Hermes Agent cleaned a messy Python codebase, cutting 27% of lines but overreporting 40%
techlatest_net · reddit · 2026-10-12
The author built a deliberately messy Python CLI task manager, committed it to Git, and gave Hermes Agent one instruction: clean it up, preserve behavior, and verify.
Key results:
- Hermes found duplicated and unused code and simplified the implementation
- When pytest wasn't available, it located a working environment itself
- All 3 existing tests passed after cleanup
- Code shrank from 185 to 135 lines (27%), while Hermes claimed 40% — a reminder to independently verify agent self-reports
The author notes 3 tests can't prove full behavioral preservation and asks how others verify agent refactors (tests, manual diff review, hidden test cases).
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