fix(curator): authoritative absorbed_into on delete + restore cron skill links on rollback (#18671)#18731
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Closes #18671. The classification pipeline that feeds cron-ref rewriting used to infer consolidation vs pruning from two brittle signals: the curator model's post-hoc YAML summary block, and a substring heuristic scanning other tool calls for the removed skill's name. Both miss in real consolidations — the model forgets the YAML under reasoning pressure, and the heuristic misses when the umbrella's patch content describes the absorbed behavior abstractly instead of naming the old slug. When both miss, the skill falls through to 'no-evidence fallback' pruned, and #18253's cron rewriter drops the cron ref entirely instead of mapping it to the umbrella. Same observable symptom as pre-#18253: 'Skill(s) not found and skipped' at the next cron run. The fix makes the model declare intent at the moment of deletion. skill_manage(action='delete') now accepts absorbed_into: - absorbed_into='<umbrella>' -> consolidated, target must exist on disk - absorbed_into='' -> explicit prune, no forwarding target - missing -> legacy path, falls through to heuristic/YAML The curator reconciler reads these declarations off llm_meta.tool_calls BEFORE either the YAML block or the substring heuristic. Declaration wins. Fallback logic stays intact for backward compat with any caller (human or older curator conversation) that doesn't populate the arg. Changes - tools/skill_manager_tool.py: add absorbed_into param to skill_manage + _delete_skill. Validate target exists when non-empty. Reject absorbed_into=<self>. Wire through dispatcher + registry + schema. - agent/curator.py: new _extract_absorbed_into_declarations() walks tool calls for skill_manage(delete) with the arg. _reconcile_classification accepts absorbed_declarations= and treats them as authoritative. Curator prompt updated to require the arg on every delete. - Tests: 7 new skill_manager tests covering the tool contract (valid target, empty string, nonexistent target, self-reference, whitespace, backward compat, dispatcher plumbing). 11 new curator tests covering the extractor + authoritative reconciler path + mixed-legacy-and- declared runs. Validation - 307/307 targeted tests pass (curator + cron + skill_manager suites). - E2E #18671 repro: 3 narrow skills, 1 umbrella, cron job referencing all 3. Model emits NO YAML block. Heuristic misses (patch prose doesn't name old slugs). Delete calls carry absorbed_into. Result: both PR skills correctly classified 'consolidated' + cron rewritten ['pr-review-format', 'pr-review-checklist', 'stale-junk'] -> ['hermes-agent-dev']; stale-junk pruned via absorbed_into=''. - E2E backward-compat: delete without absorbed_into, model emits YAML -> routed via existing 'model' source, cron still rewritten correctly.
…lback
Before this, rolling back a curator run restored the skills tree but cron
jobs still pointed at the umbrella skills the curator had rewritten them
to. The user would see their old narrow skills back on disk but their
cron jobs still configured with the merged umbrella — not actually 'back
to how it was'.
Snapshot side: snapshot_skills() now captures ~/.hermes/cron/jobs.json
alongside the skills tarball, as cron-jobs.json. The manifest gets a new
'cron_jobs' block with {backed_up, jobs_count} so rollback (and the CLI
confirm dialog) can surface what's in the snapshot. If jobs.json is
missing/unreadable/malformed, snapshot proceeds without cron data — the
skills backup is the core guarantee; cron is additive.
Rollback side: after the skills extract succeeds, the new
_restore_cron_skill_links() reconciles the backed-up jobs into the live
jobs.json SURGICALLY. Only 'skills' and 'skill' fields are restored, and
only on jobs matched by id. Everything else about a cron job — schedule,
last_run_at, next_run_at, enabled, prompt, workdir, hooks — is live
state the user or scheduler has modified since the snapshot; overwriting
it would regress unrelated activity.
Reconciliation rules:
- Job in backup AND live, skills differ → skills restored.
- Job in backup AND live, skills match → no-op.
- Job in backup, NOT in live → skipped (user deleted it
after snapshot; their choice
is later than the snapshot).
- Job in live, NOT in backup → untouched (user created it
after snapshot).
- Snapshot missing cron-jobs.json at all → rollback still succeeds,
reports 'not captured'
(older pre-feature snapshots
keep working).
Writes go through cron.jobs.save_jobs under the same _jobs_file_lock the
scheduler uses, so rollback doesn't race tick().
Also:
- hermes_cli/curator.py: rollback confirm dialog now shows
'cron jobs: N (will be restored for skill-link fields only)' when the
snapshot has cron data, or 'not in snapshot (<reason>)' otherwise.
- rollback()'s message string includes a 'cron links: ...' clause
summarizing the reconciliation outcome.
Tests
- 9 new cases: snapshot-with-cron, snapshot-without-cron, malformed-json
captured-as-raw, full rollback-restores-skills-and-cron, rollback
touches only skill fields, rollback skips user-deleted jobs, rollback
leaves user-created jobs untouched, rollback still works with
pre-feature snapshot that has no cron-jobs.json, standalone unit test
on _restore_cron_skill_links exercising the full report shape.
