# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Scope MEDIA tag scanning to current turn only

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

The members concern MEDIA tags from earlier tool output in session history appearing in later text-only responses. One is a bug report and two are gateway changes titled to scope the tool-result MEDIA scan to the current turn; their status is not stated in the titles.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 1 merged PR(s), 1 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #34833. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #34833 (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-34833`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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.

## Closed / duplicate issues

- #34608: \[Bug\]: MEDIA tag from stale tool output in session history leaks into later text-only responses

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#34833: fix(gateway): scope tool-result MEDIA scan to current turn (#34608)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `gateway/run.py`, `tests/gateway/test_media_extraction.py`
  - fix hunks:
  - `gateway/run.py`

    ```diff
    @@ -17478,13 +17478,33 @@ def _approval_notify_sync(approval_data: dict) -> None:
                 # append any that aren't already present in the final response, so the
                 # adapter's extract_media() can find and deliver the files exactly once.
                 #
    -            # Uses path-based deduplication against _history_media_paths (collected
    -            # before run_conversation) instead of index slicing. This is safe even
    -            # when context compression shrinks the message list. (Fixes #160)
    +            # Scope the scan to THIS turn's tool results only. ``agent_history``
    +            # was passed into run_conversation as ``conversation_history``, so the
    +            # agent's returned ``messages`` list is ``agent_history`` followed by
    +            # the messages produced this turn. Slicing at ``len(agent_history)``
    +            # isolates the current turn precisely, so a stale MEDIA: path emitted
    +            # by a tool several turns earlier (still present in the full message
    +            # list) can never leak onto a later text-only reply. (Fixes #34608)
    +            #
    +            # Path-based deduplication against _history_media_paths (collected
    +            # before run_conversation) is retained as a secondary guard. It is
    +            # also the sole guard on the fallback branch taken when mid-run
    +            # context compression shrinks the message list below the original
    +            # history length, preserving the compression-safe behaviour of #160.
                 if "MEDIA:" not in final_response:
                     media_tags = []
                     has_voice_directive = False
    -                for msg in result.get("messages", []):
    +                _all_msgs = result.get("messages", [])
    +                _history_len = len(agent_history)
    +                # Only trust the slice boundary when the message list still
    +                # contains the full history prefix. Mid-run compression can
    +                # rewrite/shrink the list; in that case fall back to scanning
    +                # everything and rely on _history_media_paths for dedup.
    +                if _history_len and len(_all_msgs) >= _history_len:
    +                    _scan_msgs = _all_msgs[_history_len:]
    +                else:
    +                    _scan_msgs = _all_msgs
    +                for msg in _scan_msgs:
                         if msg.get("role") in {"tool", "function"}:
                             content = msg.get("content", "")
                             if "MEDIA:" in content:
    ```
  - `tests/gateway/test_media_extraction.py`

    ```diff
    @@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
     messages in the CURRENT turn, not from the full conversation history.
     This prevents voice messages from accumulating and being sent multiple
     times per reply. (Regression test for #160)
    +
    +Also covers #34608: a stale MEDIA: path emitted by an execute_code /
    +make_image tool several turns earlier must not leak onto a later
    +text-only reply, even when the path-based dedup set fails to capture it.
     """
     
     import pytest
    ```

    ```diff
    @@ -43,6 +47,37 @@ def extract_media_tags_fixed(result_messages, history_len):
         return media_tags, has_voice_directive
     
     
    +def extract_media_tags_production(result_messages, history_len, history_media_paths):
    +    """Mirror of the production scan in gateway/run.py after the #34608 fix.
    +
    +    Primary guard: scope the scan to the current turn via ``history_len``
    +    slicing (matching how ``agent_history`` is passed as
    +    ``conversation_history`` into ``run_conversation``). Secondary guard:
    +    path-based dedup against ``history_media_paths`` (the #160 compression-safe
    +    fallback, also used when compression shrinks the list below history_len).
    +    """
    +    media_tags = []
    +    has_voice_directive = False
    +
    +    if len(result_messages) >= history_len and history_len:
    +        scan_msgs = result_messages[history_len:]
    +    else:
    +        scan_msgs = result_messages
    +
    +    for msg in scan_msgs:
    +        if msg.get("role") == "tool" or msg.get("role") == "function":
    +            content = msg.get("content", "")
    +            if "MEDIA:" in content:
    +                for match in re.finditer(r'MEDIA:(\S+)', content):
    +                    path = match.group(1).strip().rstrip('",}')
    +                    if path and path not in history_media_paths:
    +                        media_tags.append(f"MEDIA:{path}")
    +                if "[[audio_as_voice]]" in content:
    +                    has_voice_directive = True
    +
    +    return media_tags, has_voice_directive
    +
    +
     def extract_media_tags_broken(result_messages):
         """
         The BROKEN behavior: extract MEDIA tags from ALL messages including history.
    ```

