docs: add Hermes run adapter RFC

2026-05-25 03:00:23 +00:00 · 2026-05-11 16:01:38 -07:00
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@@ -32,5 +32,8 @@ First-time contributor RFCs should be discussed in an issue before opening a PR.

 ## Current RFCs

+- [`hermes-run-adapter-contract.md`](hermes-run-adapter-contract.md) — Event/control
+  compatibility contract and gap matrix for moving WebUI chat runs to Hermes-owned
+  runtime execution.
 - [`turn-journal.md`](turn-journal.md) — Crash-safe WebUI turn journal for
  recovering interrupted chat submissions.
@@ -0,0 +1,315 @@
+# Hermes Run Adapter Compatibility Contract
+
+- **Status:** Proposed
+- **Author:** @Michaelyklam
+- **Created:** 2026-05-11
+- **Tracking issue:** [#1925](https://github.com/nesquena/hermes-webui/issues/1925)
+
+## Problem
+
+Hermes WebUI currently gives a rich workbench experience, but browser-originated
+chat turns are still executed inside the WebUI server process. The WebUI path
+creates process-local stream state, starts background agent threads, constructs or
+reuses `AIAgent`, and owns callback queues for token, tool, reasoning, approval,
+and clarify state.
+
+The target boundary from #1925 is:
+
+> WebUI should be thin in execution ownership, not thin in product scope.
+
+That means WebUI remains the full browser workbench for sessions, workspace
+files, chat rendering, tools, approvals, status, diagnostics, and controls. The
+change is that Hermes Agent must own run lifecycle, event ordering, replay,
+approvals, clarify, cancellation, and terminal state.
+
+This document defines the first reviewable contract for a Hermes-owned run
+adapter. It is intentionally a spec/gap matrix, not an implementation plan for a
+new WebUI runtime surrogate.
+
+## Goals
+
+- Keep the browser-facing WebUI workbench contract stable while execution moves
+  out of the WebUI process.
+- Define the minimum Hermes Runtime API / IPC v0 surface WebUI needs before it
+  can route new runs to Hermes-owned execution.
+- Map current WebUI-owned runtime primitives to Hermes-owned APIs, WebUI
+  presentation state, or explicit temporary compatibility shims.
+- Make restart/reattach the first meaningful success criterion, not merely
+  "basic chat streamed once."
+
+## Non-goals
+
+- Do not implement the adapter in this RFC.
+- Do not create a new run-manager sidecar or broker requirement.
+- Do not re-create `STREAMS`, cached `AIAgent` objects, approval queues, clarify
+  queues, or cancellation flags under new names inside WebUI.
+- Do not reduce WebUI product scope. The rich workbench UX remains in WebUI.
+- Do not require every event to be durably persisted on day one if the first
+  upstream runtime slice can still prove Hermes-owned execution and reconnect.
+
+## Ownership boundary
+
+### Hermes Agent owns
+
+- run creation and lifecycle
+- run ids and session-to-active-run mapping
+- ordered event stream and replay cursor
+- terminal run state, final result, and error metadata
+- model/provider/profile/toolset routing
+- agent execution and tool dispatch
+- command semantics and capability metadata
+- approval and clarify lifecycle
+- cancel, interrupt, queue, continue, steer, and goal control where supported
+- durable runtime/session state needed for reconnect
+
+### WebUI owns
+
+- browser authentication and presentation-specific session routing
+- chat layout, transcript rendering, tool cards, thinking/progress display
+- approval and clarify widgets
+- workspace/file-panel UX
+- settings/admin/diagnostics presentation
+- adapting Hermes runtime events into WebUI-compatible browser events
+- temporary compatibility shims explicitly listed in this RFC
+
+## WebUI event/control compatibility contract
+
+The browser-facing contract should remain stable enough that the current WebUI
+workbench can render either the legacy in-process runtime or the Hermes-owned run
+adapter during migration. These are presentation events over Hermes runtime
+truth, not a second source of truth.
