fix(dashboard): guard update endpoint in Docker with structured guidance (salvage #34831) (#36263)

* fix: guard dashboard update in Docker

* fix(dashboard): align action response type

---------

Co-authored-by: Donovan Yohan <donovan-yohan@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Donovan Yohan <34756395+donovan-yohan@users.noreply.github.com>

hermes_cli/web_server.py

@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ from hermes_cli.config import (
     save_env_value,
     remove_env_value,
     check_config_version,
+    detect_install_method,
+    format_docker_update_message,
+    recommended_update_command_for_method,
     redact_key,
 )
 from gateway.status import get_running_pid, read_runtime_status
@@ -772,6 +775,26 @@ _ACTION_LOG_FILES: Dict[str, str] = {
 # report liveness and exit code without shelling out to ``ps``.
 _ACTION_PROCS: Dict[str, subprocess.Popen] = {}
 
+# ``name`` → completed synthetic action result for actions the server handled
+# without spawning a subprocess (for example, unsupported Docker updates).
+_ACTION_RESULTS: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}
+
+
+def _record_completed_action(name: str, message: str, exit_code: int = 1) -> None:
+    """Record a non-spawned action result and write it to the action log."""
+    log_file_name = _ACTION_LOG_FILES[name]
+    _ACTION_LOG_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    log_path = _ACTION_LOG_DIR / log_file_name
+    with open(log_path, "ab", buffering=0) as log_file:
+        log_file.write(
+            f"\n=== {name} completed {time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')} ===\n".encode()
+        )
+        log_file.write(message.encode("utf-8", errors="replace"))
+        if not message.endswith("\n"):
+            log_file.write(b"\n")
+    _ACTION_PROCS.pop(name, None)
+    _ACTION_RESULTS[name] = {"exit_code": exit_code, "pid": None}
+
 
 def _spawn_hermes_action(subcommand: List[str], name: str) -> subprocess.Popen:
     """Spawn ``hermes <subcommand>`` detached and record the Popen handle.
@@ -805,6 +828,7 @@ def _spawn_hermes_action(subcommand: List[str], name: str) -> subprocess.Popen:
         popen_kwargs["start_new_session"] = True
 
     proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, **popen_kwargs)
+    _ACTION_RESULTS.pop(name, None)
     _ACTION_PROCS[name] = proc
     return proc
 
@@ -841,6 +865,19 @@ async def restart_gateway():
 @app.post("/api/hermes/update")
 async def update_hermes():
     """Kick off ``hermes update`` in the background."""
+    install_method = detect_install_method(PROJECT_ROOT)
+    if install_method == "docker":
+        message = format_docker_update_message()
+        _record_completed_action("hermes-update", message, exit_code=1)
+        return {
+            "ok": False,
+            "pid": None,
+            "name": "hermes-update",
+            "error": "docker_update_unsupported",
+            "message": message,
+            "update_command": recommended_update_command_for_method(install_method),
+        }
+
     try:
         proc = _spawn_hermes_action(["update"], "hermes-update")
     except Exception as exc:
@@ -1065,9 +1102,10 @@ async def get_action_status(name: str, lines: int = 200):
 
     proc = _ACTION_PROCS.get(name)
     if proc is None:
+        result = _ACTION_RESULTS.get(name)
         running = False
-        exit_code: Optional[int] = None
-        pid: Optional[int] = None
+        exit_code = result.get("exit_code") if result else None
+        pid = result.get("pid") if result else None
     else:
         exit_code = proc.poll()
         running = exit_code is None

tests/hermes_cli/test_web_server.py

@@ -348,6 +348,66 @@ class TestWebServerEndpoints:
         resp = self.client.post("/api/audio/speak", json={"text": "   "})
         assert resp.status_code == 400
 
+    def test_update_hermes_returns_docker_guidance_without_spawning(self, monkeypatch):
+        import hermes_cli.web_server as web_server
+
+        spawned = False
+
+        def fail_spawn(*_args, **_kwargs):
+            nonlocal spawned
+            spawned = True
+            raise AssertionError("docker update guard should not spawn hermes update")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(web_server, "detect_install_method", lambda _root: "docker")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(web_server, "_spawn_hermes_action", fail_spawn)
+        web_server._ACTION_PROCS.pop("hermes-update", None)
+        web_server._ACTION_RESULTS.pop("hermes-update", None)
+
+        resp = self.client.post("/api/hermes/update")
+
+        assert resp.status_code == 200
+        data = resp.json()
+        assert data["ok"] is False
+        assert data["name"] == "hermes-update"
+        assert data["pid"] is None
+        assert data["error"] == "docker_update_unsupported"
+        assert "docker pull nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest" in data["message"]
+        assert spawned is False
+
+        status = self.client.get("/api/actions/hermes-update/status")
+        assert status.status_code == 200
+        status_data = status.json()
+        assert status_data["running"] is False
+        assert status_data["exit_code"] == 1
+        assert status_data["pid"] is None
+        assert any("docker pull nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest" in line for line in status_data["lines"])
+
+    def test_update_hermes_spawns_on_non_docker_install(self, monkeypatch):
+        import hermes_cli.web_server as web_server
+
+        class Proc:
+            pid = 12345
+
+            def poll(self):
+                return None
+
+        calls = []
+
+        def fake_spawn(subcommand, name):
+            calls.append((subcommand, name))
+            return Proc()
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(web_server, "detect_install_method", lambda _root: "git")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(web_server, "_spawn_hermes_action", fake_spawn)
+        web_server._ACTION_PROCS.pop("hermes-update", None)
+        web_server._ACTION_RESULTS.pop("hermes-update", None)
+
+        resp = self.client.post("/api/hermes/update")
+
+        assert resp.status_code == 200
+        assert resp.json() == {"ok": True, "pid": 12345, "name": "hermes-update"}
+        assert calls == [(["update"], "hermes-update")]
+
     def test_get_status_filters_unconfigured_gateway_platforms(self, monkeypatch):
         import gateway.config as gateway_config
         import hermes_cli.web_server as web_server

web/src/lib/api.ts

@@ -526,7 +526,10 @@ export interface AuthMeResponse {
 export interface ActionResponse {
   name: string;
   ok: boolean;
-  pid: number;
+  pid: number | null;
+  error?: string;
+  message?: string;
+  update_command?: string;
 }
 
 /** Per-call overrides for {@link fetchJSON}. */