# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Hidden assistant placeholder messages trigger repeated sanitizer calls

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

Empty hidden assistant messages left after interrupted turns in Bot Mode group chat cause the pre-call sanitizer to re-run on them every subsequent turn. Fixes address how these placeholders are represented on the wire and prevent them from re-healing or re-triggering sanitization.

## 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 #89544. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #89544 (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-89544`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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

- #88955: Bot Mode group chat: interrupted member turns persist empty display_kind=hidden assistant messages that re-trigger the pre-call sanitizer every turn

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#89544: fix(agent): interrupted-turn hidden placeholder no longer re-heals every call (#88955, salvage #89525)**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `agent/conversation_loop.py`, `contributors/emails/[redacted:email]`, `contributors/emails/[redacted:email]`, `contributors/emails/[redacted:email]`, `tests/run_agent/test_steer.py`
- **#88996: fix(agent): align empty hidden assistant placeholders on wire to eliminate sanitizer spam (#88955)**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#89544`, `#89525`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #89544 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-08-18`.
- Subsystem: `agent`