# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Stale child heartbeat leaves delegation stuck running

## Open now

- 0 issues, 1 PR open on GitHub.
- PR #129941: fix(delegation): stop a collected child's ticking clock from refreshing the batch stall clock

These items address a bug where delegated or batched child tasks with expired heartbeats are not collected as finished, leaving parent turns or bot-mode chats indefinitely in a running state. Fixes target heartbeat staleness detection and cleanup in delegation and bot-mode flows.

## TL;DR

- 6 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 1 open PR(s), 2 merged PR(s), 2 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #131811. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #131811 (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: `resolved` · deciding PR(s): `pr-131811`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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 `0.33`: 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

- #113222: \[Bug\]: async delegate_task batch never reports when a finished child's heartbeat is retired as stale — entries stay 'running'

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#113422: fix(bot-mode): a stalled subagent no longer locks a one-shot Bot Chat turn forever (#109749, salvage #109762, #113275)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `tests/tools/test_delegate_stale_wait_release.py`, `tools/delegate_tool.py`, `tools/delegate_tool_child_run.py`, `website/docs/user-guide/features/delegation.md`
- **#131811: fix(delegation): collect a child's real result in a grace window after the stale-heartbeat verdict \[risk 0.30\]**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `tests/tools/test_delegate_stale_heartbeat_collect.py`, `tools/delegate_tool.py`, `tools/delegate_tool_child_run.py`
- **#109762: fix(delegation): release finite chat when a child stops progressing**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `bfa56a3be87e`, `#113422`, `#10974`
- **#113275: fix(delegation): collect finished children when heartbeat goes stale**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `bfa56a3be87e`, `#113422`, `#10974`
- **#129941: fix(delegation): stop a collected child's ticking clock from refreshing the batch stall clock**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `5ac618b16c`
  - files: `tests/tools/test_async_delegation.py`, `tests/tools/test_delegate_output_schema.py`, `tools/async_delegation.py`, `tools/delegate_tool.py`, `tools/delegate_tool_dispatch.py`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #131811 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-10-05`.
- Subsystem: `agent`