{"success": true, "name": "hermes-agent", "description": "Configure, extend, or contribute to Hermes Agent.", "tags": ["hermes", "setup", "configuration", "multi-agent", "spawning", "cli", "gateway", "development"], "related_skills": ["claude-code", "codex", "opencode"], "content": "---\nname: hermes-agent\ndescription: \"Configure, extend, or contribute to Hermes Agent.\"\nversion: 2.1.0\nauthor: Hermes Agent + Teknium\nlicense: MIT\nplatforms: [linux, macos, windows]\nmetadata:\n hermes:\n tags: [hermes, setup, configuration, multi-agent, spawning, cli, gateway, development]\n homepage:
https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent\n related_skills: [claude-code, codex, opencode]\n---\n\n# Hermes Agent\n\nHermes Agent is an open-source AI agent framework by Nous Research that runs in your terminal, messaging platforms, and IDEs. It belongs to the same category as Claude Code (Anthropic), Codex (OpenAI), and OpenClaw — autonomous coding and task-execution agents that use tool calling to interact with your system. Hermes works with any LLM provider (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, local models, and 15+ others) and runs on Linux, macOS, and WSL.\n\nWhat makes Hermes different:\n\n- **Self-improving through skills** — Hermes learns from experience by saving reusable procedures as skills. When it solves a complex problem, discovers a workflow, or gets corrected, it can persist that knowledge as a skill document that loads into future sessions. Skills accumulate over time, making the agent better at your specific tasks and environment.\n- **Persistent memory across sessions** — remembers who you are, your preferences, environment details, and lessons learned. Pluggable memory backends (built-in, Honcho, Mem0, and more) let you choose how memory works.\n- **Multi-platform gateway** — the same agent runs on Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Matrix, Email, and 10+ other platforms with full tool access, not just chat.\n- **Provider-agnostic** — swap models and providers mid-workflow without changing anything else. Credential pools rotate across multiple API keys automatically.\n- **Profiles** — run multiple independent Hermes instances with isolated configs, sessions, skills, and memory.\n- **Extensible** — plugins, MCP servers, custom tools, webhook triggers, cron scheduling, and the full Python ecosystem.\n\nPeople use Hermes for software development, research, system administration, data analysis, content creation, home automation, and anything else that benefits from an AI agent with persistent context and full system access.\n\n**This skill helps you work with Hermes Agent effectively** — setting it up, configuring features, spawning additional agent instances, troubleshooting issues, finding the right commands and settings, and understanding how the system works when you need to extend or contribute to it.\n\n**Docs:**
https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/\n\n## Quick Start\n\n``
bash\n# Install\ncurl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash\n\n# Interactive chat (default)\nhermes\n\n# Single query\nhermes chat -q \"What is the capital of France?\"\n\n# Setup wizard\nhermes setup\n\n# Change model/provider\nhermes model\n\n# Check health\nhermes doctor\n`
\n\n---\n\n## CLI Reference\n\n### Global Flags\n\n`
\nhermes [flags] [command]\n\n --version, -V Show version\n --resume, -r SESSION Resume session by ID or title\n --continue, -c [NAME] Resume by name, or most recent session\n --worktree, -w Isolated git worktree mode (parallel agents)\n --skills, -s SKILL Preload skills (comma-separate or repeat)\n --profile, -p NAME Use a named profile\n --yolo Skip dangerous command approval\n --pass-session-id Include session ID in system prompt\n`
\n\nNo subcommand defaults to chat
.\n\n### Chat\n\n`
\nhermes chat [flags]\n -q, --query TEXT Single query, non-interactive\n -m, --model MODEL Model (e.g. anthropic/claude-sonnet-4)\n -t, --toolsets LIST Comma-separated toolsets\n --provider PROVIDER Force provider (openrouter, anthropic, nous, etc.)\n -v, --verbose Verbose output\n -Q, --quiet Suppress banner, spinner, tool previews\n --checkpoints Enable filesystem checkpoints (/rollback)\n --source TAG Session source tag (default: cli)\n`
\n\n### Configuration\n\n`
