# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Shell detection fixes across Windows and macOS

## Open now

- 0 issues, 1 PR open on GitHub.
- PR #66769: fix(cron): prefer Git Bash for Windows shell scripts

These issues and PRs address problems with how the terminal selects shells for background and foreground processes, preferring $SHELL over hardcoded bash on macOS and Git Bash on Windows. Covers path handling, login shell behavior swallowing commands, and related test isolation concerns.

## TL;DR

- 7 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 1 open PR(s), 1 merged PR(s), 4 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #53110. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #53110 (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-53110`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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 `0.29`: 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

- #42203: macOS: background processes (terminal background=true) silently fail — _find_shell returns bash whose login shell (-l) swallows commands

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#42219: fix(terminal): prefer $SHELL over bash for background process spawning**. closed without merge · fix tier `suggested`
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `#53106`
  - _suggested-tier fix detail withheld; re-request with `?tier=all` to include it._
- **#53110: fix(terminal): prefer $SHELL over bash for background process spawning (#42203)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `tests/tools/test_find_shell.py`, `tools/environments/local.py`
  - fix hunks:
  - `tests/tools/test_find_shell.py`

    ```diff
    @@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
    +"""Tests for _find_shell — user-login-shell preference on POSIX.
    +
    +Regression tests for #42203: on macOS, ``_find_shell`` used to return
    +``/bin/bash`` (bash 3.2) which silently swallowed background commands
    +when ``~/.bash_profile`` contained ``exec /bin/zsh -l``.
    +"""
    +
    +import os
    +import platform
    +import subprocess
    +import sys
    +from unittest.mock import patch
    +
    +import pytest
    +
    +from tools.environments.local import _find_bash, _find_shell
    +
    +
    +class TestFindShellPrefersUserShell:
    +    """_find_shell should prefer $SHELL over bash on POSIX."""
    +
    +    def test_returns_shell_env_when_set_and_exists(self, tmp_path):
    +        """When $SHELL points to an existing allowlisted executable, _find_shell returns it."""
    +        fake_zsh = tmp_path / "zsh"
    +        fake_zsh.touch()
    +        fake_zsh.chmod(0o755)
    +        with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": str(fake_zsh)}):
    +            assert _find_shell() == str(fake_zsh)
    +
    +    def test_falls_back_when_shell_not_executable(self, tmp_path):
    +        """$SHELL exists but lacks the execute bit -> fall back to _find_bash
    +        (returning it would fail at spawn time)."""
    +        fake = tmp_path / "zsh"
    +        fake.touch()
    +        fake.chmod(0o644)  # not executable
    +        with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": str(fake)}):
    +            assert _find_shell() == _find_bash()
    +
    +    def test_falls_back_for_incompatible_shell_fish(self, tmp_path):
    +        """#42203 regression: $SHELL=fish must NOT be returned — spawn_local's
    +        `-lic` / `set +m` syntax breaks fish, which would trade the bash-3.2
    +        swallow for a parse error on every background command. Fall back to bash."""
    +        fake_fish = tmp_path / "fish"
    +        fake_fish.touch()
    +        fake_fish.chmod(0o755)
    +        with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": str(fake_fish)}):
    +            assert _find_shell() == _find_bash()
    +
    +    def test_falls_back_for_incompatible_shell_csh(self, tmp_path):
    +        """$SHELL=tcsh/csh is also not -lic/set+m compatible -> fall back."""
    +        fake = tmp_path / "tcsh"
    +        fake.touch()
    +        fake.chmod(0o755)
    +        with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": str(fake)}):
    +            assert _find_shell() == _find_bash()
    +
    +    def test_honours_allowlisted_bash_and_dash(self, tmp_path):
    +        """Every allowlisted POSIX-sh-family shell is honoured."""
    +        for name in ("bash", "dash", "sh", "ksh"):
    +            fake = tmp_path / name
    +            fake.touch()
    +            fake.chmod(0o755)
    +            with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": str(fake)}):
    +                assert _find_shell() == str(fake), name
    +
    +    def test_falls_back_to_find_bash_when_shell_unset(self):
    +        """When $SHELL is unset, _find_shell delegates to _find_bash."""
    +        env = {k: v for k, v in os.environ.items() if k != "SHELL"}
    +        with patch.dict(os.environ, env, clear=True):
    +            assert _find_shell() == _find_bash()
    +
    +    def test_falls_back_to_find_bash_when_shell_not_a_file(self, tmp_path):
    +        """When $SHELL points to a non-existent path, _find_shell delegates."""
    +        fake_path = str(tmp_path / "nonexistent_shell")
    +        with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": fake_path}):
    +            assert _find_shell() == _find_bash()
    +
