hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix Set process title so 'ps' shows 'hermes' instead of 'python3.xx' [2 pull requests]

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Root Cause

The Hermes entry point (hermes CLI) does not call prctl(PR_SET_NAME) or setproctitle to override the process name shown by the kernel.

Fix Action

Fixed

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Problem

When running hermes, the process shows up as python3.11 (or whatever Python version is in use) in system monitors like ps, top, htop, rather than something recognizable like hermes or hermes-agent.

This is a small UX gap — users naturally look for the app name in their process table, not the interpreter name.

Root Cause

The Hermes entry point (hermes CLI) does not call prctl(PR_SET_NAME) or setproctitle to override the process name shown by the kernel.

Suggested Fix

Set the process title at startup to something like hermes (or hermes: <subcommand> for subprocess disambiguation).

Implementation options (from simplest to most thorough):

  1. ctypes + prctl(PR_SET_NAME) — Linux-only, sets /proc/self/comm to 15 chars max, trivial to add.
  2. setproctitle — cross-platform (Linux, macOS, BSD), no 15-char limit, shows up in ps as full command line replacement. Requires adding setproctitle as a lightweight dependency (pure C, very stable).
  3. Interim fallback — even just a sys.argv[0] = "hermes" early in __main__ helps in some environments, though it doesn't change /proc/self/comm.

Why It Matters

  • Debugging/incident response: operators running ps aux | grep hermes get nothing back and may think the process isn't running.
  • Container environments: docker top and docker stats show python3.xx, indistinguishable from other Python processes.
  • User experience: the CLI tool identity should be visible in the system process table — this is a low-effort polish item that improves first impressions.

Happy to submit a PR if this direction is accepted.

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hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix Set process title so 'ps' shows 'hermes' instead of 'python3.xx' [2 pull requests]