\nhermes setup [section] Interactive wizard (model|terminal|gateway|tools|agent)\nhermes model Interactive model/provider picker\nhermes config View current config\nhermes config edit Open config.yaml in $EDITOR\nhermes config set KEY VAL Set a config value\nhermes config path Print config.yaml path\nhermes config env-path Print .env path\nhermes config check Check for missing/outdated config\nhermes config migrate Update config with new options\nhermes auth Interactive credential manager\nhermes auth add PROVIDER Add OAuth or API-key credential (e.g. nous, openai-codex, qwen-oauth)\nhermes auth list List stored credentials\nhermes auth remove PROVIDER Remove a stored credential\nhermes doctor [--fix] Check dependencies and config\nhermes status [--all] Show component status\n`
\n\n### Tools & Skills\n\n`
\nhermes tools Interactive tool enable/disable (curses UI)\nhermes tools list Show all tools and status\nhermes tools enable NAME Enable a toolset\nhermes tools disable NAME Disable a toolset\n\nhermes skills list List installed skills\nhermes skills search QUERY Search the skills hub\nhermes skills install ID Install a skill (ID can be a hub identifier OR a direct https://…/SKILL.md URL; pass --name to override when frontmatter has no name)\nhermes skills inspect ID Preview without installing\nhermes skills config Enable/disable skills per platform\nhermes skills check Check for updates\nhermes skills update Update outdated skills\nhermes skills uninstall N Remove a hub skill\nhermes skills publish PATH Publish to registry\nhermes skills browse Browse all available skills\nhermes skills tap add REPO Add a GitHub repo as skill source\n`
\n\n### MCP Servers\n\n`
\nhermes mcp serve Run Hermes as an MCP server\nhermes mcp add NAME Add an MCP server (--url or --command)\nhermes mcp remove NAME Remove an MCP server\nhermes mcp list List configured servers\nhermes mcp test NAME Test connection\nhermes mcp configure NAME Toggle tool selection\n`
\n\nHow the built-in MCP client connects servers (stdio/HTTP), auto-discovers\ntheir tools, and exposes them as first-class tools, plus catalog install\n(hermes mcp install
): skill_view(name=\"hermes-agent\", file_path=\"references/native-mcp.md\").\n\n### Gateway (Messaging Platforms)\n\n`\nhermes gateway run Start gateway foreground\nhermes gateway install Install as background service\nhermes gateway start/stop Control the service\nhermes gateway restart Restart the service\nhermes gateway status Check status\nhermes gateway setup Configure platforms\n`\n\nSupported platforms: Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Email, SMS, Matrix, Mattermost, Home Assistant, DingTalk, Feishu, WeCom, BlueBubbles (iMessage), Weixin (WeChat), API Server, Webhooks. Open WebUI connects via the API Server adapter.\n\nPlatform docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/\n\n### Sessions\n\n`\nhermes sessions list List recent sessions\nhermes sessions browse Interactive picker\nhermes sessions export OUT Export to JSONL\nhermes sessions rename ID T Rename a session\nhermes sessions delete ID Delete a session\nhermes sessions prune Clean up old sessions (--older-than N days)\nhermes sessions stats Session store statistics\n`\n\n### Cron Jobs\n\n`\nhermes cron list List jobs (--all for disabled)\nhermes cron create SCHED Create: '30m', 'every 2h', '0 9 * * *'\nhermes cron edit ID Edit schedule, prompt, delivery\nhermes cron pause/resume ID Control job state\nhermes cron run ID Trigger on next tick\nhermes cron remove ID Delete a job\nhermes cron status Scheduler status\n`\n\n### Webhooks\n\n`\nhermes webhook subscribe N Create route at /webhooks/\nhermes webhook list List subscriptions\nhermes webhook remove NAME Remove a subscription\nhermes webhook test NAME Send a test POST\n`\n\nFull setup, route config, payload templating, and event-driven agent-run\npatterns: skill_view(name=\"hermes-agent\", file_path=\"references/webhooks.md\").\n\n### Profiles\n\n`\nhermes profile list List all profiles\nhermes profile create NAME Create (--clone, --clone-all, --clone-from)\nhermes profile use NAME Set sticky default\nhermes profile delete NAME Delete a profile\nhermes profile show NAME Show details\nhermes profile alias NAME Manage wrapper scripts\nhermes profile rename A B Rename a profile\nhermes profile export NAME Export to tar.gz\nhermes profile import FILE Import from archive\n`\n\n### Credential Pools\n\n`\nhermes auth add Interactive credential wizard\nhermes auth list [PROVIDER] List pooled credentials\nhermes auth remove P INDEX Remove by provider + index\nhermes auth reset PROVIDER Clear exhaustion status\n`\n\n### Other\n\n`\nhermes