hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Feature]: Hidden Terminal exec on Windows Native

Problem or Use Case

Problem: Hermes Agent spawns visible Windows Terminal popup tabs on every terminal tool call.

Root cause: On Windows, Hermes' _run_bash method runs every terminal command by spawning a new bash.exe process (from Git for Windows) via subprocess.Popen. Since Git Bash's bash.exe is a console-subsystem executable, Windows Terminal (registered as the default terminal app on Windows 11) intercepts and opens a new tab for each call.

Why standard suppression flags don't work: Windows 11's "Default Terminal" feature intercepts console-subsystem process creation at the OS level, overriding CREATE_NO_WINDOW in many cases. Even with STARTF_USESTDHANDLES (which Microsoft documents as an exception that prevents Windows Terminal from intercepting), popups still occur in practice on this machine.

Environment:

• Windows 11
• Git Bash (no WSL)
• Windows Terminal set as default terminal application
• Hermes Agent running as a gateway (Telegram/web)

Proposed Solution

What's needed: A native Windows terminal backend that never spawns a console-subsystem executable for any reason — including the initial PowerShell bootstrap. The solution likely needs to use Windows API calls (e.g., CreateProcess with very specific flag combinations) or avoid spawning console-subsystem processes entirely.

Alternatives Considered

What I tried that didn't fully work:

• Wrapping via pythonw.exe bridge with CREATE_NO_WINDOW + STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW|SW_HIDE — still popped
• Fully file-based I/O (zero pipes anywhere) — still popped
• AllocConsole() + ShowWindow(SW_HIDE) in the bridge — still popped
• Persistent background worker (pythonw.exe) that keeps one hidden PowerShell alive and pipes commands via TCP/stdin — still pops on the initial PowerShell spawn

Feature Type

Performance / reliability

Scope

Medium (few files, < 300 lines)

Contribution

• I'd like to implement this myself and submit a PR

Debug Report (optional)