docs/kanban/multi-gateway.md
Hermes supports multiple gateway processes running concurrently — one per profile (default, writer, admin, coder, researcher). Each gateway opens its own connection to platform APIs and delivers messages for its profile's subscribers.
Task subscriptions also cover review feedback. A changes_requested review
event is delivered as an actionable review-BLOCK notification. Subscriptions
using notify+wake additionally wake the exact originating chat/thread/session
so the controller inspects the existing card and current run; notify remains
passive-only and wake remains wake-only. Review feedback never creates,
unblocks, requeues, or otherwise mutates a task.
Only one gateway owns the kanban dispatcher. The owning gateway keeps
kanban.dispatch_in_gateway: true (the default); every other gateway sets it
to false.
Why this matters: dispatching is single-owner so multiple gateways do not race to spawn the same work. Notification delivery is profile-owned instead: each gateway polls only subscriptions for profiles whose platform adapters it hosts. The atomic event claim prevents duplicate delivery across watcher processes.
On the dispatch-owning gateway (typically the default profile), no change is
needed. On every other profile gateway, add to ~/.hermes/config.yaml:
kanban:
dispatch_in_gateway: false
Or set the env var: HERMES_KANBAN_DISPATCH_IN_GATEWAY=false
| Gateway role | dispatch_in_gateway | Opens subscribed board DBs? | Dispatcher | Notifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| default (confirmed dispatch-lock owner) | true (default) | yes | yes | owned profiles + legacy unstamped subscriptions |
| writer, admin, coder, etc. | false | yes, when the profile has subscriptions | no | that gateway's owned profiles |
Non-dispatch gateways still deliver messages for their own platform adapters (Telegram, Discord, etc.). They do not dispatch tasks, and they skip boards that have no subscriptions owned by their profiles.