NousResearch/hermes-agent

Agent tool sanitization, guardrails, and middleware hooks

Cluster 626 · agent. Data as of

Nothing open on GitHub. Fix merged in #1732 on 17 Mar 2026. Check it covers your case.

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A fix was merged to main in PR #1732. Check it covers your case. No release data is tracked.
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These items concern adding middleware-style lifecycle hooks around agent tool calls, including pre-call sanitization, post-call interception or guardrails, subagent limits, and repair of incomplete tool calls.

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

  • #1732 feat: pre-call sanitization and post-call tool guardrails

    merged to main

    files: run_agent.py, tests/test_agent_guardrails.py

    Show the diff
    • run_agent.py
      @@ -1957,7 +1957,124 @@ def _build_system_prompt(self, system_message: str = None) -> str:
                   prompt_parts.append(PLATFORM_HINTS[platform_key])
       
               return "\n\n".join(prompt_parts)
      -    
      +
      +    # =========================================================================
      +    # Pre/post-call guardrails (inspired by PR #1321 — @alireza78a)
      +    # =========================================================================
      +
      +    @staticmethod
      +    def _get_tool_call_id_static(tc) -> str:
      +        """Extract call ID from a tool_call entry (dict or object)."""
      +        if isinstance(tc, dict):
      +            return tc.get("id", "") or ""
      +        return getattr(tc, "id", "") or ""
      +
      +    @staticmethod
      +    def _sanitize_api_messages(messages: List[Dict[str, Any]]) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
      +        """Fix orphaned tool_call / tool_result pairs before every LLM call.
      +
      +        Runs unconditionally — not gated on whether the context compressor
      +        is present — so orphans from session loading or manual message
      +        manipulation are always caught.
      +        """
      +        surviving_call_ids: set = set()
      +        for msg in messages:
      +            if msg.get("role") == "assistant":
      +                for tc in msg.get("tool_calls") or []:
      +                    cid = AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static(tc)
      +                    if cid:
      +                        surviving_call_ids.add(cid)
      +
      +        result_call_ids: set = set()
      +        for msg in messages:
      +            if msg.get("role") == "tool":
      +                cid = msg.get("tool_call_id")
      +                if cid:
      +                    result_call_ids.add(cid)
      +
      +        # 1. Drop tool results with no matching assistant call
      +        orphaned_results = result_call_ids - surviving_call_ids
      +        if orphaned_results:
      +            messages = [
      +                m for m in messages
      +                if not (m.get("role") == "tool" and m.get("tool_call_id") in orphaned_results)
      +            ]
      +            logger.debug(
      +                "Pre-call sanitizer: removed %d orphaned tool result(s)",
      +                len(orphaned_results),
      +            )
      +
      +        # 2. Inject stub results for calls whose result was dropped
      +        missing_results = surviving_call_ids - result_call_ids
      +        if missing_results:
      +            patched: List[Dict[str, Any]] = []
      +            for msg in messages:
      +                patched.append(msg)
      +                if msg.get("role") == "assistant":
      +                    for tc in msg.get("tool_calls") or []:
      +                        cid = AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static(tc)
      +                        if cid in missing_results:
      +                            patched.append({
      +                                "role": "tool",
      +                                "content": "[Result unavailable — see context summary above]",
      +                                "tool_call_id": cid,
      +                            })
      +            messages = patched
      +            logger.debug(
      +                "Pre-call sanitizer: added %d stub tool result(s)",
      +                len(missing_results),
      +            )
      +
      +        return messages
      +
      +    @staticmethod
      +    def _cap_delegate_task_calls(tool_calls: list) -> list:
      +        """Truncate excess delegate_task calls to MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN.
      +
      +        The delegate_tool caps the task list inside a single call, but the
      +        model can emit multiple separate delegate_task tool_calls in one
      +        turn.  This truncates the excess, preserving all non-delegate calls.
      +
      +        Returns the original list if no truncation was needed.
      +        """
      +        from tools.delegate_tool import MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN
      +        delegate_count = sum(1 for tc in tool_calls if tc.function.name == "delegate_task")
      +        if delegate_count <= MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN:
      +            return tool_calls
      +        kept_delegates = 0
      +        truncated = []
      +        for tc in tool_calls:
      +            if tc.function.name == "delegate_task":
      +                if kept_delegates < MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN:
      +                    truncated.append(tc)
      +                    kept_delegates += 1
      +            else:
      +                truncated.append(tc)
      +        logger.warning(
      +            "Truncated %d excess delegate_task call(s) to enforce "
      +            "MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN=%d limit",
      +            delegate_count - MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN, MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN,
      +        )
      +        return truncated
      +
      +    @staticmethod
      +    def _deduplicate_tool_calls(tool_calls: list) -> list:
      +        """Remove duplicate (tool_name, arguments) pairs within a single turn.
      +
      +        Only the first occurrence of each unique pair is kept.
      +        Returns the original list if no duplicates were found.
      +        """
      +        seen: set = set()
      +        unique: list = []
      +        for tc in tool_calls:
      +            key = (tc.function.name, tc.function.arguments)
      +            if key not in seen:
      +                seen.add(key)
      +                unique.append(tc)
      +            else:
      +                logger.warning("Removed duplicate tool call: %s", tc.function.name)
      +        return unique if len(unique) < len(tool_calls) else tool_calls
      +
           def _repair_tool_call(self, tool_name: str) -> str | None:
               """Attempt to repair a mismatched tool name before aborting.
       
