# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Cron script failures masked as success by LLM fallback

## Open now

- 2 issues, 2 PRs open on GitHub.
- #20301: cron: pre-run script failures silently greenwashed as success (status=ok)
- #36845: Cron script timeout can be masked as last_status=ok by LLM fallback
- PR #36906: fix(cron): mark job failed when script fails, not masked by LLM fallback
- PR #49359: fix(cron): fail pre-run script errors

These issues and fixes concern a bug where cron job pre-run script failures are incorrectly reported as successful (status=ok) due to LLM fallback behavior masking the real error state.

## TL;DR

- 5 member(s): 2 open issue(s), 0 closed issue(s), 2 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_PARTIAL`): some members are connected by structural evidence (shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference); the rest are joined by an automated relevance judgement over their text.
- Members outside that structural core may belong to a different underlying problem.
- Pairwise link density `0.34`: 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

- #20301: cron: pre-run script failures silently greenwashed as success (status=ok)
- #36845: Cron script timeout can be masked as last_status=ok by LLM fallback

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#20326: fix(cron): fail jobs when pre-run script fails instead of greenwashing as ok**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#20323`
- **#36906: fix(cron): mark job failed when script fails, not masked by LLM fallback**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`
  - files: `cron/scheduler.py`, `tests/cron/test_script_failure_not_masked.py`
- **#49359: fix(cron): fail pre-run script errors**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`
  - files: `cron/scheduler.py`, `tests/cron/test_scheduler.py`

## Fix status

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