# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Gateway reset/new command hang and cleanup fixes

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

These items relate to hangs, deadlocks, and blocking operations in the gateway's /new reset flow, including event loop offloading, confirmation handler timeouts, and a Telegram state machine deadlock.

## 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 #52090. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #52090 (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-52090`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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

- #35994: Telegram /new confirm button hangs in \`_handle_reset_command()\` state machine deadlock

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#52090: fix(gateway): offload agent cleanup off the event loop in /new reset (#35994)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `gateway/slash_commands.py`, `tests/gateway/test_35994_reset_button_deadlock.py`
  - fix hunks:
  - `gateway/slash_commands.py`

    ```diff
    @@ -44,6 +44,12 @@
     
     logger = logging.getLogger("gateway.run")
     
    +# Upper bound on the off-loop agent-resource cleanup during a /new or /reset
    +# (see _handle_reset_command). A stuck teardown must not block the event loop;
    +# past this the reset proceeds and the cleanup is left to finish (or leak) in
    +# its worker thread. (#35994)
    +_RESET_CLEANUP_TIMEOUT_S = 30.0
    +
     
     def _model_switch_skew_guard() -> Optional[str]:
         """Refuse a model switch when the gateway is running stale code.
    ```

    ```diff
    @@ -111,13 +117,44 @@ async def _handle_reset_command(self, event: MessageEvent) -> Union[str, Ephemer
             # Close tool resources on the old agent (terminal sandboxes, browser
             # daemons, background processes) before evicting from cache.
             # Guard with getattr because test fixtures may skip __init__.
    +        #
    +        # _cleanup_agent_resources is synchronous and can block for a long time
    +        # (agent.close() does subprocess teardown; shutdown_memory_provider()
    +        # may do network IO). This handler runs ON the event loop when a
    +        # Telegram/Discord/Slack confirm-button click resolves the slash-confirm
    +        # (see _request_slash_confirm), so an inline call wedges the whole loop
    +        # and the bot goes silent until restart (#35994). Offload it to a worker
    +        # thread (via the contextvar-preserving executor helper) with a bounded
    +        # timeout so the loop is never blocked.
             _cache_lock = getattr(self, "_agent_cache_lock", None)
             if _cache_lock is not None:
                 with _cache_lock:
                     _cached = self._agent_cache.get(session_key)
                     _old_agent = _cached[0] if isinstance(_cached, tuple) else _cached if _cached else None
                 if _old_agent is not None:
    -                self._cleanup_agent_resources(_old_agent)
    +                try:
    +                    await asyncio.wait_for(
    +                        self._run_in_executor_with_context(
    +                            self._cleanup_agent_resources, _old_agent
    +                        ),
    +                        timeout=_RESET_CLEANUP_TIMEOUT_S,
    +                    )
    +                except asyncio.TimeoutError:
    +                    # wait_for cancels the await, but the worker thread cannot be
    +                    # cancelled — a wedged teardown keeps running (or leaks) for
    +                    # the gateway's lifetime. The reset proceeds regardless.
    +                    logger.warning(
    +                        "Agent resource cleanup for session %s exceeded %ss during "
    +                        "/new reset; proceeding with reset (the worker thread is left "
    +                        "to finish on its own). (#35994)",
    +                        session_key, _RESET_CLEANUP_TIMEOUT_S,
    +                    )
    +                except Exception as cleanup_exc:
    +                    logger.warning(
    +                        "Agent resource cleanup for session %s failed during /new "
    +                        "reset: %s (#35994)",
    +                        session_key, cleanup_exc,
    +                    )
             self._evict_cached_agent(session_key)
     
             # Discard any /queue overflow for this session — /new is a
    ```
  - `tests/gateway/test_35994_reset_button_deadlock.py`