+
+All events should include enough metadata for idempotent rendering and
+reconnect:
+
+```json
+{
+  "event_id": "run_123:42",
+  "seq": 42,
+  "run_id": "run_123",
+  "session_id": "20260511_...",
+  "type": "tool.update",
+  "created_at": 1778540000.0,
+  "terminal": false,
+  "payload": {}
+}
+```
+
+`event_id` may be an SSE `id:` value or an equivalent cursor token. `seq` is a
+monotonic per-run cursor. Clients may send `Last-Event-ID` or `after_seq` on
+reconnect. The runtime should treat replay as at-least-once delivery; WebUI must
+deduplicate by `run_id` + `seq` / `event_id`.
+
+### Event families
+
+| WebUI event family | Required payload | Runtime source of truth |
+|---|---|---|
+| `run.started` / `status` | lifecycle state, controls available, session id, workspace/profile/model/toolset summary | Hermes run state |
+| `token.delta` | assistant message id/segment id, delta text, optional content type | Hermes model output stream |
+| `reasoning.delta` / `reasoning.done` | reasoning text or structured reasoning block, visibility metadata | Hermes reasoning callback/event stream |
+| `progress` | concise status/progress text, optional phase/tool context | Hermes agent progress callbacks |
+| `tool.started` | tool call id, tool name, sanitized arguments, start time | Hermes tool dispatch lifecycle |
+| `tool.updated` | stdout/stderr/structured partial data, progress metadata | Hermes tool dispatch lifecycle |
+| `tool.done` | result, exit/status, duration, error flag | Hermes tool dispatch lifecycle |
+| `approval.requested` | approval id, command/action summary, risk metadata, available choices | Hermes approval queue/control plane |
+| `approval.resolved` | approval id, choice, resulting status | Hermes approval queue/control plane |
+| `clarify.requested` | clarify id, question, choices/input mode | Hermes clarify lifecycle |
+| `clarify.resolved` | clarify id, answer metadata/status | Hermes clarify lifecycle |
+| `title.updated` | title text, title source/confidence | Hermes session/title subsystem |
+| `usage.updated` / `usage.final` | tokens, cost, model/provider, duration where available | Hermes usage accounting |
+| `error` | stable error code, safe message, redacted diagnostic metadata, terminal flag | Hermes run terminal/error state |
+| `done` | final lifecycle state, usage, terminal result/error summary, last seq | Hermes run terminal state |
+
+### Reconnect metadata
+
+Every active or terminal run must expose:
+
+- `run_id`
+- `session_id`
+- current `status`: `queued`, `running`, `awaiting_approval`,
+  `awaiting_clarify`, `paused`, `cancelling`, `cancelled`, `failed`,
+  `completed`, or `expired`
+- last committed event cursor / `last_event_id`
+- terminal state and final result/error when finished
+- currently available controls
+- pending approval/clarify ids, if any
+- session-to-active-run mapping for the current WebUI session
+
+### Controls
+
+| WebUI control | Required semantics | Runtime endpoint / IPC |
+|---|---|---|
+| cancel | Request graceful cancellation of the current run; terminal event must follow | `cancel_run` / `interrupt` |
+| queue / continue | Append follow-up work to a live, paused, or resumable run/session according to Hermes semantics | `queue_or_continue` |
+| approval | Resolve a pending approval request with `allow_once`, `allow_session`, `always`, or `deny` where supported | `respond_approval` |
+| clarify | Submit answer text or selected choice for a pending clarify request | `respond_clarify` |
+| goal | Set/status/pause/resume/clear goal where Hermes exposes goal capability for this surface | command/capability API |
+| observe | Attach to live events and replay from cursor | `observe_run` |
+| status | Poll lifecycle state when SSE/WebSocket is unavailable | `get_run` |
+
+WebUI may keep local UI state such as which disclosure rows are expanded, but it
+must not infer or privately mutate runtime state for these controls.
+
+## Hermes Runtime API / IPC v0 minimum
+
+The transport can be HTTP, stdio IPC, websocket, or another Hermes-owned local
+protocol. The key requirement is the semantic contract: Hermes owns the run id,
+lifecycle, event cursor, controls, pending human-interaction state, and terminal
+state.
