Hermes Telegram 409 Conflict / getUpdates loop
Telegram allows only one getUpdates consumer per bot token, so a duplicate gateway - a second container, a different $HERMES_HOME, or a supervisor-revived old deployment - triggers a 409 Conflict loop. Find the second consumer with hermes gateway status and on any host sharing the token, kill it, and switch to webhook mode in production so delivery goes to a single endpoint.
Likely cause
Telegram allows only one getUpdates consumer per bot token. A duplicate gateway - a second container, a different $HERMES_HOME, a supervisor-revived old deployment, or overlapping pollers - triggers a 409 Conflict loop.
The fix
- 1 Find the second consumer: check hermes gateway status and any other host or container using the same bot token.
- 2 Kill the duplicate or supervisor-revived deployment.
- 3 For production, use webhook mode so Telegram delivers to a single endpoint.
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Frequently asked questions
What does 'terminated by other getUpdates request' mean?
Two processes are long-polling Telegram with the same bot token, which Telegram forbids. One of them - often an old container or a supervisor-revived deployment - has to be shut down. Only one consumer per token is allowed.
I only see one gateway running. Where's the duplicate?
Check other hosts, a second container, a different $HERMES_HOME pointing at the same token, or a process manager that revived an old deployment. Any of these polls the same token and triggers the 409 loop.
How do I avoid this in production?
Use webhook mode instead of long polling. Telegram then pushes updates to a single endpoint, so duplicate consumers can't conflict the way getUpdates does.
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