Fixing venv import path dynamically | Generated by AI

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Here’s a comprehensive summary of the fix:

Problem

The /note command was failing with:

'ww' package not installed. Install with: pip install -e ~/projects/ww

Root Cause

Hermes Agent runs in its own isolated Python virtual environment at ~/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/. The ww package was installed in the system Python (/opt/homebrew/bin/python3.11) but not in Hermes’ venv. When the plugin tried to from ww.note.create_note_from_clipboard import create_note_from_content, it failed because:

1. ww wasn’t in the venv’s site-packages
2. Even if we installed it with pip install -e ~/projects/ww, the pyperclip dependency was also missing

Solution (Two Parts)

Part 1: Plugin Code Change (~/.hermes/plugins/note/__init__.py)

Before:

try:
    from ww.note.create_note_from_clipboard import create_note_from_content
except ImportError:
    return "'ww' package not installed. Install with: pip install -e ~/projects/ww"

After:

try:
    from ww.note.create_note_from_clipboard import create_note_from_content
except ImportError:
    # Add ww project to path if not installed in current venv
    import sys
    ww_path = str(Path.home() / "projects" / "ww")
    if ww_path not in sys.path:
        sys.path.insert(0, ww_path)
    try:
        from ww.note.create_note_from_clipboard import create_note_from_content
    except ImportError:
        return "'ww' package not installed. Install with: pip install -e ~/projects/ww"

Why this works:

• Instead of requiring ww to be pip-installed in every Python environment, the plugin now dynamically adds the source directory to sys.path
• This allows importing directly from the source tree at ~/projects/ww/
• The fallback error message is preserved if the source directory doesn’t exist

Part 2: Installed Missing Dependency

~/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/bin/python -m ensurepip
~/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/bin/python -m pip install pyperclip

Why this was needed:

• ww depends on pyperclip for clipboard operations
• Even with the source directory in sys.path, the import chain fails if dependencies aren’t installed
• pyperclip was installed in the system Python but not in Hermes’ venv

Verification

~/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/bin/python -c "
import sys
from pathlib import Path
ww_path = str(Path.home() / 'projects' / 'ww')
if ww_path not in sys.path:
    sys.path.insert(0, ww_path)
from ww.note.create_note_from_clipboard import create_note_from_content
print('Import successful!')
"
# Output: Import successful!

Key Insight

Hermes plugins run inside Hermes’ isolated venv, not the system Python. When a plugin depends on local packages (like ww), you have two options:

1. Install in the venv — ~/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/bin/pip install -e ~/projects/ww (requires all dependencies)
2. Add to sys.path — dynamically inject the source directory (what we did)

Option 2 is more robust because it doesn’t require pip-installing the package and its dependencies in every environment.

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