+
+### `start_run`
+
+Creates a Hermes-owned run.
+
+Input fields:
+
+- `session_id` or instruction to create one
+- user message / queued input
+- workspace context and attachments metadata
+- profile/provider/model/toolset hints
+- source/surface metadata, e.g. `source=webui`
+- optional command intent, e.g. `/goal` if parsed by WebUI command UI
+- idempotency key for duplicate browser submissions
+
+Output fields:
+
+- `run_id`
+- `session_id`
+- initial `status`
+- `observe` cursor / first event id
+- supported controls for this run
+
+### `observe_run`
+
+Streams ordered run events, with replay from a cursor.
+
+Required behavior:
+
+- support `after_seq` or `Last-Event-ID`
+- emit events in monotonically increasing per-run order
+- replay terminal `error` / `done` state for completed runs
+- make duplicate delivery safe for reconnecting clients
+- preserve enough history for short WebUI restarts and browser reloads
+
+### `get_run`
+
+Returns current lifecycle state without consuming the event stream.
+
+Required fields:
+
+- `run_id`, `session_id`, `status`
+- `created_at`, `updated_at`, optional `completed_at`
+- `last_seq` / `last_event_id`
+- active controls
+- pending approval/clarify summaries
+- terminal result/error summary
+- usage/model/provider/profile/toolset summary where available
+
+### `cancel_run` / interrupt
+
+Requests graceful run cancellation or interruption. Hermes owns the final state
+transition and emits a terminal event. WebUI should not directly toggle a local
+cancellation flag as the source of truth.
+
+### `queue_or_continue`
+
+Submits follow-up work for a live, paused, or resumable run/session. Semantics
+must match Hermes-native queue/continue behavior so WebUI does not create a
+parallel continuation model.
+
+### `respond_approval`
+
+Resolves a pending approval request by id.
+
+Required behavior:
+
+- validate the approval belongs to the run/session
+- accept only supported choices
+- emit `approval.resolved`
+- continue, pause, or fail the run according to Hermes approval semantics
+
+### `respond_clarify`
+
+Resolves a pending clarification request by id.
+
+Required behavior:
+
+- validate the clarify request belongs to the run/session
+- accept text or selected-choice payloads
+- emit `clarify.resolved`
+- continue or fail the run according to Hermes clarify semantics
+
+## Gap matrix
+
+| Current WebUI primitive | Current role | Hermes-owned target | Temporary shim allowed? | Notes / gap |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `STREAMS` / `STREAMS_LOCK` | Process-local live stream registry and subscriber fan-out | Hermes run registry + `observe_run` replay/fan-out | Yes, adapter may keep per-browser SSE connections only | Shim must not be the run source of truth and must survive WebUI restart by re-observing Hermes. |
+| `CANCEL_FLAGS` | Local cancellation signal checked by WebUI-owned agent thread | `cancel_run` / interrupt control | No, except translating button clicks into runtime calls | Cancellation result must come back as Hermes status/events. |
+| `AGENT_INSTANCES` | Cached `AIAgent` objects inside WebUI process | Hermes Agent runtime owns agent construction/reuse | No | Keeping this in the adapter would recreate the runtime surrogate. |
+| Partial text buffers | Reconstruct live assistant deltas for browser reconnect/render | Hermes event log/cursor plus WebUI renderer cache | Short-lived presentation cache only | Source should be replayed token events or persisted transcript, not WebUI-only execution state. |
+| Reasoning buffers | Preserve streamed reasoning/thinking text | Hermes reasoning events + replay | Short-lived presentation cache only | Replay must rebuild the same thinking cards after refresh. |
+| Tool buffers / live tool calls | Render tool cards and updates | Hermes tool lifecycle events + replay | Short-lived presentation cache only | WebUI owns card rendering, not tool execution state. |
+| Approval callbacks and queues | Bridge WebUI buttons to a live Python callback | Hermes pending approval state + `respond_approval` | No private callback queue | Pending approval must be discoverable after WebUI restart. |
