* feat(profile): shareable profile distributions (pack/install/update/info)
Closes#20456.
Turns a profile into a portable, versioned artifact. Packs SOUL.md, config,
skills, cron, and an env-var manifest into a tar.gz that others can install
from a local path, URL, or git repo. Updates re-pull the distribution while
preserving user data (memories, sessions, auth.json, .env) and the user's
config.yaml overrides.
New subcommands (under hermes profile, no parallel tree):
hermes profile pack <name> [-o FILE]
hermes profile install <source> [--name N] [--alias] [--force] [-y]
hermes profile update <name> [--force-config] [-y]
hermes profile info <name>
Manifest (distribution.yaml at the profile root): name, version,
hermes_requires, author, env_requires, distribution_owned.
Security:
- Installer shows manifest + env-var requirements before mutating disk;
confirmation required unless -y.
- auth.json and .env are never packed (same exclude set as profile export).
- Cron jobs are packed but NOT auto-scheduled — user is pointed at
'hermes -p <name> cron list' to review.
- Archive extraction rejects path traversal (../ members).
- Alias creation is opt-in via --alias.
Update semantics:
- Distribution-owned paths (SOUL.md, skills/, cron/, mcp.json, manifest):
replaced from the new archive.
- config.yaml: preserved by default; --force-config to overwrite.
- User-owned paths (memories/, sessions/, auth.json, .env, state.db*,
logs/, workspace/, plans/, home/, *_cache/, local/): never touched.
Version pin:
hermes_requires accepts >=, <=, ==, !=, >, < or a bare version (treated
as >=). Install fails with a clear error when the running Hermes version
doesn't satisfy the spec.
Sources supported by 'install':
- Local .tar.gz / .tgz archive
- Local directory
- HTTP(S) URL pointing to a .tar.gz (uses httpx, already a dep)
- Git URL (github.com/user/repo, https://..., git@..., ssh://, git://)
Tests: 43 new unit tests (manifest parsing, version checks, env template,
pack/install/update round-trip, config-preservation, security).
E2E validated via real CLI invocations against an isolated HERMES_HOME
covering pack, install with confirmation, update preservation, update
--force-config, decline-preview, duplicate-install rejection, and
version-requirement rejection.
* refactor(profile-dist): git-only — drop tar.gz/HTTP transports and pack
Scope-cut on top of the original distribution PR: a profile distribution
is now exclusively a git repository (or a local directory during
development). The tar.gz / HTTP archive transports and the matching
`hermes profile pack` subcommand have been removed.
Why:
* GitHub tags, branches, and commits are already the right versioning
primitive. Tag pushes do for us what 'pack + upload' did.
* `hermes profile export` / `import` already cover local backup and
restore; they are not a distribution format and stay untouched.
* One transport means one install/update code path, one doc page,
and one mental model. The extra source types doubled the surface
for no real user win — GitHub auto-attaches release tarballs, and
`git bundle` / `git clone --mirror` cover the airgap case.
Changes:
* hermes_cli/profile_distribution.py — removed pack_profile,
_fetch_tar_archive (_http_fetch), _safe_extract, _archive_roots,
_safe_parts, _find_dist_root, tarfile/io/urlparse imports. The
new _stage_source has two arms: git URL → clone, local directory
→ use in place.
* hermes_cli/main.py — removed the 'pack' subparser and action
handler. Install help text updated to match the reduced source list.
* tests/hermes_cli/test_profile_distribution.py — rewritten around a
local-directory staging fixture. The install/update/describe suites
now build a distribution tree on disk directly and install from it,
which is what a real git clone produces after .git is stripped.
Dropped TestPack, TestFindDistRoot, and the tar-specific security
test. New tests cover _looks_like_git_url, env_example emission,
hermes_requires enforcement, and 'installer does not import
credentials if an author mistakenly leaks them in the staging tree'.
* website/docs/reference/profile-commands.md — 'Distribution commands'
section rewritten around git. Added a 'Publishing a distribution'
section. export/import stay documented as local backup/restore.
* website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md — dropped 'pack' from the
profile subcommand table.
