From 17d70759e0d201b4af72b01080400e7381dcc77d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jenkins <brad@bstein.dev>
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2026 14:25:25 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] hermes: show recorded tool activity in resumed chats

---
 .../scripts/patch_web_session_activity.py     | 34 ++++++++++++-
 .../test_hermes_chat_session_continuity.py    | 49 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 81 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/services/hermes/scripts/patch_web_session_activity.py b/services/hermes/scripts/patch_web_session_activity.py
index ede66f76..42e2ea9f 100644
--- a/services/hermes/scripts/patch_web_session_activity.py
+++ b/services/hermes/scripts/patch_web_session_activity.py
@@ -51,6 +51,33 @@ HELPER_REPLACEMENT = '''def _run_activity_messages(session_id: str) -> List[Dict
     return entries[-1_000:]
 
 
+def _present_activity_message(message: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Give a persisted tool-only assistant turn an honest visible summary.
+
+    Hermes deliberately stores a blank assistant ``content`` field when the
+    turn only invokes tools. The tool call records are retained separately,
+    but a transcript card with neither prose nor a summary looks like missing
+    history. This projection leaves the stored message intact and names only
+    the already-recorded tool functions.
+    """
+    item = dict(message)
+    if item.get("role") != "assistant" or str(item.get("content") or "").strip():
+        return item
+    calls = item.get("tool_calls")
+    if not isinstance(calls, list):
+        return item
+    names: List[str] = []
+    for call in calls:
+        function = call.get("function") if isinstance(call, dict) else None
+        name = function.get("name") if isinstance(function, dict) else None
+        if isinstance(name, str) and name.strip():
+            names.append(name.strip()[:80])
+    if names:
+        item["content"] = "Calling " + ", ".join(names[:8]) + "."
+        item["observed"] = True
+    return item
+
+
 @app.get("/api/sessions/{session_id}/messages")
 async def get_session_messages(
     session_id: str,
@@ -64,8 +91,11 @@ MESSAGES_BEFORE = '''        messages = db.get_messages(sid)
 '''
 
 MESSAGES_AFTER = '''        messages = [
-            *db.get_messages(sid),
-            *_run_activity_messages(sid),
+            _present_activity_message(item)
+            for item in [
+                *db.get_messages(sid),
+                *_run_activity_messages(sid),
+            ]
         ]
         messages.sort(key=lambda item: float(item.get("timestamp") or 0.0))
         total_messages = len(messages)
diff --git a/testing/tests/test_hermes_chat_session_continuity.py b/testing/tests/test_hermes_chat_session_continuity.py
index 8bd056ea..67be8178 100644
--- a/testing/tests/test_hermes_chat_session_continuity.py
+++ b/testing/tests/test_hermes_chat_session_continuity.py
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import asyncio
 import importlib.util
 import json
 import sqlite3
+import textwrap
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
@@ -290,6 +292,53 @@ def test_web_session_activity_patch_projects_bounded_events(tmp_path: Path):
     assert 'item[0].get("ended_at") is None' in patched
 
 
+def test_activity_projection_preserves_user_text_and_labels_tool_only_turns():
+    """A saved tool invocation cannot become a blank resumed-chat card."""
+    module_path = HERMES / "scripts" / "patch_web_session_activity.py"
+    spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("patch_web_activity_projection", module_path)
+    assert spec and spec.loader
+    module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+    spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+
+    helper = module.HELPER_REPLACEMENT.split('@app.get("/api/sessions/', 1)[0]
+    namespace: dict[str, object] = {}
+    exec("from typing import Any, Dict, List\n" + helper, namespace)
+    present = namespace["_present_activity_message"]
+
+    first_user = {"role": "user", "content": "Please inspect the saved work."}
+    second_user = {"role": "user", "content": "Continue from the recorded findings."}
+    assert present(first_user) == first_user
+    assert present(second_user) == second_user
+
+    tool_only = {
+        "role": "assistant",
+        "content": None,
+        # This is the parsed API shape for the serialized database column.
+        "tool_calls": [{"function": {"name": "terminal"}}],
+    }
+    projected = present(tool_only)
+    assert projected["content"] == "Calling terminal."
+    assert projected["observed"] is True
+    assert tool_only["content"] is None
+
+    class FakeDB:
+        def get_messages(self, session_id):
+            assert session_id == "resume-fixture"
+            return [first_user, tool_only, second_user]
+
+    response_source = "async def project_messages(db, sid, limit=None):\n" + textwrap.indent(
+        textwrap.dedent(module.MESSAGES_AFTER), "    "
+    )
+    exec(response_source, namespace)
+    namespace["_run_activity_messages"] = lambda _session_id: []
+    payload = asyncio.run(namespace["project_messages"](FakeDB(), "resume-fixture"))
+    assert [item["content"] for item in payload["messages"]] == [
+        "Please inspect the saved work.",
+        "Calling terminal.",
+        "Continue from the recorded findings.",
+    ]
+    assert payload["total_messages"] == 3
+
 def test_web_session_lineage_returns_to_resumed_parent():
     """An ended reviewer must not strand the live view away from its parent."""
     module_path = HERMES / "scripts" / "patch_web_session_activity.py"