# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Agent looping, hanging, and timeout behavior fixes

## Open now

- 4 issues, 1 PR open on GitHub.
- #57804: \[Bug\]: looping when trying to fix itself
- #57809: \[Bug\]: started nonsense language
- #57818: \[Bug\]: stops working
- #57923: \[Bug\]: got into loop AGAIN
- PR #57851: fix: add same-call-repeat guardrail for idempotent tools with varying results

A mix of bug reports about agents getting stuck in loops or becoming unresponsive, alongside fixes targeting retry/timeout architecture, inactivity-based timeouts, tool loop guardrails, and cron scheduling issues. The members span two adjacent themes: agent execution reliability and cron job timing correctness.

## TL;DR

- 12 member(s): 4 open issue(s), 3 closed issue(s), 1 open PR(s), 2 merged PR(s), 2 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #6387. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #6387 (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: `partially_resolved` · deciding PR(s): `pr-6387`. This is distinct from the fix status above. Weigh it yourself.

## How this cluster was grouped

- Link evidence (`STRUCTURAL_PARTIAL`): some members are connected by structural evidence (shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference); the rest are joined by an automated relevance judgement over their text.
- Members outside that structural core may belong to a different underlying problem.
- Pairwise link density `0.12`: 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.

## Open related issues

- #57804: \[Bug\]: looping when trying to fix itself
- #57809: \[Bug\]: started nonsense language
- #57818: \[Bug\]: stops working
- #57923: \[Bug\]: got into loop AGAIN

## Closed / duplicate issues

- #6260: Inactivity timeout fires repeatedly with MiniMax 2.7 highspeed
- #57815: \[Bug\]: looping and stuck and stopping work
- #57839: \[Bug\]: agent gets stuck for 30 min not working

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#6387: fix(gateway): staged inactivity warning before timeout escalation**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`; implication `superseded`
  - files: `cli-config.yaml.example`, `gateway/run.py`, `hermes_cli/config.py`, `tests/gateway/test_gateway_inactivity_timeout.py`
- **#100967: fix(guardrails): tool-call loops hard-stop on unattended platforms, identical replays halt for any tool (#49075, #89069; salvage #49189, #47231)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`; implication `superseded`
  - files: `agent/agent_init.py`, `agent/tool_guardrails.py`, `cli-config.yaml.example`, `hermes_cli/config_defaults.py`, `run_agent.py`, `tests/agent/test_tool_guardrails.py`, `tests/run_agent/test_tool_call_guardrail_runtime.py`, `website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md`, `website/docs/user-guide/docker.md`
- **#6263: fix(gateway): staged inactivity warning before timeout escalation**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `#6387`
- **#57816: fix: enable hard-stop tool loop guardrails by default, add idempotent streak detection**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `25d954c2cf`, `#100967`, `#49189`
- **#57851: fix: add same-call-repeat guardrail for idempotent tools with varying results**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `#57818`, `#57818`
  - files: `agent/tool_guardrails.py`, `cli-config.yaml.example`, `hermes_cli/config_defaults.py`, `tests/agent/test_tool_guardrails.py`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #6387 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-09-02`.
- Subsystem: `agent`