    +    def test_falls_back_to_find_bash_when_shell_empty(self):
    +        """When $SHELL is empty string, _find_shell delegates."""
    +        with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": ""}):
    +            assert _find_shell() == _find_bash()
    +
    +
    +class TestFindShellWindowsBehavior:
    +    """On Windows, _find_shell always delegates to _find_bash."""
    +
    +    def test_windows_ignores_shell_env(self):
    +        """On Windows, $SHELL is ignored — _find_shell delegates to _find_bash."""
    +        with patch("tools.environments.local._IS_WINDOWS", True):
    +            # Even if SHELL is set, it should be ignored on Windows
    +            with patch.dict(os.environ, {"SHELL": "/usr/bin/zsh"}):
    +                result = _find_shell()
    +                assert result == _find_bash()
    +
    +
    +class TestFindShellReturnsString:
    +    """_find_shell must return a string, never None."""
    +
    +    def test_returns_string(self):
    +        """_find_shell always returns a non-empty string on any platform."""
    +        result = _find_shell()
    +        assert isinstance(result, str)
    +        assert len(result) > 0
    +
    +
    +class TestFindBashUnchanged:
    +    """_find_bash should be unaffected by the _find_shell change."""
    +
    +    def test_find_bash_still_prefers_bash(self):
    +        """_find_bash still returns bash (not $SHELL) on POSIX."""
    +        result = _find_bash()
    +        # On any system, _find_bash should return something containing "bash"
    +        # or fall back to $SHELL or /bin/sh — but it should NOT prefer $SHELL
    +        # over bash the way _find_shell does.
    +        assert isinstance(result, str)
    +        assert len(result) > 0
    +
    +
    [redacted:email](
    +    not os.path.isfile("/bin/bash") or sys.platform != "darwin",
    +    reason="reproduces the macOS system-bash-3.2 login-shell swallow",
    +)
    +class TestMacosLoginShellSwallowRegression:
    +    """E2E regression for #42203: the actual failure is that system bash 3.2,
    +    invoked as a login shell (`-lic`) with stdin=/dev/null and a
    +    ~/.bash_profile that `exec`s zsh, silently swallows the command (exit 0,
    +    no output, no side effects). Prove (a) the bug exists with /bin/bash and
    +    (b) the $SHELL (zsh) path _find_shell prefers does NOT swallow."""
    +
    +    def _spawn_like_registry(self, shell, command, home, tmp_path):
    +        import subprocess
    +        env = dict(os.environ)
    +        env["HOME"] = str(home)
    +        # Mirror process_registry.spawn_local: [shell, "-lic", "set +m; <cmd>"]
    +        # with stdin redirected to /dev/null.
    +        return subprocess.run(
    +            [shell, "-lic", f"set +m; {command}"],
    +            stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
    +            capture_output=True,
    +            text=True,
    +            env=env,
    +        )
    +
    +    def test_system_bash_swallows_but_zsh_does_not(self, tmp_path):
    +        # A .bash_profile that exec's zsh — the reported macOS shape.
    +        home = tmp_path / "home"
    +        home.mkdir()
    +        (home / ".bash_profile").write_text("exec /bin/zsh -l\n")
    +
    +        zsh = os.environ.get("SHELL") or "/bin/zsh"
    +        if not os.path.isfile(zsh):
    +            pytest.skip("no zsh available")
    +
    +        marker_bash = tmp_path / "bash_ran"
    +        marker_zsh = tmp_path / "zsh_ran"
    +
    +        # /bin/bash login shell: command is swallowed (file NOT created).
    +        self._spawn_like_registry("/bin/bash", f"echo x > {marker_bash}", home, tmp_path)
    +        # zsh (the $SHELL _find_shell prefers): command runs (file created).
    +        self._spawn_like_registry(zsh, f"echo x > {marker_zsh}", home, tmp_path)
    +
    +        # The FIX path (zsh) must run the command.
    +        assert marker_zsh.exists(), "zsh ($SHELL) path must run the command"
    +
    +        # Differential: when /bin/bash is the swallow-prone 3.x (macOS system
    +        # bash), the login-shell invocation must demonstrably FAIL to run the
    +        # command — that's the bug this PR routes around. Only assert the
    +        # negative when we've confirmed a 3.x bash, so the test stays valid on
    +        # boxes/CI with a newer /bin/bash that doesn't swallow.
    +        ver = subprocess.run(
    +            ["/bin/bash", "--version"], capture_output=True, text=True
    +        ).stdout
    +        if "version 3." in ver:
    +            assert not marker_bash.exists(), (
    +                "system bash 3.x login shell should swallow the command "
    +                "(the #42203 bug); _find_shell routes around it by preferring zsh"
    +            )
    +
    +    def test_find_shell_selects_working_shell_on_this_box(self, tmp_path):
    +        """_find_shell's choice must actually execute a background-style
    +        command (regression against returning a swallow-prone shell)."""
    +        shell = _find_shell()
    +        marker = tmp_path / "ok_marker"
    +        subprocess.run(
    +            [shell, "-lic", f"set +m; echo ok > {marker}"],
    +            stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL, capture_output=True, text=True,
    +        )
    +        assert marker.exists(), f"_find_shell()={shell} swallowed the command"
    ```
  - `tools/environments/local.py`

