# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Fragmented Unicode/NUL escape corruption in tool-call args

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

These issues and PRs address a bug where tool-call arguments can contain fragmented Unicode escapes or NUL bytes, silently corrupting non-ASCII characters. Multiple fix approaches are represented, including stripping NUL bytes and normalizing escape sequences.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 0 merged PR(s), 2 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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

- #42801: Tool-call argument escapes can be fragmented (\\u00XX -> \\^@ + hex), silently corrupting non-ASCII characters

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#42818: fix(agent): strip NUL bytes and repair fragmented Unicode escapes in tool-call arguments**. closed without merge · fix tier `suggested`
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `#42801`
- **#42833: fix(agent): normalize fragmented \\^@XX / NUL+hex escapes in tool_call arguments (alternative to #42818)**. closed without merge · fix tier `suggested`
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `#42818`, `#42801`
  - _suggested-tier fix detail withheld; re-request with `?tier=all` to include it._

## Fix status

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