18 real Hermes-Agent stories from HN, X, and Reddit not yet
captured on the page. All URLs HTTP-verified to return 200 with
matching titles.

Reddit (15): r/hermesagent (Obsidian-as-memory writeup at 794 upvotes,
LLM cheatsheet at 635 upvotes, Kanban game-changer post, OpenRouter #1
ranking, AMA from the Nous team, etc.); r/LocalLLaMA, r/Rag,
r/openclaw, r/SideProject, r/LocalLLM threads where users describe
their actual setups (Qwen3.5-9b on 16gb VRAM, 5060Ti + Telegram, smart
routing tiers).

X (3): @vmiss33's 'what I use Hermes for' guide, @HeyYanvi's
X-to-NotebookLM podcast workflow, @ExileAI_0's spare-laptop Iris
running RenPy + ComfyUI, @brucexu_eth's Hermes Inc. Telegram startup
sim from the hackathon, Hype's deep-dive blog.

HN (1): 'I'm using Hermes — sandbox it like any agent.'

No component changes — all new entries fit the existing schema
(real URL, real author, real date).

…3456)

* feat(goals): /goal checklist + /subgoal user controls

Two-phase judge for /goal — Phase A decomposes the goal into a detailed
checklist on first turn; Phase B evaluates each pending item harshly
against the agent's most recent response. The goal completes only when
every item is in a terminal status (completed or impossible). Adds
/subgoal so the user can append, complete, mark impossible, undo,
remove, or clear items the judge missed or got wrong.

Mechanics:
- GoalState gains `checklist` and `decomposed` fields, both backwards
  compatible (old state_meta rows load unchanged).
- Phase A: aux call writes a harsh, exhaustive checklist; biased toward
  more items not fewer. Falls through to legacy freeform judge when
  decompose fails.
- Phase B: judge gets the checklist + last-response snippet + path to
  a per-session conversation dump at <HERMES_HOME>/goals/<sid>.json.
  A bounded read_file tool (max 5 calls per turn, restricted to that
  one file) lets the judge inspect history when the snippet is
  ambiguous. Stickiness in code: terminal items are frozen, only the
  user can revert via /subgoal undo.
- Continuation prompt shows checklist progress when non-empty;
  reverts to old prompt when empty.
- Status line shows M/N done counts.

CLI + gateway + TUI gateway all pass the agent reference into
evaluate_after_turn so the dump can be written. Gateway-side
/subgoal is allowed mid-run since it only modifies the checklist
the judge consults at turn boundaries.

Tests: 24 new cases — backcompat round-trip, Phase A decompose,
Phase B updates + new_items + stickiness, user override flows,
conversation dump (incl. unsafe-sid sanitization), judge read_file
restriction. Existing freeform-mode tests updated to patch the
renamed `judge_goal_freeform` and skip Phase A explicitly.

* fix(goals): off-by-one in judge index, message-list plumbing, prompt tuning

Three live-test findings from running /goal end-to-end against
gemini-3-flash-preview as the judge:

1. Off-by-one bug — the judge sees the checklist rendered with 1-based
   indices ('1. [ ] foo, 2. [ ] bar') but the apply layer indexed
   state.checklist as 0-based. Result: every judge update landed on
   the wrong item, evidence got attached to neighbouring rows, and
   the genuine 'first pending' item (usually #1) never got marked.
   Fix: convert 1 → 0 in _parse_evaluate_response. Also tightened the
   user prompt to call out the 1-based scheme explicitly. New tests
   cover the parser conversion + an end-to-end fake-judge round-trip.

2. Conversation dump never happened — _extract_agent_messages tried
   common AIAgent attribute names (.messages, .conversation_history,
   etc.) but AIAgent doesn't expose the message list as an instance
   attribute; it lives inside run_conversation()'s scope. Result: the
   judge's read_file tool always saw history_path=unavailable. Fix:
   added an explicit messages= kwarg to evaluate_after_turn that all
   three call sites (CLI, gateway, TUI gateway) now pass directly.
   Agent-attribute extraction kept as back-compat fallback.

