Installer Silently Skips HTTPS Fallback When SSH Clone Falsely Succeeds
Bug tracker — July 10, 2026. Hermes bug #62132 exposes an installer reliability failure: an SSH git clone can exit 0 without creating a usable repository, yet the installer treats the exit code as success, suppresses its HTTPS fallback, and leaves the user without a working installation or actionable error.
The Failure in One Sentence
The installer checks whether git clone returned zero, not whether the repository actually exists and is usable. In restricted environments such as Lightning.ai VMs, that distinction leaves users stranded: installation appears to proceed, the HTTPS fallback never runs, and Hermes is not installed.
Why Exit Status Is Not Enough
| Current Assumption | Observed Reality | Robust Check |
|---|---|---|
| SSH clone exit code 0 means success | No repository may have been created | Verify target directory, Git metadata, and expected files |
| No fallback is required | HTTPS clone could still succeed | Run HTTPS fallback when post-clone validation fails |
| User will infer the problem | Installation is silently incomplete | Return a specific failure and recovery command |
The User Impact
This is not simply a failed network request. It is a silent install failure: users can finish the installer without a usable application and without being told which operation failed. For a local-agent platform, installation is the first reliability test. A fallback path that is present in code but bypassed by a false success signal provides no practical resilience.
Recommended Fix Path
- After SSH clone, validate that the destination repository exists and contains expected Git/project files.
- If validation fails, treat the clone as failed even if the process exit status was zero.
- Attempt the HTTPS fallback and report both paths clearly if neither succeeds.
- Add regression coverage for restricted-SSH environments where clone exits cleanly but produces no repository.
Why This Matters for Review-Site Readers
Managed platforms hide bootstrap transport details; local installations make them the user’s problem. A zero-exit false positive is particularly damaging because it converts an ordinary environment limitation into an opaque, incomplete setup. Buyers should evaluate not only whether an installer has fallbacks, but whether it verifies that a fallback is actually needed.
Case Summary
- Source: GitHub issue
- Opened / updated: July 10, 2026
- Labels: P2, comp/cli, type/bug
Source URL: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/62132