    ```diff
    @@ -180,5 +215,104 @@ def test_deduplication_within_current_turn(self):
             assert len(unique) == 2  # After dedup: same.ogg and different.ogg
     
     
    +class TestStaleToolMediaLeak:
    +    """Regression tests for #34608.
    +
    +    A MEDIA: path emitted by an execute_code / make_image tool several turns
    +    earlier remains in the full conversation message list. A later text-only
    +    reply (zero MEDIA directives) must NOT attach that stale image.
    +
    +    The production code previously relied solely on path-based dedup against
    +    paths reconstructed from the replayable transcript. When that
    +    reconstruction does not byte-match the in-memory tool content (timestamp
    +    stripping, observed-context withholding, compression rewrites), the stale
    +    path is absent from the dedup set and leaks. Turn-scoped slicing closes
    +    this class of bug deterministically.
    +    """
    +
    +    def test_stale_execute_code_media_not_attached_to_text_only_reply(self):
    +        """The exact #34608 scenario: make_image cover from an earlier turn."""
    +        # Prior turn generated an image via execute_code stdout.
    +        history = [
    +            {"role": "user", "content": "Make a cover image"},
    +            {"role": "assistant", "content": None,
    +             "tool_calls": [{"id": "1", "function": {"name": "execute_code"}}]},
    +            {"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": "1",
    +             "content": "Generating cover...\nMEDIA:/tmp/seosmi_cover.png\nDone."},
    +            {"role": "assistant", "content": "Here is your cover."},
    +        ]
    +        # Current turn: plain text status update, zero MEDIA directives.
    +        new_messages = [
    +            {"role": "user", "content": "What skill version am I on?"},
    +            {"role": "assistant", "content": "You're on v0.15.1."},
    +        ]
    +        all_messages = history + new_messages
    +        history_len = len(history)
    +
    +        # Simulate the dedup set FAILING to capture the stale path (the real
    +        # #34608 condition: replayable-history reconstruction diverged from
    +        # the in-memory tool content, so the path is not in the set).
    +        history_media_paths = set()
    +
    +        tags, voice = extract_media_tags_production(
    +            all_messages, history_len, history_media_paths
    +        )
    +        assert tags == [], (
    +            "Stale tool MEDIA from a prior turn must not leak onto a "
    +            f"later text-only reply, got {tags}"
    +        )
    +        assert voice is False
    +
    +        # The pre-fix production behaviour (scan everything, dedup only) would
    +        # have leaked the stale path when the dedup set missed it.
    +        broken_tags, _ = extract_media_tags_broken(all_messages)
    +        assert any("seosmi_cover.png" in t for t in broken_tags), (
    +            "Sanity: the unscoped scan does surface the stale path"
    +        )
    +
    +    def test_current_turn_media_still_attached_when_dedup_set_empty(self):
    +        """Turn-scoping must not suppress genuinely new media."""
    +        history = [
    +            {"role": "user", "content": "hi"},
    +            {"role": "assistant", "content": "hello"},
    +        ]
    +        new_messages = [
    +            {"role": "user", "content": "Make me a cover image"},
    +            {"role": "assistant", "content": None,
    +             "tool_calls": [{"id": "9", "function": {"name": "execute_code"}}]},
    +            {"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": "9",
    +             "content": "MEDIA:/tmp/fresh_cover.png"},
    +            {"role": "assistant", "content": "Here it is."},
    +        ]
    +        all_messages = history + new_messages
    +        tags, _ = extract_media_tags_production(
    +            all_messages, len(history), set()
    +        )
    +        assert len(tags) == 1 and "fresh_cover.png" in tags[0]
    +
    +    def test_compression_shrink_falls_back_to_path_dedup(self):
    +        """When the list is shorter than history_len (mid-run compression),
    +        fall back to scanning everything with path-based dedup so the #160
    +        compression-safe guarantee is preserved."""
    +        # Post-compression list is shorter than the original history length.
    +        compressed_messages = [
    +            {"role": "user", "content": "summary so far..."},
    +            {"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": "7",
    +             "content": "MEDIA:/tmp/old_from_history.png"},
    +            {"role": "assistant", "content": "ok"},
    +        ]
    +        original_history_len = 12  # larger than the compressed list
    +        # The old path IS captured in the dedup set here (history scan ran
    +        # before compression), so it must still be excluded.
    +        history_media_paths = {"/tmp/old_from_history.png"}
    +        tags, _ = extract_media_tags_production(
    +            compressed_messages, original_history_len, history_media_paths
    +        )
    +        assert tags == [], (
    +            "On the compression fallback path, path-dedup must still exclude "
    +            f"known-old media, got {tags}"
    +        )
    +
    +
     if __name__ == "__main__":
         pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])
    ```
- **#34613: fix(gateway): scope tool-result MEDIA scan to current turn**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `08c0b2241`, `#34833`, `#160`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #34833 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-05-29`.