Resumable ESTOP sentinel at $HERMES_HOME/ESTOP that halts NEW work only:
- agent/estop.py: sentinel engage/disengage/is_engaged (single stat, no
caching), optional reason + timestamp stored as JSON, paused_reply()
notice, check_paused() log-once-per-engagement helper. Corrupt/empty
sentinel still pauses (fail safe); a `touch ~/.hermes/ESTOP` works.
- cron/scheduler.py: tick() skips dispatch while engaged (logged once per
engagement, not per tick). Due jobs simply wait for the next tick after
resume — in-flight runs are never touched.
- gateway/kanban_watchers.py: dispatcher skips auto-decompose and worker
spawning while engaged; zombie reaping still runs and running workers
finish naturally.
- gateway/run.py: new gateway turns (post-auth, non-internal) get a brief
"Hermes is paused" reply instead of an agent run. Internal events
(in-flight background completions) bypass the gate.
- hermes_cli/subcommands/pause.py: `hermes pause [--reason]` and
`hermes resume`, wired into main() and _BUILTIN_SUBCOMMANDS.
- hermes_cli/status.py: `hermes status` shows a PAUSED banner (one stat).
- tests/test_estop.py: 20 tests — sentinel lifecycle, reason surfacing,
log-once, cron skip + resume, kanban gate, gateway paused reply +
internal bypass, CLI idempotence, builtin-set parity, status line.
Never kills in-flight work; resumable with no restart. Footprint ladder:
CLI command only, no new model tool, no new env vars.
Ported from: gastownhall/gastown estop.go (MIT); related prior art:
#26778 (/panic — kill/exit semantics, deliberately different: ours is a
resumable pause), #44617 (interrupt in-flight cron — out of scope here).
Teknium