      @@ -4992,11 +5109,10 @@ def run_conversation(
                       api_messages = apply_anthropic_cache_control(api_messages, cache_ttl=self._cache_ttl)
       
                   # Safety net: strip orphaned tool results / add stubs for missing
      -            # results before sending to the API.  The compressor handles this
      -            # during compression, but orphans can also sneak in from session
      -            # loading or manual message manipulation.
      -            if hasattr(self, 'context_compressor') and self.context_compressor:
      -                api_messages = self.context_compressor._sanitize_tool_pairs(api_messages)
      +            # results before sending to the API.  Runs unconditionally — not
      +            # gated on context_compressor — so orphans from session loading or
      +            # manual message manipulation are always caught.
      +            api_messages = self._sanitize_api_messages(api_messages)
       
                   # Calculate approximate request size for logging
                   total_chars = sum(len(str(msg)) for msg in api_messages)
      @@ -6026,7 +6142,15 @@ def _stop_spinner():
                           
                           # Reset retry counter on successful JSON validation
                           self._invalid_json_retries = 0
      -                    
      +
      +                    # ── Post-call guardrails ──────────────────────────
      +                    assistant_message.tool_calls = self._cap_delegate_task_calls(
      +                        assistant_message.tool_calls
      +                    )
      +                    assistant_message.tool_calls = self._deduplicate_tool_calls(
      +                        assistant_message.tool_calls
      +                    )
      +
                           assistant_msg = self._build_assistant_message(assistant_message, finish_reason)
                           
