[Bug]: Local Honcho "base_url" instead of api key does not work

[juspky]

Bug Description

I setup honcho locally.

The docs say that I can set a base_url (which is not camelCase like the other variables btw) in /.honcho/config.json and it will work instead of the API Key.

It does not seem to work.

hermes honcho setup complains if I set no api key.

hermes honcho identity says

~/.honcho# hermes honcho identity
  No API key configured. Run 'hermes honcho setup' first.

this is my honcho config

{
  "hosts": {
    "hermes": {
      "base_url": "http://localhost:8000"
      "peerName": "root",
      "workspace": "hermes",
      "aiPeer": "hermes",
      "memoryMode": "honcho",
      "writeFrequency": "async",
      "recallMode": "hybrid",
      "sessionStrategy": "per-directory",
      "enabled": true,
      "saveMessages": true
    }
  },
}

the part about hermes config set HONCHO_BASE_URL http://localhost:8000 also seems odd to me since this puts the env var into config.yaml

...
  signal:
  - hermes-signal
  homeassistant:
  - hermes-homeassistant
code_execution:
  timeout: 300
  max_tool_calls: 50
HONCHO_BASE_URL: http://localhost:8000

Steps to Reproduce

setup honcho localy
set base_url
run any honcho command

Expected Behavior

Actual Behavior

Affected Component

Agent Core (conversation loop, context compression, memory)

Messaging Platform (if gateway-related)

N/A (CLI only)

Operating System

Ubuntu 24.04

Python Version

.

Hermes Version

v0.4.0 (2026.3.18)

Relevant Logs / Traceback

Root Cause Analysis (optional)

No response

Proposed Fix (optional)

No response

Are you willing to submit a PR for this?

• I'd like to fix this myself and submit a PR

[Ethan0456]

You can try setting a dummy API key using

hermes config set HONCHO_API_KEY your-key

or manually in the honcho JSON config.

I think it should probably work because that will effectively bypass this API key check, letting you run with a local model.

[ygd58]

Submitted a fix in PR #2619. Fixed 3 issues:

1. client.py: base_url now read from both host block and root level in both snake_case (base_url) and camelCase (baseUrl)
2. cmd_setup(): no longer requires API key if base_url is configured for local instances
3. cmd_identity(): now works with base_url alone, without API key

No dummy API key workaround needed after this fix.

[erosika]

Following up here: I submitted PR #2645.

Thanks to @ygd58 for PR #2619, which moved this in the right direction. #2645 picks up the same local/self-hosted base_url issue and extends the coverage a bit further across config resolution, CLI behavior, status output, and docs.

Included in #2645:

• host-level and root-level base_url resolution
• compatibility aliases baseUrl / baseURL when reading config
• setup / identity working without an API key when base_url is configured
• status correctly reflecting local/self-hosted setups
• docs cleanup and troubleshooting guidance

Preferred documented spelling is now base_url.

Tested with:
pytest tests/honcho_integration/test_client.py tests/honcho_integration/test_cli.py tests/test_honcho_client_config.py tests/tools/test_honcho_tools.py tests/gateway/test_honcho_lifecycle.py -q

Result: 67 passed
EOF; __hermes_rc=$?; printf 'HERMES_FENCE_a9f7b3'; exit $__hermes_rc