Error in tool execution: Strings must be encoded before hashing (incl. fix)

[ekr1]

Issue

This is a bug in v1.0.5 because I cannot run later versions due to unrelated issues. Hence just text and no PR; it may not be relevant anymore.

agent> Try "echo" to see if you can start shell commands.

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Tool Call: Local • Command

Command:
echo hello
Tool errors. Try again:
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Tool Call: Local • Command

Options: timeout=10s
Command:
echo hello
Shell broken. `Local--Command` fail both times: `Error in tool execution: Strings must be encoded before hashing`.
Bug in tool wrapper, not command. Cannot start shell commands now.
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Tool Call: Local • Orchestrate

Code:
 cmd = Agent.get_tool("Local--Command")
 r = await cmd.call(command="echo hello", timeout=10)
 print(Agent.peek(r))
Orchestration execution error: Strings must be encoded before hashing
Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "/Users/me/Documents/src/cecli-fork/cecli/helpers/orchestration/environment.py", line 514, in execute
 result = await runner_coro
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 File "<agent_env>", line 2, in __agent_async_runner
 File "/Users/me/Documents/src/cecli-fork/cecli/helpers/orchestration/tool_proxy.py", line 155, in call
 result = await result
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^
 File "/Users/me/Documents/src/cecli-fork/cecli/tools/command.py", line 185, in execute
 confirmed = await cls._get_confirmation(coder, command, background)
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 File "/Users/me/Documents/src/cecli-fork/cecli/tools/command.py", line 220, in _get_confirmation
 command_hash = cls._hash_command(command_string)
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 File "/Users/me/Documents/src/cecli-fork/cecli/tools/command.py", line 111, in _hash_command
 return xxhash.xxh64(command).hexdigest()
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
TypeError: Strings must be encoded before hashing

It is fixed by this diff:

diff --git a/cecli/helpers/background_commands.py b/cecli/helpers/background_commands.py
index 47d4e1c41..6a5d86864 100644
--- a/cecli/helpers/background_commands.py
+++ b/cecli/helpers/background_commands.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Provides a static BackgroundCommandManager class for running shell commands
 in the background and capturing their output for injection into chat streams.
 """
 
+import hashlib
 import os
 import platform
 import subprocess
@@ -419,7 +420,8 @@ class BackgroundCommandManager:
 Unique command key
 """
 with cls._lock:
- key = f"bg_{cls._next_id}_{hash(command) % 10000:04d}"
+ digest = int.from_bytes(hashlib.sha256(command.encode("utf-8")).digest()[:4], "big")
+ key = f"bg_{cls._next_id}_{digest % 10000:04d}"
 cls._next_id += 1
 return key
 
diff --git a/cecli/tools/command.py b/cecli/tools/command.py
index 6a9b762e2..3712fcd5c 100644
--- a/cecli/tools/command.py
+++ b/cecli/tools/command.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class Tool(BaseTool):
 if not command:
 return command
 
- return xxhash.xxh64(command).hexdigest()
+ return xxhash.xxh64(command.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
 
 @classmethod
 async def execute(

Version and model info

cecli v1.0.5.dev+less
Models claude-opus-4.8 (main) • claude-haiku-4.5 (weak)
Settings agent (edit format) • 2k think tokens • infinite output
Environment .git (2,373 files) • Warning: For large repos, consider using --subtree-only and .cecli.ignore •
map (4096 tokens, auto refresh)
├─ Subagents memorizer • worker
├─ Skills caveman
└─ Servers Local