# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Empty-response calls on internal-notification turns after final delivery

## Open now

- 1 issue, 1 PR open on GitHub.
- #135816: \[Bug\]\[Field report\]: late internal completions cause 12 empty-response calls (~$8.95 estimated) after final delivery
- PR #139767: fix(turn): quiet exit on empty reply to machinery turns

A field report describes late internal completions leading to 12 empty-response calls with an estimated cost of about $8.95 after final delivery. Two pull requests propose changes to how empty replies on runtime/internal-notification turns are handled, one by exiting quietly and one by collapsing the paid empty-retry step.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 1 open issue(s), 0 closed issue(s), 1 open PR(s), 0 merged PR(s), 1 PR(s) closed without merging.
- No fix has been merged to main; one or more PRs were attempted (see below).
- **Recommended:** review the prior/competing PR(s) below. A fix was attempted but not merged; your case may extend or revive that work.

## 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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 `0.67`: 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.

## Open related issues

- #135816: \[Bug\]\[Field report\]: late internal completions cause 12 empty-response calls (~$8.95 estimated) after final delivery

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#135914: fix(agent): collapse the paid empty-retry rung on machinery (internal-notification) turns**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `f74fbb077a`, `#139767`
- **#139767: fix(turn): quiet exit on empty reply to machinery turns**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `#135914`
  - files: `agent/turn_empty_response.py`, `contributors/emails/47145541+mertkayacs@users.noreply.github.com`, `gateway/response_filters.py`, `tests/agent/test_empty_retry_machinery_budget.py`, `tests/agent/test_notification_turn_empty_reply.py`

## Fix status

- No merged fix on record.
- Subsystem: `agent`