                           # If this turn has both content AND tool_calls, capture the content
    • tests/test_agent_guardrails.py
      @@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
      +"""Unit tests for AIAgent pre/post-LLM-call guardrails.
      +
      +Covers three static methods on AIAgent (inspired by PR #1321 — @alireza78a):
      +  - _sanitize_api_messages()    — Phase 1: orphaned tool pair repair
      +  - _cap_delegate_task_calls()  — Phase 2a: subagent concurrency limit
      +  - _deduplicate_tool_calls()   — Phase 2b: identical call deduplication
      +"""
      +
      +import types
      +
      +from run_agent import AIAgent
      +from tools.delegate_tool import MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN
      +
      +
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +# Helpers
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +
      +def make_tc(name: str, arguments: str = "{}") -> types.SimpleNamespace:
      +    """Create a minimal tool_call SimpleNamespace mirroring the OpenAI SDK object."""
      +    tc = types.SimpleNamespace()
      +    tc.function = types.SimpleNamespace(name=name, arguments=arguments)
      +    return tc
      +
      +
      +def tool_result(call_id: str, content: str = "ok") -> dict:
      +    return {"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": call_id, "content": content}
      +
      +
      +def assistant_dict_call(call_id: str, name: str = "terminal") -> dict:
      +    """Dict-style tool_call (as stored in message history)."""
      +    return {"id": call_id, "function": {"name": name, "arguments": "{}"}}
      +
      +
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +# Phase 1 — _sanitize_api_messages
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +
      +class TestSanitizeApiMessages:
      +
      +    def test_orphaned_result_removed(self):
      +        msgs = [
      +            {"role": "assistant", "tool_calls": [assistant_dict_call("c1")]},
      +            tool_result("c1"),
      +            tool_result("c_ORPHAN"),
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._sanitize_api_messages(msgs)
      +        assert len(out) == 2
      +        assert all(m.get("tool_call_id") != "c_ORPHAN" for m in out)
      +
      +    def test_orphaned_call_gets_stub_result(self):
      +        msgs = [
      +            {"role": "assistant", "tool_calls": [assistant_dict_call("c2")]},
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._sanitize_api_messages(msgs)
      +        assert len(out) == 2
      +        stub = out[1]
      +        assert stub["role"] == "tool"
      +        assert stub["tool_call_id"] == "c2"
      +        assert stub["content"]
      +
      +    def test_clean_messages_pass_through(self):
      +        msgs = [
      +            {"role": "user", "content": "hello"},
      +            {"role": "assistant", "tool_calls": [assistant_dict_call("c3")]},
      +            tool_result("c3"),
      +            {"role": "assistant", "content": "done"},
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._sanitize_api_messages(msgs)
      +        assert out == msgs
      +
      +    def test_mixed_orphaned_result_and_orphaned_call(self):
      +        msgs = [
      +            {"role": "assistant", "tool_calls": [
      +                assistant_dict_call("c4"),
      +                assistant_dict_call("c5"),
      +            ]},
      +            tool_result("c4"),
      +            tool_result("c_DANGLING"),
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._sanitize_api_messages(msgs)
      +        ids = [m.get("tool_call_id") for m in out if m.get("role") == "tool"]
      +        assert "c_DANGLING" not in ids
      +        assert "c4" in ids
      +        assert "c5" in ids
      +
      +    def test_empty_list_is_safe(self):
      +        assert AIAgent._sanitize_api_messages([]) == []
      +
      +    def test_no_tool_messages(self):
      +        msgs = [
      +            {"role": "user", "content": "hi"},
      +            {"role": "assistant", "content": "hello"},
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._sanitize_api_messages(msgs)
      +        assert out == msgs
      +
      +    def test_sdk_object_tool_calls(self):
      +        tc_obj = types.SimpleNamespace(id="c6", function=types.SimpleNamespace(
      +            name="terminal", arguments="{}"
      +        ))
      +        msgs = [
      +            {"role": "assistant", "tool_calls": [tc_obj]},
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._sanitize_api_messages(msgs)
      +        assert len(out) == 2
      +        assert out[1]["tool_call_id"] == "c6"
      +
      +
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +# Phase 2a — _cap_delegate_task_calls
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +
      +class TestCapDelegateTaskCalls:
      +
      +    def test_excess_delegates_truncated(self):
      +        tcs = [make_tc("delegate_task") for _ in range(MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN + 2)]
      +        out = AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls(tcs)
      +        delegate_count = sum(1 for tc in out if tc.function.name == "delegate_task")
      +        assert delegate_count == MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN
      +
      +    def test_non_delegate_calls_preserved(self):
      +        tcs = (
      +            [make_tc("delegate_task") for _ in range(MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN + 1)]
      +            + [make_tc("terminal"), make_tc("web_search")]
      +        )
      +        out = AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls(tcs)
      +        names = [tc.function.name for tc in out]
      +        assert "terminal" in names
      +        assert "web_search" in names
      +
      +    def test_at_limit_passes_through(self):
      +        tcs = [make_tc("delegate_task") for _ in range(MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN)]
      +        out = AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls(tcs)
      +        assert out is tcs
      +
      +    def test_below_limit_passes_through(self):
      +        tcs = [make_tc("delegate_task") for _ in range(MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN - 1)]
      +        out = AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls(tcs)