+| Clarify callbacks and queues | Bridge WebUI form to a live Python callback | Hermes pending clarify state + `respond_clarify` | No private callback queue | Pending clarify must be discoverable after WebUI restart. |
+| Command capability metadata | Decide which slash commands render/execute in WebUI | Hermes command registry/capability API with owner/surface metadata | WebUI may cache metadata | Unknown commands should not be reimplemented in WebUI by default. |
+| Session-to-active-run mapping | Stored implicitly in WebUI session JSON / active stream ids | Hermes session/run mapping API | WebUI may cache last seen run id | Reopen session must rediscover active/completed run from Hermes. |
+| Reconnect/replay behavior | Depends on WebUI process memory and session JSON | `observe_run(after_seq)` + `get_run` terminal state | Browser SSE adapter only | First milestone must prove WebUI restart does not orphan the run. |
+| Usage/title/status events | Produced by WebUI streaming callbacks | Hermes usage/title/status events and run state | WebUI formatting only | WebUI can display and persist presentation copies after events arrive. |
+| Goal / queue / continue hooks | Mixed WebUI command handling and streaming callbacks | Hermes command/control plane | Only UI affordance shim | Goal support should be driven by Hermes capabilities. |
+
+## Migration ladder
+
+1. **Inventory and contract**: keep this RFC current with the current WebUI-owned
+   runtime primitives and browser event/control contract.
+2. **Hermes Runtime API / IPC v0**: add or stabilize upstream Hermes primitives
+   for `start_run`, `observe_run`, `get_run`, `cancel_run`, and replayable event
+   cursors.
+3. **Read-only observation spike**: from WebUI, observe an existing Hermes-owned
+   run and adapt its events into WebUI-compatible event objects without starting
+   a WebUI-owned agent thread.
+4. **Feature-flagged new-run path**: route new WebUI runs to Hermes-owned
+   `start_run` behind a flag while preserving the legacy path as fallback.
+5. **Restart/reattach milestone**: prove a non-trivial WebUI-started run
+   survives a WebUI-only restart and browser reload with ordered replay.
+6. **Controls migration**: move cancel, queue/continue, approval, clarify, and
+   goal controls to Hermes-owned endpoints/capabilities.
+7. **Parity tests**: compare legacy and adapter event streams for synthetic
+   token, reasoning, tool, approval, clarify, error, and done scenarios.
+8. **Retire runtime surrogate state**: remove normal WebUI chat ownership of
+   `AIAgent`, cancellation flags, callback queues, and process-local run truth
+   once parity and fallback criteria are satisfied.
+
+## First success criterion
+
+The first implementation milestone is not "basic chat streams through a new
+endpoint." The first meaningful milestone is:
+
+1. Start a non-trivial chat run from WebUI through the Hermes-owned path.
+2. Restart only `hermes-webui` while the run is active.
+3. Reload or reopen the browser session.
+4. Rediscover the same `run_id` from Hermes using `session_id` or last known run
+   metadata.
+5. Replay events from the last cursor with no duplicate visible transcript
+   content.
+6. Render the same token/reasoning/tool/approval/clarify state the workbench
+   would have rendered without the restart.
+7. Cancel the run from WebUI and observe Hermes emit the terminal cancelled
+   state.
+
+If this works, WebUI is moving toward a protocol translator over Hermes-owned
+execution instead of becoming another runtime with different variable names.
+
+## Open questions
+
+- Where should the normative Hermes Runtime API / IPC v0 spec live: in
+  `NousResearch/hermes-agent`, this WebUI RFC, or both with one designated
+  source of truth?
+- What retention window is enough for v0 event replay: active-run memory only,
+  SQLite-backed event log, or transcript-derived reconstruction plus terminal
+  state?
+- Should WebUI talk to Hermes over the existing API server, an embedded IPC
+  channel, or a profile-local runtime socket?
+- How should multiple clients observing the same run coordinate controls and
+  pending approval/clarify prompts?
+- Which slash commands need surface-specific capability metadata before WebUI
+  can safely delegate them to Hermes?