3. Prompt was too harsh on simple goals. The original 'be HARSH,
   default to leaving items pending' wording made the judge refuse
   to mark 'file exists' completed even after the agent ran ls,
   test -f, os.path.isfile, and find — burning the entire 8-turn
   budget on a fizzbuzz task. Softened to 'strict but not absurd'
   with explicit guidance on what counts as evidence and a directive
   not to require re-proving items already established earlier.

Re-tested live with the same fizzbuzz goal: now terminates in 2
turns with all 8 checklist items correctly attributed to their
own evidence. /subgoal user-action flow (add / complete / undo /
impossible) verified live as well.

…registries

Both web_search_registry._resolve() and image_gen_registry.get_active_provider()
walked their registered providers and returned the first one matching the
capability flag — without checking whether that provider was actually
usable. On a fresh install with no credentials at all, this meant
get_active_search_provider() returned `brave-free` (legacy preference
order) even though BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY was unset, leading the
dispatcher to surface a "BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY is not set" error for a
provider the user never chose. Same bug shape in image_gen for FAL.

Resolution semantics now match tools.web_tools._get_backend():

  1. Explicit config name wins, ignoring is_available() — the dispatcher
     surfaces a precise "X_API_KEY is not set" error rather than silently
     switching backends. Matches user expectation: "I configured X, tell
     me what's wrong with X."
  2. Fallback (no explicit config) walks the legacy preference order
     filtered by is_available() — pick the highest-priority backend the
     user actually has credentials for.

is_available() is wrapped in a try/except so a buggy provider doesn't
brick resolution.

E2E verified:
  - No creds + no config: get_active_search_provider() -> None
  - Explicit brave-free + no key: get_active_search_provider() -> brave-free
    (and .is_available() correctly reports False)

This fix was identified during the spike (NousResearch#25182 finding #1) and is
fold-in to the same PR rather than a follow-up.

…sResearch#26672)

The #1 confusing cause of the xAI 403 (per Teknium): X Premium+
subscribers see Grok inside the X app and assume API access is
included.  It is NOT — only standalone SuperGrok subscribers can use
xai-oauth with Hermes today.  Without calling this out, every Premium+
user hits the 403 with no idea why.

PR NousResearch#26666's neutral 4-cause list was correct but buried the most
common cause.  Lead with the Premium+ gotcha, then list the other
possibilities (no subscription, wrong tier, exhausted quota) as
fallbacks.  Same neutral framing — does not accuse anyone of being
unsubscribed.

Three issues flagged by the Copilot review on this PR:

1. Double JSON emit on stage failure (Copilot #1, #2). When -Stage <name>
   ran a worker that threw, Invoke-Stage's finally emitted a JSON result
   frame AND the entry-point catch emitted a second error frame --
   producing two concatenated JSON objects on stdout and breaking the
   one-line-per-invocation contract that drivers parse against. Same
   issue applied to -Json mode on a full install (every stage's finally
   plus a final error frame missing duration_ms/skipped).

   Fix: Invoke-Stage's finally now sets $script:_StageEmittedErrorFrame
   when it emits a failure frame; the entry-point catch checks the flag
   and skips its own emit, still exit 1.

2. $prevEAP uninitialized on early try-block throw (Copilot #3). In
   Install-Uv, Test-Python, Test-Node's winget fallback,
   _Run-NpmInstall, and the playwright block, '$prevEAP =
   $ErrorActionPreference' lived as the first statement INSIDE the
   try. If anything between 'try {' and that line threw (Write-Info on
   an unusual host, the npx-finding loop, etc.), the catch's
   'if ($prevEAP) { ... }' restore was a no-op and EAP could remain
   relaxed.

   Fix: hoist '$prevEAP = $ErrorActionPreference' to the line
   immediately before 'try {' in all five sites. Catch's restore is
   now always meaningful regardless of where in the try the throw
   originated.

No change to Invoke-Stage's success path or to the four lint-clean EAP
sites (Test-Node was the only winget-related catch). All 19 metadata
smoke tests still pass.