insights [--days N] Usage analytics\nhermes update Update to latest version\nhermes pairing list/approve/revoke DM authorization\nhermes plugins list/install/remove Plugin management\nhermes honcho setup/status Honcho memory integration (requires honcho plugin)\nhermes memory setup/status/off Memory provider config\nhermes completion bash|zsh Shell completions\nhermes acp ACP server (IDE integration)\nhermes claw migrate Migrate from OpenClaw\nhermes uninstall Uninstall Hermes\n`\n\n---\n\n## Slash Commands (In-Session)\n\nType these during an interactive chat session. New commands land fairly\noften; if something below looks stale, run /help in-session for the\nauthoritative list or see the [live slash commands reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/slash-commands).\nThe registry of record is hermes_cli/commands.py — every consumer\n(autocomplete, Telegram menu, Slack mapping, /help) derives from it.\n\n### Session Control\n`\n/new (/reset) Fresh session\n/clear Clear screen + new session (CLI)\n/retry Resend last message\n/undo Remove last exchange\n/title [name] Name the session\n/compress Manually compress context\n/stop Kill background processes\n/rollback [N] Restore filesystem checkpoint\n/snapshot [sub] Create or restore state snapshots of Hermes config/state (CLI)\n/background Run prompt in background\n/queue Queue for next turn\n/steer Inject a message after the next tool call without interrupting\n/agents (/tasks) Show active agents and running tasks\n/resume [name] Resume a named session\n/goal [text|sub] Set a standing goal Hermes works on across turns until achieved\n (subcommands: status, pause, resume, clear)\n/redraw Force a full UI repaint (CLI)\n`\n\n### Configuration\n`\n/config Show config (CLI)\n/model [name] Show or change model\n/personality [name] Set personality\n/reasoning [level] Set reasoning (none|minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh|show|hide)\n/verbose Cycle: off → new → all → verbose\n/voice [on|off|tts] Voice mode\n/yolo Toggle approval bypass\n/busy [sub] Control what Enter does while Hermes is working (CLI)\n (subcommands: queue, steer, interrupt, status)\n/indicator [style] Pick the TUI busy-indicator style (CLI)\n (styles: kaomoji, emoji, unicode, ascii)\n/footer [on|off] Toggle gateway runtime-metadata footer on final replies\n/skin [name] Change theme (CLI)\n/statusbar Toggle status bar (CLI)\n`\n\n### Tools & Skills\n`\n/tools Manage tools (CLI)\n/toolsets List toolsets (CLI)\n/skills Search/install skills (CLI)\n/skill Load a skill into session\n/reload-skills Re-scan ~/.hermes/skills/ for added/removed skills\n/reload Reload .env variables into the running session (CLI)\n/reload-mcp Reload MCP servers\n/cron Manage cron jobs (CLI)\n/curator [sub] Background skill maintenance (status, run, pin, archive, …)\n/kanban [sub] Multi-profile collaboration board (tasks, links, comments)\n/plugins List plugins (CLI)\n`\n\n### Gateway\n`\n/approve Approve a pending command (gateway)\n/deny Deny a pending command (gateway)\n/restart Restart gateway (gateway)\n/sethome Set current chat as home channel (gateway)\n/update Update Hermes to latest (gateway)\n/topic [sub] Enable or inspect Telegram DM topic sessions (gateway)\n/platforms (/gateway) Show platform connection status (gateway)\n`\n\n### Utility\n`\n/branch (/fork) Branch the current session\n/fast Toggle priority/fast processing\n/browser Open CDP browser connection\n/history Show conversation history (CLI)\n/save Save conversation to file (CLI)\n/copy [N] Copy the last assistant response to clipboard (CLI)\n/paste Attach clipboard image (CLI)\n/image Attach local image file (CLI)\n`\n\n### Info\n`\n/help Show commands\n/commands [page] Browse all commands (gateway)\n/usage Token usage\n/insights [days] Usage analytics\n/gquota Show Google Gemini Code Assist quota usage (CLI)\n/status Session info (gateway)\n/profile Active profile info\n/debug Upload debug report (system info + logs) and get shareable links\n`\n\n### Exit\n`\n/quit (/exit, /q) Exit CLI\n`\n\n---\n\n## Key Paths & Config\n\n`\n~/.hermes/config.yaml Main configuration\n~/.hermes/.env API keys and secrets (under $HERMES_HOME if set)\n$HERMES_HOME/skills/ Installed skills\n~/.hermes/sessions/ Gateway routing index, request dumps, *.jsonl transcripts (and optional per-session JSON snapshots when sessions.write_json_snapshots: true)\n~/.hermes/state.db Canonical session store (SQLite + FTS5)\n~/.hermes/logs/ Gateway and error logs\n~/.hermes/auth.json OAuth tokens and credential pools\n~/.hermes/hermes-agent/ Source code (if git-installed)\n`\n\nProfiles use ~/.hermes/profiles// with the same layout.