fix(#1195): route sessions to profile dir even when dir doesn't exist yet (#1373)

When a user switched profiles and created a new session, the session
was saved to the default profile directory instead of the active
profile directory — because get_hermes_home_for_profile() silently
fell back to _DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME when the profile directory didn't
exist yet on disk.

Root cause: api/profiles.py:156 had `if profile_dir.is_dir(): return
profile_dir; return _DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME`. New profiles (no session
yet, so no dir) routed every session back to default.

Fix: remove the is_dir() guard, return the profile path
unconditionally. The profile directory is created on first use by
the agent/session layer.

5 regression tests in tests/test_issue1195_session_profile_routing.py:
existing-profile, non-existent-profile (the core fix), None, empty-
string, 'default' all return the expected path.

Co-authored-by: bergeouss <bergeouss@users.noreply.github.com>

api/profiles.py

@@ -153,9 +153,7 @@ def get_hermes_home_for_profile(name: str) -> Path:
     if not name or name == 'default' or not _PROFILE_ID_RE.match(name):
         return _DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME
     profile_dir = _DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME / 'profiles' / name
-    if profile_dir.is_dir():
-        return profile_dir
-    return _DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME
+    return profile_dir
 
 
 _TERMINAL_ENV_MAPPINGS = {

docs/ISSUES.md

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Upstream Issues — Root Cause Analysis
+
+## #1256: Browser tools fail with "Playwright not installed"
+
+### Root Cause
+The check lives in **hermes-agent** (upstream), not hermes-webui:
+
+```
+hermes-agent/tools/browser_tool.py → check_browser_requirements()
+```
+
+`check_browser_requirements()` does not recognize CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol) mode — it only looks for a local Playwright/Puppeteer install. When the agent runs in CDP mode (connecting to an existing browser), the check still fails.
+
+### WebUI side
+The WebUI already passes `CLI_TOOLSETS` correctly per-request. The `enabled_toolsets` field in the cron/chat config is dynamic and works as intended.
+
+### Fix required
+The fix must happen in `hermes-agent/tools/browser_tool.py`:
+- `check_browser_requirements()` should skip the Playwright check when CDP mode is configured
+- Or add a `BROWSER_MODE=cdp` env var that bypasses the local browser requirement
+
+### Workaround
+Use `CLOUD_BROWSER=true` or configure `browser.base_url` to point to a remote CDP endpoint. This bypasses the local Playwright requirement.

tests/test_issue1195_session_profile_routing.py

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+"""Tests for issue #1195: sessions must route to the correct profile directory
+even when that profile directory does not exist yet on disk."""
+
+import os
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import pytest
+
+
+# ── helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def _make_hermes_home(base: Path, profile_name: str | None = None) -> Path:
+    """Create a temp HERMES_HOME (with optional profile dir) and return it."""
+    hermes_home = base / ".hermes"
+    hermes_home.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    if profile_name:
+        (hermes_home / "profiles" / profile_name).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    return hermes_home
+
+
+# ── tests ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+class TestGetHermesHomeForProfile:
+    """get_hermes_home_for_profile() must return the profile path regardless of
+    whether the directory already exists on disk (#1195)."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+    def _patch_default_home(self, tmp_path):
+        """Patch _DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME to a temp directory for isolation."""
+        from api.profiles import _DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME as real_default
+
+        fake_home = tmp_path / ".hermes"
+        fake_home.mkdir(parents=True)
+        with patch("api.profiles._DEFAULT_HERMES_HOME", fake_home):
+            yield fake_home, real_default
+
+    def test_existing_profile_returns_profile_dir(self, _patch_default_home):
+        fake_home, _ = _patch_default_home
+        from api.profiles import get_hermes_home_for_profile
+
+        # Create an existing profile directory
+        profile_dir = fake_home / "profiles" / "ayan"
+        profile_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+
+        result = get_hermes_home_for_profile("ayan")
+        assert result == profile_dir
+
+    def test_nonexistent_profile_still_returns_profile_path(self, _patch_default_home):
+        """Core bug fix: profile dir doesn't exist yet but should still route there."""
+        fake_home, _ = _patch_default_home
+        from api.profiles import get_hermes_home_for_profile
+
+        # Do NOT create the profile directory
+        expected = fake_home / "profiles" / "newprofile"
+        assert not expected.exists()  # confirm it doesn't exist
+
+        result = get_hermes_home_for_profile("newprofile")
+        assert result == expected, "Should route to profile path even when dir missing"
+
+    def test_none_returns_default(self, _patch_default_home):
+        fake_home, _ = _patch_default_home
+        from api.profiles import get_hermes_home_for_profile
+
+        result = get_hermes_home_for_profile(None)
+        assert result == fake_home
+
+    def test_empty_string_returns_default(self, _patch_default_home):
+        fake_home, _ = _patch_default_home
+        from api.profiles import get_hermes_home_for_profile
+
+        result = get_hermes_home_for_profile("")
+        assert result == fake_home
+
+    def test_default_string_returns_default(self, _patch_default_home):
+        fake_home, _ = _patch_default_home
+        from api.profiles import get_hermes_home_for_profile
+
+        result = get_hermes_home_for_profile("default")
+        assert result == fake_home