* website/package.json — 'lint:diagrams' now passes
--exclude-code-blocks to ascii-guard. Without it, markdown tables
and box-drawing diagrams inside fenced code blocks were being
misidentified as malformed ASCII boxes, blocking the PR's
docs-site-checks CI with 8 false-positive errors.
Validation:
* Targeted suite: tests/hermes_cli/test_profile_distribution.py —
56/56 pass (down from 43 — reorganized to cover the new
local-dir paths).
* Regression: test_profiles.py + test_profile_export_credentials.py
102/102 still pass. export/import behaviour unchanged.
* Docs lint: ascii-guard lint --exclude-code-blocks docs returns
0 errors (was 8 on the PR before the flag bump).
* E2E: ran the real `hermes profile install`/`info` against a
local staging dir under an isolated HERMES_HOME — install writes
SOUL.md + skills to the target profile, info reads the manifest
back, a bogus source produces a clear error, and `hermes profile
pack` is now rejected by argparse as expected.
* feat(profile-dist): distribution-aware list/show/delete + installed_at + env preview
Polish pass on top of the git-only scope cut. Five additions, all small,
wiring into existing commands rather than adding new surface.
1. `installed_at` timestamp on the manifest
* Stamped automatically inside plan_install() on both fresh install
and update — ISO-8601 UTC, seconds resolution.
* Surfaced in `hermes profile info` as `Installed: <ts>`.
* Lets users tell "installed 6 months ago, needs update" from
"installed yesterday" without guessing from file mtimes.
2. `hermes profile list` grows a `Distribution` column
* Plain profiles: "—"
* Distribution profiles: "<name>@<version>" (e.g. `telemetry@1.2.3`)
* ProfileInfo gains three optional fields — distribution_name,
distribution_version, distribution_source — populated by a new
_read_distribution_meta() helper that swallows manifest read errors
so a broken distribution.yaml in one profile can't break `list`
for the others.
3. `hermes profile show` and `hermes profile delete` surface
distribution provenance
* show: `Distribution: name@version` + `Installed from: <source>`
plus a pointer to `hermes profile info <name>` for the full
manifest.
* delete: same lines in the pre-confirmation preview, so a user
deleting "telemetry" can see it came from
`github.com/kyle/telemetry-distribution` before they type
`telemetry` to confirm. No change to the confirmation gate itself —
deletion semantics are identical to plain profiles.
4. Install preview checks env vars against the current environment
* Replaces the "Env vars you'll need to set:" header with a simpler
"Env vars:" block.
* Each required var is labeled:
- `✓ set` — already in `os.environ` OR present as a key in the
target profile's existing .env (update case).
- `needs setting` — required but not found in either place.
- `—` — optional.
* Mirrors pip's "Requirement already satisfied" UX: no unnecessary
nagging about keys the user already has configured.
5. Docs: private distributions
* New "Private distributions" section in
website/docs/reference/profile-commands.md explaining that we
shell out to the user's `git` binary, so SSH keys / credential
helpers / GitHub CLI stored creds all work transparently. One
paragraph, two examples.
* `hermes profile info` section updated to mention `Installed:`.
Module-level hoist:
* `from datetime import datetime, timezone` was previously lazy-imported
inside plan_install(). Hoisted to module scope so tests can monkeypatch
`hermes_cli.profile_distribution.datetime` to freeze time.
Tests (+7):
* TestInstalledAtStamp.test_install_stamps_installed_at — format check
(4-digit year, 'T', +00:00 suffix).
* TestInstalledAtStamp.test_update_refreshes_installed_at — freezes
datetime.now() to 2099-01-01 and confirms update writes a new stamp.
* TestProfileInfoDistribution.test_installed_distribution_shows_in_list
— ProfileInfo.distribution_{name,version,source} populated after install.
* TestProfileInfoDistribution.test_plain_profile_has_no_distribution_fields
— plain profiles have None.
* TestProfileInfoDistribution.test_malformed_manifest_does_not_break_list
— broken distribution.yaml in one profile doesn't break list_profiles().
