# NousResearch/hermes-agent · SSH backend crashes on non-UTF-8 subprocess output

## Open now

- 0 issues, 1 PR open on GitHub.
- PR #37142: fix(ssh): tolerate non-UTF8 setup output

A bug where the SSH backend crashes when subprocess output contains non-UTF-8 bytes, along with fixes to handle such output more gracefully using error replacement strategies.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 1 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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

- #37130: \[Bug\]: SSH backend crashes on non-UTF8 subprocess output during _ensure_remote_dirs

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#37142: fix(ssh): tolerate non-UTF8 setup output**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `duplicate_of`; implication `duplicate`; refs `#37265`, `#37130`
  - files: `tests/tools/test_ssh_environment.py`, `tools/environments/ssh.py`
- **#37451: fix(ssh): tolerate non-UTF-8 subprocess output (errors="replace", encoding="utf-8")**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `duplicate_of`; implication `duplicate`; refs `#37265`, `#37142`, `#37130`

## Fix status

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