docker

The knowledge seed failed on every container start although the script was in the image. Bare python resolved to the system interpreter.

TL;DR: The CI seed script failed because bare python resolved to the system interpreter, which had none of the project's packages or venv site-packages on its path. Running a script file by path skips CWD, so cd didn't help either. Fix: call the venv interpreter directly with PYTHONPATH set to the project root.

Hand-typed knowledge entries never reached the VPS. A repo-tracked seed file, upserted on every container start, keeps both databases converged.

TL;DR: Hand-typed knowledge entries lived only in the local database, so the VPS was missing four. The fix is a seed file plus a small seeder running on every container start, using INSERT ... ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE keyed on slug.

Wiring env vars in Compose is only half the job; the container still needs a deliberate network path before the LLM search feature can talk to its router.

The upstream image ships no sudo and /etc is ephemeral. A tiny entrypoint override in compose reinstalls passwordless sudo on every boot.

Two small compose decisions, identical paths on both sides and a matched UID, make the host Projects folder safe to use from a container without chmod 777.

My first guess was a ports block in compose. Host-mode already shares the host loopback, and ports actually breaks compose validation.

Two Hermes containers with network_mode: host fought over port 8642. Fix: a single gateway run container with HERMES_DASHBOARD=1, dashboard in-process.

Notes from moving this blog's frontend to Vercel: Next.js standalone output, a multi-stage Dockerfile for a lean image, and preview deployments per branch.