Validation
- 484/484 targeted tests pass (curator + cron + skill_manager suites).
- E2E: real snapshot_skills, real cron rewrite, real rollback. Before:
['pr-review-format', 'pr-review-checklist', 'pr-triage-salvage'].
After curator: ['hermes-agent-dev']. After rollback: ['pr-review-format',
'pr-review-checklist', 'pr-triage-salvage']. Non-skill fields (id,
name, prompt) preserved across the round trip.
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…ill links on rollback (NousResearch#18671) (NousResearch#18731) * fix(curator): authoritative absorbed_into declarations on skill delete Closes NousResearch#18671. The classification pipeline that feeds cron-ref rewriting used to infer consolidation vs pruning from two brittle signals: the curator model's post-hoc YAML summary block, and a substring heuristic scanning other tool calls for the removed skill's name. Both miss in real consolidations — the model forgets the YAML under reasoning pressure, and the heuristic misses when the umbrella's patch content describes the absorbed behavior abstractly instead of naming the old slug. When both miss, the skill falls through to 'no-evidence fallback' pruned, and NousResearch#18253's cron rewriter drops the cron ref entirely instead of mapping it to the umbrella. Same observable symptom as pre-NousResearch#18253: 'Skill(s) not found and skipped' at the next cron run. The fix makes the model declare intent at the moment of deletion. skill_manage(action='delete') now accepts absorbed_into: - absorbed_into='<umbrella>' -> consolidated, target must exist on disk - absorbed_into='' -> explicit prune, no forwarding target - missing -> legacy path, falls through to heuristic/YAML The curator reconciler reads these declarations off llm_meta.tool_calls BEFORE either the YAML block or the substring heuristic. Declaration wins. Fallback logic stays intact for backward compat with any caller (human or older curator conversation) that doesn't populate the arg. Changes - tools/skill_manager_tool.py: add absorbed_into param to skill_manage + _delete_skill. Validate target exists when non-empty. Reject absorbed_into=<self>. Wire through dispatcher + registry + schema. - agent/curator.py: new _extract_absorbed_into_declarations() walks tool calls for skill_manage(delete) with the arg. _reconcile_classification accepts absorbed_declarations= and treats them as authoritative. Curator prompt updated to require the arg on every delete. - Tests: 7 new skill_manager tests covering the tool contract (valid target, empty string, nonexistent target, self-reference, whitespace, backward compat, dispatcher plumbing). 11 new curator tests covering the extractor + authoritative reconciler path + mixed-legacy-and- declared runs. Validation - 307/307 targeted tests pass (curator + cron + skill_manager suites). - E2E NousResearch#18671 repro: 3 narrow skills, 1 umbrella, cron job referencing all 3. Model emits NO YAML block. Heuristic misses (patch prose doesn't name old slugs). Delete calls carry absorbed_into. Result: both PR skills correctly classified 'consolidated' + cron rewritten ['pr-review-format', 'pr-review-checklist', 'stale-junk'] -> ['hermes-agent-dev']; stale-junk pruned via absorbed_into=''. - E2E backward-compat: delete without absorbed_into, model emits YAML -> routed via existing 'model' source, cron still rewritten correctly. * feat(curator): capture + restore cron skill links across snapshot/rollback Before this, rolling back a curator run restored the skills tree but cron jobs still pointed at the umbrella skills the curator had rewritten them to. The user would see their old narrow skills back on disk but their cron jobs still configured with the merged umbrella — not actually 'back to how it was'. Snapshot side: snapshot_skills() now captures ~/.hermes/cron/jobs.json alongside the skills tarball, as cron-jobs.json. The manifest gets a new 'cron_jobs' block with {backed_up, jobs_count} so rollback (and the CLI confirm dialog) can surface what's in the snapshot. If jobs.json is missing/unreadable/malformed, snapshot proceeds without cron data — the skills backup is the core guarantee; cron is additive. Rollback side: after the skills extract succeeds, the new _restore_cron_skill_links() reconciles the backed-up jobs into the live jobs.json SURGICALLY. Only 'skills' and 'skill' fields are restored, and only on jobs matched by id. Everything else about a cron job — schedule, last_run_at, next_run_at, enabled, prompt, workdir, hooks — is live state the user or scheduler has modified since the snapshot; overwriting it would regress unrelated activity. Reconciliation rules: - Job in backup AND live, skills differ → skills restored. - Job in backup AND live, skills match → no-op. - Job in backup, NOT in live → skipped (user deleted it after snapshot; their choice is later than the snapshot). - Job in live, NOT in backup → untouched (user created it after snapshot). - Snapshot missing cron-jobs.json at all → rollback still succeeds, reports 'not captured' (older pre-feature snapshots keep working). Writes go through cron.jobs.save_jobs under the same _jobs_file_lock the scheduler uses, so rollback doesn't race tick(). Also: - hermes_cli/curator.py: rollback confirm dialog now shows 'cron jobs: N (will be restored for skill-link fields only)' when the snapshot has cron data, or 'not in snapshot (<reason>)' otherwise. - rollback()'s message string includes a 'cron links: ...' clause summarizing the reconciliation outcome. Tests - 9 new cases: snapshot-with-cron, snapshot-without-cron, malformed-json captured-as-raw, full rollback-restores-skills-and-cron, rollback touches only skill fields, rollback skips user-deleted jobs, rollback leaves user-created jobs untouched, rollback still works with pre-feature snapshot that has no cron-jobs.json, standalone unit test on _restore_cron_skill_links exercising the full report shape. Validation - 484/484 targeted tests pass (curator + cron + skill_manager suites). - E2E: real snapshot_skills, real cron rewrite, real rollback. Before: ['pr-review-format', 'pr-review-checklist', 'pr-triage-salvage']. After curator: ['hermes-agent-dev']. After rollback: ['pr-review-format', 'pr-review-checklist', 'pr-triage-salvage']. Non-skill fields (id, name, prompt) preserved across the round trip.
