hermes-blip

name	hermes-blip
description	Use when Hermes Telegram Gateway tool-progress messages should be visible during execution as one rolling transient bubble, then deleted after the final reply.
version	1.0.0
author	Hermes Agent community
license	MIT
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["hermes","gateway","telegram","tool-progress","cleanup","transient-messages"],"related_skills":["hermes-agent"]}}

Hermes Blip

Overview

This skill restores a Telegram Gateway behavior for Hermes Agent: tool progress stays visible while the agent is running, but does not remain as chat-history clutter after the final answer.

The desired behavior is:

• one editable Telegram progress bubble during a turn;
• at most the latest three operation lines by default;
• progress updates edit the same bubble instead of sending many messages;
• after the final assistant reply is ready, Hermes best-effort deletes the transient progress bubble;
• final replies are preserved.

This is a local Hermes source patch plus config change. It is meant to be replayable after Hermes upgrades.

When to Use

Use this when:

• the user runs Hermes through Telegram Gateway;
• terminal, read_file, search_files, or other tool-progress messages are cluttering Telegram;
• the user wants live execution visibility but clean chat history;
• Hermes upgrades overwrote the previous local patch.

Do not use this when:

• the user wants no tool progress at all — use display.tool_progress: none/off instead;
• the platform is not Telegram, unless that platform adapter implements delete_message(...);
• the user expects this to delete final replies, media, approval prompts, or natural-language interim commentary.

Apply the Patch

From this skill directory:

python scripts/apply-transient-progress-cleanup.py --profile <profile-name>

Or explicitly:

python scripts/apply-transient-progress-cleanup.py   --repo ~/.hermes/hermes-agent   --config ~/.hermes/profiles/<profile-name>/config.yaml   --max-lines 3

The script is idempotent. If the source/config already has the patch, it prints already present and leaves files unchanged.

Config Written

display:
  tool_progress: all
  interim_assistant_messages: false
  platforms:
    telegram:
      tool_progress_cleanup: delete_on_complete
      tool_progress_message_style: recent
      tool_progress_max_lines: 3
agent:
  gateway_notify_interval: 0

Restart Gateway

After source or config changes, restart the Hermes Gateway using the user's installation method, for example:

hermes gateway restart

On macOS launchd installs, the label may be profile-specific:

launchctl stop ai.hermes.gateway-<profile-name>
sleep 2
launchctl start ai.hermes.gateway-<profile-name>

Verify

Check markers:

cd ~/.hermes/hermes-agent
rg "tool_progress_cleanup|tool_progress_message_style|tool_progress_max_lines|__complete__|_cleanup_progress_messages" gateway/run.py gateway/display_config.py

Check config:

python - <<'PY'
import pathlib, yaml
cfg = yaml.safe_load(pathlib.Path('~/.hermes/profiles/<profile-name>/config.yaml').expanduser().read_text())
print(cfg.get('display', {}).get('platforms', {}).get('telegram', {}))
PY

If the Hermes checkout contains matching tests:

cd ~/.hermes/hermes-agent
python -m pytest tests/gateway/test_display_config.py tests/gateway/test_run_progress_topics.py -q

Troubleshooting

1. Progress bubble still remains after final reply

   • Verify the Telegram bot can delete its own messages.
   • Check gateway logs for Progress cleanup delete returned false or Progress cleanup delete failed.
   • Ensure the gateway was restarted after patching.

2. Many progress bubbles are still sent

   • Confirm tool_progress_message_style: recent.
   • Confirm tool_progress_max_lines is positive.
   • Confirm edit_message works for Telegram in the Hermes adapter.

3. Still seeing Still working... messages

   • Confirm agent.gateway_notify_interval: 0.
   • Those periodic notifications are separate from tool-progress cleanup.

4. Natural-language interim commentary remains

   • Confirm display.interim_assistant_messages: false.
   • This patch targets tool-progress bubbles, not arbitrary assistant text messages.

Platform Boundary

The cleanup core is platform-generic only if the platform adapter supports delete_message(...).

• Telegram: supported by the Bot API and this patch.
• Feishu/Lark: requires adapter-level delete/recall support first.
• Other platforms: must be evaluated per adapter.

Security

The script does not read or print API keys, bot tokens, OAuth tokens, cookies, .env, or auth files. It only modifies Hermes source files and the selected config.yaml.