hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix WhatsApp group chats: Mia responds to non-agent messages and restates instructions unnecessarily

Bug description

Mia is responding in WhatsApp group chats to messages that are not relevant to her, and is also taking/capturing notes unnecessarily. This creates noise in family/group chats and makes the agent feel like it is inserting itself instead of quietly observing unless needed.

Example from screenshot

Chat: "Colin's visit" WhatsApp group with Colin, Mia, Renata, Zion.

1. Zion posts: "Colin - bring bathing suit and comfortable clothes to walk 🤣"
2. Mia replies: "Got it — captured for Colin: bathing suit + comfortable clothes for walking. I won't message him directly unless you want me to, since that's external-facing. Reply 'send' and I'll send exactly that."
   • Problem: Colin is already in the group, and this did not need to be captured as a note or reframed as an external-facing send.
3. Zion clarifies: "He's in this chat @Mia 🤣 Also Colin can you print the visa"
4. Mia replies to the group: "Perfect 🤣 Colin — please bring: bathing suit; comfortable clothes for walking; and print the visa."
5. Zion replies: "Don't need you to restate"

Expected behavior

In group chats, the agent should stay quiet unless one of these is true:

• It is explicitly addressed with a task that requires agent action.
• There is a clear request for Mia to summarize, capture, remind, or coordinate.
• The message contains a household-management item that should be silently remembered without needing a visible reply.

If the intended recipient is already in the group, Mia should not restate the user’s instruction back to the same recipient unless explicitly asked.

Actual behavior

Mia visibly responds and restates instructions that were already directed at another group member, adding unnecessary chat noise and creating the feeling that she is taking notes on irrelevant content.

Suggested fix direction

Add/adjust gateway or agent-level group-chat turn-taking policy:

• Distinguish "overheard group instruction" from "task for the agent".
• In group chats, default to silent capture when capture is useful, or no-op when it is not.
• Treat @mention as permission to answer only the agent-relevant part, not as permission to restate everything in the chat.
• Detect when the addressee is present in the chat and avoid offering external send/delegation language.

Environment

• Platform: WhatsApp group chat
• Component: gateway / agent behavior policy
• Screenshot supplied by Zion on 2026-05-26