\n\n### Config Sections\n\nEdit with hermes config edit or hermes config set section.key value.\n\n| Section | Key options |\n|---------|-------------|\n| model | default, provider, base_url, api_key, context_length |\n| agent | max_turns (90), tool_use_enforcement |\n| terminal | backend (local/docker/ssh/modal), cwd, timeout (180) |\n| compression | enabled, threshold (0.50), target_ratio (0.20) |\n| display | skin, tool_progress, show_reasoning, show_cost |\n| stt | enabled, provider (local/groq/openai/mistral) |\n| tts | provider (edge/elevenlabs/openai/minimax/mistral/neutts) |\n| memory | memory_enabled, user_profile_enabled, provider |\n| security | tirith_enabled, website_blocklist |\n| delegation | model, provider, base_url, api_key, max_iterations (50), reasoning_effort |\n| checkpoints | enabled, max_snapshots (50) |\n\nFull config reference: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration\n\n### Providers\n\n20+ providers supported. Set via hermes model or hermes setup.\n\n| Provider | Auth | Key env var |\n|----------|------|-------------|\n| OpenRouter | API key | OPENROUTER_API_KEY |\n| Anthropic | API key | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY |\n| Nous Portal | OAuth | hermes auth |\n| OpenAI Codex | OAuth | hermes auth |\n| GitHub Copilot | Token | COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN |\n| Google Gemini | API key | GOOGLE_API_KEY or GEMINI_API_KEY |\n| DeepSeek | API key | DEEPSEEK_API_KEY |\n| xAI / Grok | API key | XAI_API_KEY |\n| Hugging Face | Token | HF_TOKEN |\n| Z.AI / GLM | API key | GLM_API_KEY |\n| MiniMax | API key | MINIMAX_API_KEY |\n| MiniMax CN | API key | MINIMAX_CN_API_KEY |\n| Kimi / Moonshot | API key | KIMI_API_KEY |\n| Alibaba / DashScope | API key | DASHSCOPE_API_KEY |\n| Xiaomi MiMo | API key | XIAOMI_API_KEY |\n| Kilo Code | API key | KILOCODE_API_KEY |\n| OpenCode Zen | API key | OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY |\n| OpenCode Go | API key | OPENCODE_GO_API_KEY |\n| Qwen OAuth | OAuth | hermes auth add qwen-oauth |\n| Custom endpoint | Config | model.base_url + model.api_key in config.yaml |\n| GitHub Copilot ACP | External | COPILOT_CLI_PATH or Copilot CLI |\n\nFull provider docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/integrations/providers\n\n### Toolsets\n\nEnable/disable via hermes tools (interactive) or hermes tools enable/disable NAME.\n\n| Toolset | What it provides |\n|---------|-----------------|\n| web | Web search and content extraction |\n| search | Web search only (subset of web) |\n| browser | Browser automation (Browserbase, Camofox, or local Chromium) |\n| terminal | Shell commands and process management |\n| file | File read/write/search/patch |\n| code_execution | Sandboxed Python execution |\n| vision | Image analysis |\n| image_gen | AI image generation |\n| video | Video analysis and generation |\n| tts | Text-to-speech |\n| skills | Skill browsing and management |\n| memory | Persistent cross-session memory |\n| session_search | Search past conversations |\n| delegation | Subagent task delegation |\n| cronjob | Scheduled task management |\n| clarify | Ask user clarifying questions |\n| messaging | Cross-platform message sending |\n| todo | In-session task planning and tracking |\n| kanban | Multi-agent work-queue tools (gated to workers) |\n| debugging | Extra introspection/debug tools (off by default) |\n| safe | Minimal, low-risk toolset for locked-down sessions |\n| spotify | Spotify playback and playlist control |\n| homeassistant | Smart home control (off by default) |\n| discord | Discord integration tools |\n| discord_admin | Discord admin/moderation tools |\n| feishu_doc | Feishu (Lark) document tools |\n| feishu_drive | Feishu (Lark) drive tools |\n| yuanbao | Yuanbao integration tools |\n| rl | Reinforcement learning tools (off by default) |\n| moa | Mixture of Agents (off by default) |\n\nFull enumeration lives in toolsets.py as the TOOLSETS dict; _HERMES_CORE_TOOLS is the default bundle most platforms inherit from.\n\nTool changes take effect on /reset (new session). They do NOT apply mid-conversation to preserve prompt caching.\n\n---\n\n## Security & Privacy Toggles\n\nCommon \"why is Hermes doing X to my output / tool calls / commands?