# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Windows CLI Unicode symbol rendering issues

## Open now

- 3 issues, 2 PRs open on GitHub.
- #24277: \[Windows\] Special symbols before yellow-colored text displayed as question marks
- #24278: Symbols/icons before yellow headers in conversation appear as question marks
- #67151: \[Enhancement\] Hermes CLI / Desktop uses Unicode symbols not available in Windows 10 default fonts — displays as tofu (□)
- PR #24309: fix(cli): fall back to ASCII display on Windows MSYS terminals
- PR #128225: fix(tui): degrade Unicode glyphs safely on legacy Windows consoles

These issues and fixes concern Unicode or special symbols displaying as tofu or question marks in Windows terminals, with proposed fallbacks to ASCII display on Windows MSYS environments.

## TL;DR

- 6 member(s): 3 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_PARTIAL`): some members are connected by structural evidence (shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference); the rest are joined by an automated relevance judgement over their text.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 `0.31`: 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

- #24277: \[Windows\] Special symbols before yellow-colored text displayed as question marks
- #24278: Symbols/icons before yellow headers in conversation appear as question marks
- #67151: \[Enhancement\] Hermes CLI / Desktop uses Unicode symbols not available in Windows 10 default fonts — displays as tofu (□)

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#24309: fix(cli): fall back to ASCII display on Windows MSYS terminals**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#24277`
  - files: `agent/display.py`, `cli.py`, `hermes_cli/display_compat.py`, `hermes_cli/skin_engine.py`, `tests/agent/test_display.py`, `tests/cli/test_cprint_bg_thread.py`, `tests/hermes_cli/test_skin_engine.py`
- **#83759: fix(cli): fall back to ascii display on windows msys**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`
- **#128225: fix(tui): degrade Unicode glyphs safely on legacy Windows consoles**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`
  - files: `hermes_cli/doctor.py`, `hermes_cli/doctor_platform.py`, `hermes_cli/update_cmd.py`, `tests/hermes_cli/test_windows_font_tofu.py`, `ui-tui/src/__tests__/platformGlyphs.test.ts`, `ui-tui/src/__tests__/useConfigSync.test.ts`, `ui-tui/src/app/useConfigSync.ts`, `ui-tui/src/components/agentControls.tsx`, `ui-tui/src/lib/platform.ts`, `ui-tui/src/theme.ts`

## Fix status

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