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Summary
Two fixes for the curator + cron-link silent-failure class. Closes #18671.
absorbed_intoon skill delete — curator reconciler stops guessing what "archived" means.1.
absorbed_intoon skill deleteRoot cause
_reconcile_classificationinagent/curator.pyinferred consolidation vs pruning from two brittle signals: the curator's post-hoc YAML summary block, and a substring heuristic scanning sibling tool calls for the removed skill's name. Both miss in real consolidations — models forget the YAML under reasoning pressure, and the heuristic misses when the umbrella's patch content describes the absorbed behavior abstractly instead of literally naming the old slug. When both miss, the skill fell through to "no-evidence fallback" pruned, and #18253's cron-rewriter then dropped the cron ref entirely instead of mapping it to the umbrella. Same observable symptom as pre-#18253:Skill(s) not found and skippedon the next cron run.Changes
tools/skill_manager_tool.py—skill_manage(action='delete')acceptsabsorbed_into:absorbed_into='<umbrella>'→ consolidated; target must exist on disk (validated)absorbed_into=''→ explicit prune, no forwarding targetabsorbed_into=<self>and nonexistent targetsagent/curator.py— new_extract_absorbed_into_declarations()pulls declarations offllm_meta.tool_calls._reconcile_classificationacceptsabsorbed_declarations=and treats it as authoritative — beats YAML block and heuristic. Curator prompt updated to require the arg on every delete.2. Cron skill links through snapshot + rollback
Root cause
snapshot_skills()captured the skills tree and.curator_backups/…/skills.tar.gzheld it safely, but~/.hermes/cron/jobs.jsonwas never captured. After a rollback, skills bounced back to disk but cron jobs still pointed at whatever umbrellas the curator had rewritten them to. User experience: "I rolled back but my cron jobs still use the merged skills."Changes
agent/curator_backup.py—snapshot_skills()additionally copiescron/jobs.jsonascron-jobs.jsonalongside the tarball. Manifest gains acron_jobsblock (backed_up,jobs_count, optionalreason/parse_warning).agent/curator_backup.py— new_restore_cron_skill_links(snapshot_dir)reconciles backed-up skills into the livejobs.jsonsurgically:skills/skillfields touched; schedule/prompt/timestamps/enabled/etc. are live state and preservedid; jobs the user deleted after the snapshot are NOT resurrected; jobs the user created after are untouchedcron.jobs.save_jobs()under the same_jobs_file_lockthe scheduler uses — no race withtick()rollback()calls_restore_cron_skill_linksafter the skills extract succeeds; the returned message summarizes the reconciliation ("cron links: N job(s) had skill links restored, M backed-up job(s) no longer exist").hermes_cli/curator.py— rollback confirm dialog shows cron-backup status from the manifest so the user knows what's about to happen.Validation
absorbed_intodeclared → cron rewrittenabsorbed_into=""Test counts
tests/agent/test_curator*.py+tests/cron/+tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py).absorbed_into(tool contract + extractor + reconciler + mixed legacy-and-declared runs)._restore_cron_skill_links).E2E
absorbed_into. Result: PR skills correctly classifiedconsolidated, cron rewritten to['hermes-agent-dev'],stale-junkpruned viaabsorbed_into="".absorbed_into, model emits YAML → routed via existing"model"source, cron still rewritten correctly. Legacy path untouched.skills=[pr-review-format, pr-review-checklist, pr-triage-salvage]. Snapshot captures cron. Curator rewrites skills to[hermes-agent-dev]. Rollback restores both the skills tree AND the cronskillslist to the original three names. Non-skill cron fields (id, name, prompt) preserved across the round trip.