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ADR-0121: The deployed Hermes subagent keeps persistent curated memory across runs; the user profile stays off

field	value
Status	Accepted — Accepted (ruling, Mohamed, 2026-10-20)
Date	2026-10-20
Register	factory (`docs/adr`, 4-digit ids)
Source	`docs/adr/0121-hermes-subagent-keeps-persistent-curated-memory-user-profile-off.md` — permalink at `c435b7b6e` (unchanged on master since that commit)
Wiki register entry	ADR-0121 (wiki status: Accepted)

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The record

Status: Accepted (ruling, Mohamed, 2026-10-20) · Date: 2026-10-20

Context

The Hermes subagent deployment (/opt/hermes, source repo ~/workspace/hermes, release fe6abf5 at ruling time) was deliberately stateless — its config comment read "A subagent keeps no personal state: no memory, no user profile", with memory_enabled: false and user_profile_enabled: false. The agent ships a memory mechanism that the flag gates off: a memory tool managing a bounded MEMORY.md (2,200 chars) and USER.md (1,375 chars) in $HERMES_HOME/memories/, injected into the system prompt as a frozen snapshot at session start and self-managed by the agent across runs. The coordinator measured all of this and reported it; Mohamed ruled.

Decision (Mohamed, 2026-10-20, verbatim)

"you must allow hermes memory"

Implemented as: memory_enabled: true in the deployment's home config (deploy/home/config.yaml, rendered per release). The subagent keeps MEMORY.md at $HERMES_HOME/memories/ — bounded, self-managed via the memory tool, injected at session start. user_profile_enabled stays false (the ruling names memory only). The change ships through the deployment pipeline — repo commit → deploy/install.sh → a new immutable release → hermes-task verify — never by editing the deployed release or home in place.

Alternatives rejected

Keep the subagent stateless — rejected by the ruling.
Enable the user profile too — the ruling names memory only; USER.md stays off until a separate ruling asks for it.
Edit /opt/hermes/home/config.yaml in place — rejected: hermes-task verify refuses on home-vs-release drift and install.sh treats releases as immutable; the repo → release → home pipeline is the only path that stays green.

Consequences

The deployed subagent accumulates curated memory across dispatched runs; memory supplements but never replaces the brief as the task's source of truth — every dispatch still carries its full brief.
The agent's two-writers warning applies to the shared deployed home: only dispatched runs use it, and concurrent runs writing memory can compound entries; the coordinator serializes dispatches on it.
The deployment contract (verify + --live) stays intact; the config comment now states the policy with the ruling citation.

Provenance

Mohamed, in-session, 2026-10-20, session 272: "you must allow hermes memory" (verbatim). Change: ~/workspace/hermes commit 3b5dbcb; new release installed to /opt/hermes in the same turn.

No other ADR is named in this record.

Rulings cited

None.

Specs cited

None (or no spec page exists for the ones named).