# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Stale tool-call marker corrupts subsequent responses

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

These items concern a bug where a bare tool-call marker (e.g. '\[memory\]') is left in place after context compaction or a tool loop, causing it to persist as a response template and corrupt all following replies. The fix involves discarding this marker before fallback or persistence steps.

## 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 #78222. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #78222 (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-78222`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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

- #78148: Context compaction after tool loop leaves stale '\[memory\]' as response template — all subsequent replies return '\[memory\]'

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#78222: fix(agent): discard bare tool-call marker before fallback/persistence (#78148)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `agent/conversation_loop.py`, `hermes_cli/main.py`, `hermes_cli/sessions_cmd.py`, `hermes_state.py`, `tests/run_agent/test_conversation_fallback_state.py`, `tests/test_stale_tool_call_marker_session_repair.py`
- **#78175: fix(agent): discard bare tool-call marker before fallback/persistence (#78148)**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`; refs `#78222`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #78222 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-08-04`.