[macOS][Agent&Skills] Hermes CLI TUI reply text unreadable on light-theme Terminal.app
- Dominant language
- TypeScript
- Stars
- 22.5k
- Forks
- 3.1k
- Avg merge
- 1d 1h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 715
Description
## Description
Hermes CLI TUI renders agent reply body in a hard-coded light color that is unreadable on light-theme terminals. Users on macOS Terminal.app default light profile see empty response boxes — the border and "Hermes" label render correctly, but the reply text inside the box is invisible against the light background. Switching the terminal to a dark profile makes the same reply text legible.
**Platform scope:** Reproduced on macOS Terminal.app default light profile only; other light-theme terminals (VSCode integrated terminal light, GNOME Terminal Solarized Light, Windows Terminal light profile) not tested — root cause is a hard-coded light foreground that does not respect terminal background palette, so all light-theme terminals are likely affected.
**Regression:** Unknown — earlier NemoClaw / hermes-agent versions not re-tested on macOS light-theme Terminal.app.
## Environment
```text
Client (renderer): macOS + Terminal.app default profile (light background)
Sandbox host: Brev Ubuntu 24.04 aarch64
Node.js: v22.23.1
npm: 10.9.8
Docker: 29.2.1
OpenShell CLI: 0.0.72
NemoClaw: v0.0.74
hermes-agent: 0.17.0 (2026.6.19) - from TUI banner
OpenClaw: N/A (Hermes agent, not OpenClaw)
```
## Steps to Reproduce
1. On macOS, open Terminal.app with the default (light-background) profile.
2. SSH into a Brev sandbox running NemoClaw v0.0.74 with a Hermes sandbox onboarded.
3. Connect to the sandbox:
```bash
nemoclaw {sandbox-name} connect
```
4. Inside the sandbox, launch the Hermes TUI:
```bash
hermes
```
5. At the prompt, type `hello` and press Enter.
6. Observe the Hermes response box.
## Expected Result
Hermes agent reply text is legible against the terminal background, regardless of whether the terminal profile is light or dark. `hermes-agent` should either:
- auto-detect terminal theme (`COLORFGBG` / OSC-11), or
- use a neutral color that contrasts with both light and dark backgrounds, or
- honor `NO_COLOR`.
## Actual Result
The Hermes reply box border and label render correctly, but the reply body text inside the box renders in near-white and is not visible against the light Terminal.app background — the box appears empty. Switching Terminal.app to a dark-background profile (and starting a fresh Hermes session so the TUI re-reads terminal capability) shows the same reply text legible against the dark background.
Related pattern (not a duplicate): a Workbench CLI on macOS light-theme Terminal had the same class of issue previously. This indicates light-theme compatibility is a recurring UX gap across NVIDIA CLI/TUI surfaces.
## Logs
```text
Not captured (rendering-only defect; no error emitted; server-side response completed normally as visible in the dark-theme reproduction).
```
Contributor guide
Assessment
This issue has not been assessed yet.