# NousResearch/hermes-agent · state.db page-0 corruption during graceful shutdown

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

A bug where cron or deferred workers write to state.db after SIGTERM can corrupt its first page, causing 'file is not a database' on next start. Related work addresses quiescing background workers before DB close and quarantining already-corrupted databases instead of opening them destructively.

## TL;DR

- 5 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 2 merged PR(s), 2 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #106587. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #106587 (and any competing PRs below) before filing. Confirm the merged change covers your symptom.

## Maintainer resolution verdict

- Internal-tracker verdict over this cluster's issue members: `unresolved`. This is distinct from the fix status above. Weigh it yourself.

## How this cluster was grouped

- Link evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
- Pairwise link density `0.40`: the share of member pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36. `1.00` means every pair is linked.

## Closed / duplicate issues

- #102198: \[Bug\] state.db page 0 clobbered by a write ~0.9s after SIGTERM during graceful shutdown → "file is not a database" on next start

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#106587: A state.db with a clobbered first page is quarantined with its WAL instead of opened destructively (refs #102198, salvage #102212)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`; implication `superseded`
  - files: `hermes_state.py`, `hermes_state_dbfile.py`, `tests/test_zeroed_state_db.py`
- **#116296: Gateway shutdown no longer closes state.db under a live cron or API-server writer (#102198, salvage #102219)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`; implication `superseded`
  - files: `gateway/run_shutdown.py`, `tests/gateway/test_shutdown_executor_quiesce.py`
- **#102212: fix(state): quarantine invalid state db header**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `d15c61b5dc`, `#106587`, `#102198`, `#106587`
- **#102219: run: quiesce cron/deferred workers before DB close to prevent page-0 corruption**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `#116296`, `#102198`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #106587 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-09-19`.