      +        assert out is tcs
      +
      +    def test_no_delegate_calls_unchanged(self):
      +        tcs = [make_tc("terminal"), make_tc("web_search")]
      +        out = AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls(tcs)
      +        assert out is tcs
      +
      +    def test_empty_list_safe(self):
      +        assert AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls([]) == []
      +
      +    def test_original_list_not_mutated(self):
      +        tcs = [make_tc("delegate_task") for _ in range(MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN + 2)]
      +        original_len = len(tcs)
      +        AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls(tcs)
      +        assert len(tcs) == original_len
      +
      +    def test_interleaved_order_preserved(self):
      +        delegates = [make_tc("delegate_task", f'{{"task":"{i}"}}')
      +                     for i in range(MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN + 1)]
      +        t1 = make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"ls"}')
      +        w1 = make_tc("web_search", '{"q":"x"}')
      +        tcs = [delegates[0], t1, delegates[1], w1] + delegates[2:]
      +        out = AIAgent._cap_delegate_task_calls(tcs)
      +        expected = [delegates[0], t1, delegates[1], w1] + delegates[2:MAX_CONCURRENT_CHILDREN]
      +        assert len(out) == len(expected)
      +        for i, (actual, exp) in enumerate(zip(out, expected)):
      +            assert actual is exp, f"mismatch at index {i}"
      +
      +
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +# Phase 2b — _deduplicate_tool_calls
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +
      +class TestDeduplicateToolCalls:
      +
      +    def test_duplicate_pair_deduplicated(self):
      +        tcs = [
      +            make_tc("web_search", '{"query":"foo"}'),
      +            make_tc("web_search", '{"query":"foo"}'),
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls(tcs)
      +        assert len(out) == 1
      +
      +    def test_multiple_duplicates(self):
      +        tcs = [
      +            make_tc("web_search", '{"q":"a"}'),
      +            make_tc("web_search", '{"q":"a"}'),
      +            make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"ls"}'),
      +            make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"ls"}'),
      +            make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"pwd"}'),
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls(tcs)
      +        assert len(out) == 3
      +
      +    def test_same_tool_different_args_kept(self):
      +        tcs = [
      +            make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"ls"}'),
      +            make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"pwd"}'),
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls(tcs)
      +        assert out is tcs
      +
      +    def test_different_tools_same_args_kept(self):
      +        tcs = [
      +            make_tc("tool_a", '{"x":1}'),
      +            make_tc("tool_b", '{"x":1}'),
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls(tcs)
      +        assert out is tcs
      +
      +    def test_clean_list_unchanged(self):
      +        tcs = [
      +            make_tc("web_search", '{"q":"x"}'),
      +            make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"ls"}'),
      +        ]
      +        out = AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls(tcs)
      +        assert out is tcs
      +
      +    def test_empty_list_safe(self):
      +        assert AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls([]) == []
      +
      +    def test_first_occurrence_kept(self):
      +        tc1 = make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"ls"}')
      +        tc2 = make_tc("terminal", '{"cmd":"ls"}')
      +        out = AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls([tc1, tc2])
      +        assert len(out) == 1
      +        assert out[0] is tc1
      +
      +    def test_original_list_not_mutated(self):
      +        tcs = [
      +            make_tc("web_search", '{"q":"dup"}'),
      +            make_tc("web_search", '{"q":"dup"}'),
      +        ]
      +        original_len = len(tcs)
      +        AIAgent._deduplicate_tool_calls(tcs)
      +        assert len(tcs) == original_len
      +
      +
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +# _get_tool_call_id_static
      +# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      +
      +class TestGetToolCallIdStatic:
      +
      +    def test_dict_with_valid_id(self):
      +        assert AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static({"id": "call_123"}) == "call_123"
      +
      +    def test_dict_with_none_id(self):
      +        assert AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static({"id": None}) == ""
      +
      +    def test_dict_without_id_key(self):
      +        assert AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static({"function": {}}) == ""
      +
      +    def test_object_with_valid_id(self):
      +        tc = types.SimpleNamespace(id="call_456")
      +        assert AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static(tc) == "call_456"
      +
      +    def test_object_with_none_id(self):
      +        tc = types.SimpleNamespace(id=None)
      +        assert AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static(tc) == ""
      +
      +    def test_object_without_id_attr(self):
      +        tc = types.SimpleNamespace()
      +        assert AIAgent._get_tool_call_id_static(tc) == ""

1 PR closed without merging

From the close comments: merged via another change 1

  • #1321 feat: pre-call tool sanitization and post-call tool interception · merged via another change → #1732
Closed issues · 1
  • Closed#626Feature: Agent Loop Middleware Architecture — Ordered Lifecycle Hooks, Hard Subagent Limit Enforcement & Dangling Tool Call Repair (inspired by DeerFlow)
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 0.67: 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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#1732
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1 PR closed without merging
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