# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Surface accurate updater error causes to users

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

These items address cases where the updater displays a generic or misleading message instead of the specific underlying reason for failure, such as a lock held by another update or SSH auth issues. The fixes aim to propagate and display the real diagnostic message rather than discarding it.

## 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 #121213. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #121213 (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-121213`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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

- #78135: macOS/Windows updater shows "Hermes is still running" when the real cause is another update holding the lock — the accurate child message is logged but discarded

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#121213: fix(update): name the real cause on exit-2 refusals and SSH auth fetch failures**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `apps/bootstrap-installer/src-tauri/src/update.rs`, `hermes_cli/update_cmd_git.py`, `tests/hermes_cli/test_update_fetch_failure_classifier.py`
- **#78163: fix(updater): surface child diagnostic instead of generic "still running" message (#78135)**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#78135`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #121213 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-09-24`.
- Subsystem: `apps/bootstrap-installer`