# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Fix agent stalling on TCP blackhole endpoints

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

These members address a bug where endpoints that silently drop TCP connections cause the agent to stall at startup by repeatedly probing and waiting out timeouts. The fix stops re-probing such blackholing endpoints.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 1 merged PR(s), 1 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #77847. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #77847 (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-77847`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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

- #71281: \[Bug\]: Endpoints that blackhole TCP stall startup ~60s — probe waterfall pays the timeout once per leg

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#77847: fix(agent): stop re-probing endpoints that blackhole TCP connects (salvage #71282)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `agent/model_metadata.py`, `tests/agent/test_endpoint_blackhole.py`
- **#71282: fix(agent): stop re-probing endpoints that blackhole TCP connects**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `#77847`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #77847 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-08-03`.
- Subsystem: `agent`