Bug description

When Hermes is configured to use the Hindsight memory plugin, the documented config keys bank_mission and bank_retain_mission are read from ~/.hermes/hindsight/config.json but are not actually synced into the live Hindsight bank state.

This causes a confusing drift:

• Hermes-side config contains the values
• Hindsight WebUI / Banks API still show empty mission / reflect_mission / retain_mission
• users conclude that Hindsight "did not apply" the settings

Environment

• Hermes Agent: v0.12.0 (2026.4.30)
• Local source checkout commit: 05c63259b
• Hindsight API: 0.5.6
• Mode: local_external
• Repo: NousResearch/hermes-agent

What the docs currently say

/usr/local/lib/hermes-agent/plugins/memory/hindsight/README.md

| `bank_mission` | — | Reflect mission (identity/framing for reflect reasoning). Applied via Banks API. |
| `bank_retain_mission` | — | Retain mission (steers what gets extracted). Applied via Banks API. |

What happens in practice

Example Hermes config:

{
  "mode": "local_external",
  "api_url": "http://127.0.0.1:8889",
  "bank_id": "hermes",
  "bank_mission": "Local-first long-term memory for Maxim's personal AI agent...",
  "bank_retain_mission": "Retain only durable information likely to matter in future sessions..."
}

Hermes reports the Hindsight plugin as installed + available, and auto-retain works.

But the live Hindsight bank still shows:

GET /v1/default/banks/hermes/config

{
  "config": {
    "retain_mission": null,
    "reflect_mission": null,
    "observations_mission": null
  }
}

GET /v1/default/banks/hermes/profile

{
  "bank_id": "hermes",
  "name": "hermes",
  "mission": "",
  "background": ""
}

So WebUI is showing the real Hindsight bank state, and it does not reflect the Hermes config file.

Code audit

The installed plugin reads the config keys:

self._bank_mission = self._config.get("bank_mission", "")
self._bank_retain_mission = self._config.get("bank_retain_mission") or None

but in the installed plugins/memory/hindsight/__init__.py these fields appear to be assigned only and never used to call Hindsight bank/profile/config APIs.

In the audited install, the only references to _bank_mission / _bank_retain_mission were the field declarations and the assignments above.

Manual workaround that proves the server supports it

Manually patching the Hindsight bank via its own API works immediately:

• PATCH /v1/default/banks/{bank_id}/config with reflect_mission / retain_mission
• PATCH /v1/default/banks/{bank_id} with mission

After that, the values appear in both the Hindsight API and WebUI.

That suggests the bug is in Hermes plugin sync behavior, not in Hindsight.

Expected behavior

One of these should happen:

1. On plugin init / config load, Hermes should sync bank_mission → Hindsight reflect_mission (and/or profile mission) and bank_retain_mission → Hindsight retain_mission via Banks API.
2. If this sync is intentionally unsupported, the README/docs should stop claiming these keys are "Applied via Banks API".

Why this matters

This is especially confusing in local_external setups, where users often compare:

• Hermes config at ~/.hermes/hindsight/config.json
• Hindsight WebUI bank config/profile

and assume a bad install when the problem is actually a plugin drift / missing implementation.

Related

Possibly adjacent to, but not the same as:

• #18554 — Hindsight plugin: expose bank management, cross-bank recall, mental models, and observations as Hermes tools