# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Fix retry logic for zero-cost endpoint empties

## Open now

- 1 issue, 0 PRs open on GitHub.
- #89213: \[Bug\]: deterministic-empty guard skips retries on zero-cost local endpoints, turning recoverable transient empties into "No reply"

These members address a bug where the deterministic-empty guard incorrectly consumed or skipped the retry budget for zero-cost local endpoints, causing transient empty responses to surface as permanent 'No reply' errors instead of being retried.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 1 open issue(s), 0 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 0 merged PR(s), 2 PR(s) closed without merging.
- No fix has been merged to main; one or more PRs were attempted (see below).
- **Recommended:** review the prior/competing PR(s) below. A fix was attempted but not merged; your case may extend or revive that work.

## Maintainer resolution verdict

- Internal-tracker verdict over this cluster's issue members: `unresolved`. 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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.

## Open related issues

- #89213: \[Bug\]: deterministic-empty guard skips retries on zero-cost local endpoints, turning recoverable transient empties into "No reply"

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#89215: fix(agent): keep the empty-retry budget when a streak has no known cost**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `#89213`
- **#89993: fix(agent): fail open in deterministic_empty for zero-cost endpoints**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `duplicate_of`; implication `duplicate`; refs `#89215`

## Fix status

- No merged fix on record.
- Subsystem: `agent`