fix: install.ps1 writes Hermes config template to the wrong location

[asorry75]

Summary

On a fresh Windows install, the Hermes branch of install.ps1 writes the template config.yaml to the wrong location:

$HomeDir = $Prefix   # %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\memos-plugin (code dir)

The daemon reads its runtime config from ~/.hermes/memos-plugin (resolved from Path.home() in bridge_client.py / the bridge), so right after installation the log shows:

config file not found at ~/.hermes/memos-plugin/config.yaml; using defaults

Result: the LLM summarizer and skill-evolution stay disabled on Windows even though the install reported success. Local embedding still works, which makes the failure easy to miss.

Changes

Use the same split as the OpenClaw branch (which already sets $HomeDir = ~/.openclaw\memos-plugin):

$HomeDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".hermes\memos-plugin"

Test

• Verified on Windows: after install, the daemon now finds the template config at the runtime home; LLM summarizer / skill-evolution become available.
• The fix is one line and mirrors the existing OpenClaw branch, so behavior for OpenClaw and non-Windows installs is unchanged.

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Related to #2221 (systemic Hermes home resolution on Windows).

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Note (2026-08-05): #2224 (systemic fix for #2221) covers runtime path resolution; install.ps1 is outside its scope, so this PR addresses the install-script half of the same bug family.

[Memtensor-AI]

🤖 Open Code Review

Target: PR #2211
Task: 03152aa29959c320
Base: main
Head: fix/install-ps1-hermes-runtime-home

🔍 OpenCodeReview found 1 issue(s) in this PR.

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1. apps/memos-local-plugin/install.ps1 (L405)

This changes the runtime home directory from %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\memos-plugin to %USERPROFILE%\.hermes\memos-plugin. For existing installations, user data under the old path (config.yaml, data/, skills/, logs/) will be silently abandoned — Ensure-RuntimeHome will start fresh in the new location without migrating or even warning about the old one. Consider adding a migration block that detects and moves the old directory, or at minimum emits a warning pointing users to the old path.

💡 Suggested Change

Before:

    $HomeDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".hermes\memos-plugin"

After:

    $HomeDir = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".hermes\memos-plugin"
    $LegacyHomeDir = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "hermes\memos-plugin"
    if ((Test-Path $LegacyHomeDir) -and -not (Test-Path $HomeDir)) {
        Write-Info "Migrating runtime home from $LegacyHomeDir to $HomeDir"
        Move-Item -Path $LegacyHomeDir -Destination $HomeDir -Force
    } elseif (Test-Path $LegacyHomeDir) {
        Write-Warn "Legacy runtime home detected at $LegacyHomeDir — it is no longer used. You may remove it manually."
    }

Generated by cloud-assistant via Open Code Review.

[asorry75]

Thanks for the review. A few clarifications from the reporter side:

1. This is not a path change — the path was wrong from day one for new installs.

We hit this as a brand-new user (first install, no legacy data): after a clean Windows install, the daemon logs config file not found at ~/.hermes/memos-plugin/config.yaml; using defaults, and the LLM summarizer / skill-evolution stay disabled. There was nothing to migrate — the template config was simply written to the wrong directory from the start.

The OpenClaw branch already sets $HomeDir = ~/.openclaw\memos-plugin (line 238); the Hermes branch at line 405 uses $HomeDir = $Prefix, which collides the runtime home with the code directory. That is the bug — $HomeDir should always have pointed at the runtime home.

2. Same root cause, second manifestation: #2210

The native-memory import path (server/routes/import-export.ts) has the same wrong assumption: it hardcodes ~/.hermes instead of resolving the actual Hermes home (HERMES_HOME / %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes on Windows). So on a fresh Windows install, both the install-time config placement and the import feature point at a directory that doesn't exist. PR #2210 fixes the import side; this PR fixes the install side.

3. Migration for existing users — agreed, and which approach do you prefer?

Existing installs may have runtime data under the old (wrong) location, possibly mixed with the code. Options:

• (a) migrate only runtime data subdirs (config.yaml, data/, logs/, skills/) to the new home
• (b) move the whole old directory contents (but it also contains code / node_modules)
• (c) create a directory junction from the old location to the new one for backward compatibility

Happy to implement whichever fits this repo best.

[Memtensor-AI]

⚠️ Automated Test Results: ENV ISSUE

The test environment encountered an issue that requires manual attention.

Details: Contract test phase exited with code 4 without running any tests (0 passed, 0 failed), indicating a pytest collection or infrastructure failure unrelated to the diff. [advisory, non-gating] AI-generated tests on branch test/auto-gen-74b9f622a6463748-20260805130806: 27/27 passed — these do NOT affect the PR verdict; review the branch manually.
Branch: fix/install-ps1-hermes-runtime-home

[Memtensor-AI]

⚠️ Automated Test Results: ENV ISSUE

The test environment encountered an issue that requires manual attention.

Details: Contract test phase exited with code 4 without running any tests (0 passed, 0 failed), indicating a test collection or infrastructure failure rather than an actual test failure related to the diff.
Branch: fix/install-ps1-hermes-runtime-home