    ```diff
    @@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
    +"""Regression test for #35994: Telegram /new confirm-button deadlock.
    +
    +The /new confirmation button callback runs the slash-confirm handler on the
    +asyncio event loop (see GatewayRunner._request_slash_confirm). That handler
    +calls _handle_reset_command, which used to invoke the SYNCHRONOUS, potentially
    +long-blocking _cleanup_agent_resources (agent.close() tears down terminal
    +sandboxes / browser daemons / background processes; shutdown_memory_provider()
    +may make a network call) inline on the loop. A slow teardown wedged the entire
    +event loop, so the bot went silent until a manual restart.
    +
    +The fix offloads _cleanup_agent_resources to a worker thread with a bounded
    +timeout, so the loop is never blocked and a stuck teardown degrades gracefully.
    +"""
    +import asyncio
    +import logging
    +import threading
    +import time
    +from datetime import datetime
    +from types import SimpleNamespace
    +from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
    +
    +import pytest
    +
    +from gateway.config import GatewayConfig, Platform, PlatformConfig
    +from gateway.platforms.base import MessageEvent
    +from gateway.session import SessionEntry, SessionSource, build_session_key
    +
    +
    +def _make_source() -> SessionSource:
    +    return SessionSource(
    +        platform=Platform.TELEGRAM,
    +        user_id="u1",
    +        chat_id="c1",
    +        user_name="tester",
    +        chat_type="dm",
    +    )
    +
    +
    +def _make_event(text: str) -> MessageEvent:
    +    return MessageEvent(text=text, source=_make_source(), message_id="m1")
    +
    +
    +def _make_runner_with_cached_agent(close_fn):
    +    """Build a bare GatewayRunner with a cached agent whose close() runs
    +    ``close_fn`` (used to simulate slow / blocking teardown)."""
    +    from gateway.run import GatewayRunner
    +
    +    runner = object.__new__(GatewayRunner)
    +    runner.config = GatewayConfig(
    +        platforms={Platform.TELEGRAM: PlatformConfig(enabled=True, token="***")}
    +    )
    +    adapter = MagicMock()
    +    adapter.send = AsyncMock()
    +    runner.adapters = {Platform.TELEGRAM: adapter}
    +    runner._voice_mode = {}
    +    runner.hooks = SimpleNamespace(emit=AsyncMock(), loaded_hooks=False)
    +    runner._session_model_overrides = {}
    +    runner._pending_model_notes = {}
    +    runner._background_tasks = set()
    +
    +    session_key = build_session_key(_make_source())
    +    session_entry = SessionEntry(
    +        session_key=session_key, session_id="sess-old",
    +        created_at=datetime.now(), updated_at=datetime.now(),
    +        platform=Platform.TELEGRAM, chat_type="dm",
    +    )
    +    new_entry = SessionEntry(
    +        session_key=session_key, session_id="sess-new",
    +        created_at=datetime.now(), updated_at=datetime.now(),
    +        platform=Platform.TELEGRAM, chat_type="dm",
    +    )
    +    runner.session_store = MagicMock()
    +    runner.session_store.reset_session.return_value = new_entry
    +    runner.session_store._entries = {session_key: session_entry}
    +    runner.session_store._generate_session_key.return_value = session_key
    +    runner._running_agents = {}
    +    runner._pending_messages = {}
    +    runner._pending_approvals = {}
    +    runner._session_db = None
    +    runner._is_user_authorized = lambda _source: True
    +    runner._format_session_info = lambda: ""
    +
    +    # Enable the cache-lock path (this is what the button callback exercises)
    +    runner._agent_cache_lock = threading.RLock()
    +    agent = MagicMock()
    +    agent.close = close_fn
    +    agent.shutdown_memory_provider = MagicMock()
    +    runner._agent_cache = {session_key: agent}
    +    return runner
    +
    +
    [redacted:email]
    +async def test_reset_does_not_block_event_loop_during_cleanup():
    +    """#35994: a slow agent.close() must NOT block the event loop. A
    +    concurrent loop task must keep ticking WHILE close() is still blocking
    +    (proving cleanup was offloaded to a worker thread, not run inline on
    +    the loop). With the pre-fix inline call, the loop is frozen for the
    +    whole duration of close() and no ticks accumulate until it returns."""
    +    close_started = threading.Event()