    ```diff
    @@ -288,8 +288,53 @@ def _find_bash() -> str:
         )
     
     
    -# Backward compat — process_registry.py imports this name
    -_find_shell = _find_bash
    +# POSIX-sh-family shells that understand the ``[shell, "-lic", "set +m; …"]``
    +# invocation spawn_local uses. $SHELL values outside this set (fish, csh/tcsh,
    +# nushell, elvish, xonsh, …) would error on that syntax, so _find_shell falls
    +# back to bash for them rather than honouring $SHELL. (#42203)
    +_SPAWN_COMPATIBLE_SHELLS = frozenset({"bash", "zsh", "sh", "dash", "ksh", "mksh"})
    +
    +
    +def _find_shell() -> str:
    +    """Find the user's login shell for background process spawning.
    +
    +    Unlike ``_find_bash`` (which always returns a bash binary for callers
    +    that explicitly need bash), this function prefers the user's configured
    +    ``$SHELL`` on POSIX so that ``spawn_local`` uses the shell the user
    +    actually logs in with.
    +
    +    On macOS Catalina+ the default login shell is zsh, but
    +    ``shutil.which("bash")`` still finds the system ``/bin/bash`` (GNU bash
    +    3.2).  When bash 3.2 is invoked with ``-l`` (login) and stdin is
    +    ``/dev/null``, it sources ``~/.bash_profile`` which on many macOS setups
    +    contains ``exec /bin/zsh -l``.  That ``exec`` replaces bash with zsh but
    +    drops the ``-c`` argument, so the background command never runs — the
    +    subprocess exits 0 with no output and no side effects.
    +
    +    Preferring ``$SHELL`` (when it is a POSIX-``sh``-family shell) avoids this
    +    because zsh/bash/sh/dash/ksh handle ``-lic`` correctly even with
    +    redirected stdin.
    +
    +    Only POSIX-sh-family shells are honoured: ``spawn_local`` invokes the
    +    shell as ``[shell, "-lic", "set +m; <cmd>"]``, and that ``-lic`` bundle +
    +    ``set +m`` job-control syntax is NOT understood by fish, csh/tcsh,
    +    nushell, elvish, xonsh, etc.  Returning such a ``$SHELL`` would trade the
    +    bash-3.2 swallow for a parse error on every background command, so for any
    +    non-allowlisted shell we fall back to ``_find_bash`` (the prior behaviour).
    +
    +    On Windows, ``$SHELL`` is typically bash (Git Bash), so behaviour is
    +    unchanged — we fall through to ``_find_bash``.
    +    """
    +    if not _IS_WINDOWS:
    +        user_shell = os.environ.get("SHELL")
    +        if (
    +            user_shell
    +            and os.path.isfile(user_shell)
    +            and os.access(user_shell, os.X_OK)
    +            and Path(user_shell).name in _SPAWN_COMPATIBLE_SHELLS
    +        ):
    +            return user_shell
    +    return _find_bash()
     
     
     # Standard PATH entries for environments with minimal PATH.
    ```
- **#42290: fix(terminal): prefer $SHELL on macOS to avoid bash swallowing cmds (#42203)**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#53110`, `#42203`, `#42219`
- **#53106: fix(terminal): prefer $SHELL over bash for background process spawning (#42203)**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#53110`, `#42203`, `#42219`
- **#53166: fix: Windows compatibility — path handling, Git Bash detection, test isolation, and win32 skip markers**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`
- **#66769: fix(cron): prefer Git Bash for Windows shell scripts**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `c7bf2bfedd53`, `#42219`, `#42290`, `#53106`, `#53110`, `#41456`, `#66769`, `#53166`, `#42203`
  - files: `cron/scheduler.py`, `tests/cron/test_cron_script.py`, `tests/tools/test_find_shell.py`, `tests/tools/test_local_env_blocklist.py`, `tools/environments/local.py`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #53110 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-06-26`.
- Subsystem: `agent`