# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Gateway startup misreads approvals.mode YAML boolean

## Open now

- 1 issue, 3 PRs open on GitHub.
- #97016: \[Bug\]: gateway startup approvals check misreads unquoted approvals.mode: off (YAML False) as "manual" and logs a spurious BLOCK warning
- PR #97018: fix(gateway): resolve approvals.mode via the canonical normalizer in the startup approvals check
- PR #97084: fix(gateway): route approvals.mode startup check through canonical resolver (#97016)
- PR #97435: fix(gateway): use canonical approval mode resolver in startup check

A bug where the gateway startup check misinterprets unquoted 'off' (parsed as YAML boolean false) as 'manual' mode, triggering a spurious BLOCK warning. Fixes route the approvals.mode check through the canonical resolver/normalizer.

## TL;DR

- 4 member(s): 1 open issue(s), 0 closed issue(s), 3 open PR(s), 0 merged PR(s), 0 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.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 `0.50`: 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

- #97016: \[Bug\]: gateway startup approvals check misreads unquoted approvals.mode: off (YAML False) as "manual" and logs a spurious BLOCK warning

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#97018: fix(gateway): resolve approvals.mode via the canonical normalizer in the startup approvals check**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`
  - files: `gateway/run.py`
- **#97084: fix(gateway): route approvals.mode startup check through canonical resolver (#97016)**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `duplicate_of`; implication `duplicate`; refs `#97018`, `#97018`
  - files: `gateway/run.py`
- **#97435: fix(gateway): use canonical approval mode resolver in startup check**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `duplicate_of`; implication `duplicate`; refs `#97018`
  - files: `gateway/run.py`

## Fix status

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