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NousResearch/hermes-agent

Agent ignoring web tool restrictions in prompts

Cluster 39797 · agent. Data as of

1 open item. Fix merged in #89924 on 15 Sep 2026. Check it covers your case.

The short answer

0open issues
1open PR
4items grouped
Known?
Yes. 4 related items grouped here, 1 issue already closed.
Fix event
A fix was merged to main in PR #89924. Check it covers your case. No release data is tracked.
Tracker
The maintainers' tracker marks this resolved, deciding PR #89924. That is separate from the fix event.
Still open
0 issues and 1 PR.

These issues and fixes relate to an agent (Hermes) disregarding prompt-level instructions that restrict or prohibit use of web search and extraction tools. The work involves making system prompt guidance around permitted tools more explicit and reliably enforced.

Open issues0

No open issues.

Open PRs1

  • PR#39905fix(agent): respect permitted web retrieval guidance

Fixes on record

Merged to main. A stamp counts the issues a fix is linked to.

  • #89924 fix(agent): prompt guidance no longer mandates web tools the session doesn't have (#39797, salvage #39905)

    merged to main

    files: agent/prompt_builder.py, agent/system_prompt.py, model_tools.py, tests/agent/test_phantom_tool_references.py, tests/tools/test_model_tools.py, tools/browser_cdp_tool.py, tools/browser_tool.py, website/docs/reference/tools-reference.md

1 PR closed without merging

From the close comments: done elsewhere 1

  • #106548 fix(agent): gate execution-guidance tool lines on the session's toolset · done elsewhere → 41201bf, #130743
Closed issues · 1
  • Closed#39797[Bug]: Hermes ignores SOUL.md's instruction to not use web_search and web_extract
How this cluster was grouped
  • Link evidence (structural links throughout): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
  • Pairwise link density 0.50: the share of item 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.

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At a glance

Subsystem
agent
Merged PRs
#89924
Closed issues
1
Attempts
1 PR closed without merging
Fix link checked
15 Sep 2026

For your agent

The same facts, typed.

cluster/39797.json
cluster/39797.md