Validation:
* 163/163 tests pass (56 distribution + 102 profile regression +
5 new from this commit — up from 158).
* docs-lint: 0 errors.
* E2E verified: install preview shows ✓/needs-setting per env var,
`profile list` shows Distribution column, `profile show` + `delete`
preview mentions source URL, `info` shows Installed: timestamp.
* fix(profile-dist): clean errors + warn when overwriting plain profiles
Two small polish fixes found during collision sweeps of the PR:
1. ValueError from validate_profile_name now caught cleanly
* A distribution.yaml whose 'name' field can't be used as a profile
identifier (spaces, path traversal, etc.) raises ValueError from
hermes_cli.profiles.validate_profile_name, which was escaping as a
raw Python traceback from 'hermes profile install/update/info'.
* Broadened the except clause in all three handlers to catch
(DistributionError, ValueError) — users now see:
Error: Invalid profile name '../../etc/passwd'. Must match
[a-z0-9][a-z0-9_-]{0,63}
instead of a stack trace.
2. Install preview distinguishes plain profile overwrite from
distribution re-install
* When plan.target_dir exists and IS a distribution (has
distribution.yaml), preview still shows the mild
(profile exists — will overwrite distribution-owned files only)
* When plan.target_dir exists but is a HAND-BUILT plain profile (no
distribution.yaml), preview now shows a loud warning:
⚠ Profile exists but is NOT a distribution. Installing here will
overwrite its SOUL.md, skills/, cron/, and mcp.json.
Your memories, sessions, auth.json, and .env will be preserved,
but any hand-edits to distribution-owned files will be lost.
* Users who type 'hermes profile install foo --force' against a
profile they hand-built now see what they're signing up for. User
data is still safe (memories, sessions, auth, .env are in
USER_OWNED_EXCLUDE), but custom SOUL/skills get stomped.
Tests (+2):
* TestErrorSurfaces.test_bad_profile_name_raises_valueerror_not_traceback
* TestErrorSurfaces.test_path_traversal_name_rejected
Validation:
* 165/165 tests pass (was 163).
* E2E: bad manifest names produce 'Error: Invalid profile name ...'
with no traceback; installing over a plain profile shows the warning;
re-installing over an existing distribution shows the normal
overwrite message.
* Bad HTTPS URLs still produce 'Error: git clone failed: ...' — git
itself generates a clean enough message that no wrapper is needed.
* 'install .' works correctly from any cwd.
* fix(profiles): reject reserved names at validate time
Before: `hermes profile create hermes` / `profile install` / `profile rename`
all silently accepted reserved names like `hermes`, `test`, `tmp`, `root`,
`sudo`. The profile directory was created; only alias creation failed (via
check_alias_collision), leaving a confusingly-named profile on disk — e.g.
`~/.hermes/profiles/hermes/` sitting next to `~/.hermes/` itself.
The reserved set already exists (_RESERVED_NAMES, introduced alongside alias
collision detection). This commit moves the check up one layer to
validate_profile_name so every entry point — create, install, import,
rename, dashboard web API — shares the same gate.
The error message points the user at the cause without being cryptic:
Error: Profile name 'hermes' is reserved — it collides with either the
Hermes installation itself or a common system binary. Pick a different
name.
`default` continues to pass through (it's a special alias for ~/.hermes).
_HERMES_SUBCOMMANDS (`chat`, `model`, `gateway`, etc.) stays at
alias-collision time only — those are fine as bare profile names with
`--no-alias`.
Tests (+5): test_reserved_names_rejected parametrized over the full
_RESERVED_NAMES set, matching the existing pattern in TestValidateProfileName.
No existing test uses a reserved name as a profile identifier (greppped
create_profile("hermes|test|tmp|root|sudo") — zero hits).
Validation:
* 170/170 tests pass in the profile suites.
* E2E: `profile create hermes`, `profile install` with manifest
name=hermes, and `profile install ... --name hermes` all produce the
same clean `Error: Profile name 'hermes' is reserved ...` with rc=1
and no traceback. Normal names (`mybot`) still work.