    +    release = threading.Event()
    +
    +    def slow_close():
    +        close_started.set()
    +        # Block the WORKER thread (not the loop) until released.
    +        release.wait(timeout=5)
    +
    +    runner = _make_runner_with_cached_agent(slow_close)
    +
    +    ticks = {"n": 0}
    +    stop = threading.Event()
    +
    +    async def _heartbeat():
    +        while not stop.is_set():
    +            ticks["n"] += 1
    +            await asyncio.sleep(0.005)
    +
    +    hb = asyncio.create_task(_heartbeat())
    +    reset_task = asyncio.create_task(
    +        runner._handle_reset_command(_make_event("/new"))
    +    )
    +
    +    # Wait until close() has actually started blocking in its worker thread.
    +    for _ in range(200):
    +        if close_started.is_set():
    +            break
    +        await asyncio.sleep(0.005)
    +    assert close_started.is_set(), "close() never ran"
    +
    +    # Now sample ticks while close() is STILL blocking. If the loop were
    +    # frozen (pre-fix inline call), this stays ~0.
    +    ticks_at_block = ticks["n"]
    +    await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
    +    ticks_during_block = ticks["n"] - ticks_at_block
    +
    +    release.set()
    +    await reset_task
    +    stop.set()
    +    await hb
    +
    +    assert ticks_during_block >= 5, (
    +        f"event loop was blocked during agent cleanup (#35994): only "
    +        f"{ticks_during_block} ticks while close() was running"
    +    )
    +    runner.session_store.reset_session.assert_called_once()
    +
    +
    [redacted:email]
    +async def test_reset_completes_when_cleanup_raises(caplog):
    +    """#35994: if the offloaded cleanup itself raises, the handler swallows it
    +    (logs a warning) and still rotates the session — it must not abort /new.
    +
    +    Note: _cleanup_agent_resources swallows its own internal errors, so to
    +    exercise the handler's `except Exception` branch we make the cleanup call
    +    itself raise (patched on the instance), then assert the warning fired —
    +    proving the branch executed rather than the success path.
    +    """
    +    runner = _make_runner_with_cached_agent(lambda: None)
    +
    +    def boom_cleanup(_agent):
    +        raise RuntimeError("cleanup blew up")
    +
    +    runner._cleanup_agent_resources = boom_cleanup
    +
    +    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="gateway.run"):
    +        result = await asyncio.wait_for(
    +            runner._handle_reset_command(_make_event("/new")), timeout=3
    +        )
    +
    +    assert any(
    +        "failed during /new reset" in r.message and "#35994" in r.message
    +        for r in caplog.records
    +    ), "expected the cleanup-failure warning to be logged (except branch not hit)"
    +    runner.session_store.reset_session.assert_called_once()
    +    assert result is not None
    +
    +
    [redacted:email]
    +async def test_reset_completes_when_cleanup_times_out(caplog):
    +    """#35994: if cleanup exceeds the bounded timeout, the reset still completes
    +    (graceful degradation) and the timeout warning fires."""
    +    import gateway.slash_commands as _sc
    +
    +    # Force the wait_for to time out immediately, closing the offloaded awaitable
    +    # so no worker thread dangles past the test.
    +    async def _instant_timeout(aw, timeout=None):
    +        if asyncio.iscoroutine(aw):
    +            aw.close()
    +        raise asyncio.TimeoutError
    +
    +    runner = _make_runner_with_cached_agent(lambda: None)
    +
    +    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="gateway.run"):
    +        with patch.object(_sc.asyncio, "wait_for", _instant_timeout):
    +            result = await runner._handle_reset_command(_make_event("/new"))
    +
    +    assert any(
    +        "exceeded" in r.message and "#35994" in r.message for r in caplog.records
    +    ), "expected the timeout warning to be logged"
    +    runner.session_store.reset_session.assert_called_once()
    +    assert result is not None
    ```
- **#36006: fix(gateway): timeout slash confirmation handlers**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `0225480369f576ddac88152b857098309d60fb69`, `#35994`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #52090 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-06-24`.
- Subsystem: `gateway`