NousResearch/hermes-agent
Remove unnecessary crontab requirement from cronjob tool
Cluster 1589 · cron. Data as of
Nothing open on GitHub. Fix merged in #1638 on 17 Mar 2026. Check it covers your case.
The short answer
0open issues
0open PRs
4items grouped
- Known?
- Yes. 4 related items grouped here, 1 issue already closed.
- Fix event
- A fix was merged to main in PR #1638. Check it covers your case. No release data is tracked.
- Tracker
- The maintainers' tracker marks this
resolved, deciding PR #1638. That is separate from the fix event. - Still open
- Nothing open on GitHub.
A bug was reported that crontab is required even when crons are internal, followed by multiple fix attempts removing that unnecessary dependency from the cronjob tool.
Open issues0
Open PRs0
Fixes on record
-
#1638 fix(tools): remove unnecessary crontab requirement from cronjob tool
files:
tests/tools/test_cronjob_tools.py,tools/cronjob_tools.pyShow the diff
-
tests/tools/test_cronjob_tools.py@@ -62,22 +62,44 @@ def test_deception_blocked(self): class TestCronjobRequirements: - def test_requires_crontab_binary_even_in_interactive_mode(self, monkeypatch): + def test_requires_no_crontab_binary(self, monkeypatch): + """Cron is internal (JSON-based scheduler), no system crontab needed.""" monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_INTERACTIVE", "1") monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_GATEWAY_SESSION", raising=False) monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_EXEC_ASK", raising=False) - monkeypatch.setattr("shutil.which", lambda name: None) - - assert check_cronjob_requirements() is False + # Even with no crontab in PATH, the cronjob tool should be available + # because hermes uses an internal scheduler, not system crontab. + assert check_cronjob_requirements() is True - def test_accepts_interactive_mode_when_crontab_exists(self, monkeypatch): + def test_accepts_interactive_mode(self, monkeypatch): monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_INTERACTIVE", "1") monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_GATEWAY_SESSION", raising=False) monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_EXEC_ASK", raising=False) - monkeypatch.setattr("shutil.which", lambda name: "/usr/bin/crontab") assert check_cronjob_requirements() is True + def test_accepts_gateway_session(self, monkeypatch): + monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_INTERACTIVE", raising=False) + monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_GATEWAY_SESSION", "1") + monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_EXEC_ASK", raising=False) + + assert check_cronjob_requirements() is True + + def test_accepts_exec_ask(self, monkeypatch): + monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_INTERACTIVE", raising=False) + monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_GATEWAY_SESSION", raising=False) + monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_EXEC_ASK", "1") + + assert check_cronjob_requirements() is True + + def test_rejects_when_no_session_env(self, monkeypatch): + """Without any session env vars, cronjob tool should not be available.""" + monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_INTERACTIVE", raising=False) + monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_GATEWAY_SESSION", raising=False) + monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_EXEC_ASK", raising=False) + + assert check_cronjob_requirements() is False + # ========================================================================= # schedule_cronjob -
tools/cronjob_tools.py@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import json import os import re -import shutil import sys from pathlib import Path from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional @@ -414,13 +413,10 @@ def check_cronjob_requirements() -> bool: """ Check if cronjob tools can be used. - Requires 'crontab' executable to be present in the system PATH. Available in interactive CLI mode and gateway/messaging platforms. + The cron system is internal (JSON file-based scheduler ticked by the gateway), + so no external crontab executable is required. """ - # Ensure the system can actually install and manage cron entries. - if not shutil.which("crontab"): - return False - return bool( os.getenv("HERMES_INTERACTIVE") or os.getenv("HERMES_GATEWAY_SESSION")
-
2 PRs closed without merging
From the close comments: merged via another change 2
Closed issues · 1
- Closed#1589[Bug]: Crontab is required despite crons being internal?
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Pairwise link density
0.50: the share of item pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36.1.00means every pair is linked.
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Open the LabAt a glance
- Subsystem
- cron
- Merged PRs
- #1638
- Closed issues
- 1
- Attempts
- 2 PRs closed without merging
- Fix link checked
- 17 Mar 2026. This confirmation is old and may be out of date (a revert or reopen would not have invalidated it here); re-verify.