fix(doctor): detect + repair stale HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS .env ghost shadowing config.yaml (#38222)

* fix(doctor): detect + repair stale HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS .env ghost shadowing config.yaml

hermes doctor now flags when ~/.hermes/.env carries a HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS
value that disagrees with agent.max_turns in config.yaml, and 'hermes doctor
--fix' removes the stale .env line so config.yaml is authoritative. 'hermes
config show' surfaces the same drift inline under Max turns.

The setup wizard stopped dual-writing this value, but users who edited only
config.yaml from a pre-fix install keep a .env ghost. The gateway bridge
normally overrides it at startup, but if the bridge bails on any earlier
config-parse error the ghost silently wins — config says 400 while the
gateway activity line reads N/90.

The detector reads the .env FILE directly (load_env), not get_env_value/
os.environ, since the startup bridge may already have overwritten os.environ
with the config value.

Closes #17534.

* fix(config): stop offering HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS as an editable env var

Removes HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS from OPTIONAL_ENV_VARS so the dashboard env
editor (PUT /api/env) and any env-var prompt no longer let a user write it
to .env — which would recreate the stale ghost that shadows config.yaml's
agent.max_turns (issue #17534). The iteration budget is configured only via
config.yaml; the env var stays a read-only backward-compat fallback in the
gateway/CLI, never a promoted write target.

Regression test asserts it is absent from OPTIONAL_ENV_VARS.

hermes_cli/config.py

@@ -3346,13 +3346,6 @@ OPTIONAL_ENV_VARS = {
         "password": True,
         "category": "setting",
     },
-    "HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS": {
-        "description": "Maximum tool-calling iterations per conversation (default: 90)",
-        "prompt": "Max iterations",
-        "url": None,
-        "password": False,
-        "category": "setting",
-    },
     # HERMES_TOOL_PROGRESS and HERMES_TOOL_PROGRESS_MODE are deprecated —
     # now configured via display.tool_progress in config.yaml (off|new|all|verbose).
     # Gateway falls back to these env vars for backward compatibility.
@@ -5593,7 +5586,21 @@ def show_config():
     print()
     print(color("◆ Model", Colors.CYAN, Colors.BOLD))
     print(f"  Model:        {config.get('model', 'not set')}")
-    print(f"  Max turns:    {config.get('agent', {}).get('max_turns', DEFAULT_CONFIG['agent']['max_turns'])}")
+    _cfg_max_turns = config.get('agent', {}).get('max_turns', DEFAULT_CONFIG['agent']['max_turns'])
+    print(f"  Max turns:    {_cfg_max_turns}")
+    # Warn on stale HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS ghost in .env that disagrees with
+    # config.yaml (issue #17534). Read the .env FILE directly so we catch the
+    # ghost even when the gateway bridge already overrode os.environ.
+    try:
+        _env_ghost = load_env().get("HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS")
+        if _env_ghost is not None and str(_env_ghost).strip() != str(_cfg_max_turns).strip():
+            print(color(
+                f"                ⚠ .env has stale HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS={_env_ghost} "
+                f"(run 'hermes doctor --fix' to remove)",
+                Colors.YELLOW,
+            ))
+    except Exception:
+        pass
     
     # Display
     print()