\" toggles — and the exact commands to change them. Most of these need a fresh session (/reset in chat, or start a new hermes invocation) because they're read once at startup.\n\n### Secret redaction in tool output\n\nSecret redaction is **on by default** — tool output (terminal stdout, read_file, web content, subagent summaries, etc.) is scanned for strings that look like API keys, tokens, and secrets before it enters the conversation context and logs. Leave it enabled for normal use:\n\n`bash\nhermes config set security.redact_secrets true # keep enabled globally\n`\n\n**Restart required.** security.redact_secrets is snapshotted at import time — toggling it mid-session (e.g. via export HERMES_REDACT_SECRETS=false from a tool call) will NOT take effect for the running process. Tell the user to change it in config from a terminal, then start a new session. This is deliberate — it prevents an LLM from flipping the toggle on itself mid-task.\n\nDisable only when you deliberately need raw credential-like strings for debugging or redactor development:\n`bash\nhermes config set security.redact_secrets false\n`\n\n### PII redaction in gateway messages\n\nSeparate from secret redaction. When enabled, the gateway hashes user IDs and strips phone numbers from the session context before it reaches the model:\n\n`bash\nhermes config set privacy.redact_pii true # enable\nhermes config set privacy.redact_pii false # disable (default)\n`\n\n### Command approval prompts\n\nBy default (approvals.mode: manual), Hermes prompts the user before running shell commands flagged as destructive (rm -rf, git reset --hard, etc.). The modes are:\n\n- manual — always prompt (default)\n- smart — use an auxiliary LLM to auto-approve low-risk commands, prompt on high-risk\n- off — skip all approval prompts (equivalent to --yolo)\n\n`bash\nhermes config set approvals.mode smart # recommended middle ground\nhermes config set approvals.mode off # bypass everything (not recommended)\n`\n\nPer-invocation bypass without changing config:\n- hermes --yolo …\n- export HERMES_YOLO_MODE=1\n\nNote: YOLO / approvals.mode: off does NOT turn off secret redaction. They are independent.\n\n### Shell hooks allowlist\n\nSome shell-hook integrations require explicit allowlisting before they fire. Managed via ~/.hermes/shell-hooks-allowlist.json — prompted interactively the first time a hook wants to run.\n\n### Disabling the web/browser/image-gen tools\n\nTo keep the model away from network or media tools entirely, open hermes tools and toggle per-platform. Takes effect on next session (/reset). See the Tools & Skills section above.\n\n---\n\n## Voice & Transcription\n\n### STT (Voice → Text)\n\nVoice messages from messaging platforms are auto-transcribed.\n\nProvider priority (auto-detected):\n1. **Local faster-whisper** — free, no API key: pip install faster-whisper\n2. **Groq Whisper** — free tier: set GROQ_API_KEY\n3. **OpenAI Whisper** — paid: set VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY\n4. **Mistral Voxtral** — set MISTRAL_API_KEY\n\nConfig:\n`yaml\nstt:\n enabled: true\n provider: local # local, groq, openai, mistral\n local:\n model: base # tiny, base, small, medium, large-v3\n`\n\n### TTS (Text → Voice)\n\n| Provider | Env var | Free? |\n|----------|---------|-------|\n| Edge TTS | None | Yes (default) |\n| ElevenLabs | ELEVENLABS_API_KEY | Free tier |\n| OpenAI | VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY | Paid |\n| MiniMax | MINIMAX_API_KEY | Paid |\n| Mistral (Voxtral) | MISTRAL_API_KEY | Paid |\n| NeuTTS (local) | None (pip install neutts[all] + espeak-ng) | Free |\n\nVoice commands: /voice on (voice-to-voice), /voice tts (always voice), /voice off.\n\n---\n\n## Spawning Additional Hermes Instances\n\nRun additional Hermes processes as fully independent subprocesses — separate sessions, tools, and environments.\n\n### When to Use This vs delegate_task\n\n| | delegate_task | Spawning hermes process |\n|-|-----------------|--------------------------|\n| Isolation | Separate conversation, shared process | Fully independent process |\n| Duration | Minutes (bounded by parent loop) | Hours/days |\n| Tool access | Subset of parent's tools | Full tool access |\n| Interactive | No | Yes (PTY mode) |\n| Use case | Quick parallel subtasks | Long autonomous missions |\n\n### One-Shot Mode\n\n`\nterminal(command=\"hermes chat -q 'Research GRPO papers and write summary to ~/research/grpo.md'\", timeout=300)\n\n# Background for long tasks:\nterminal(command=\"hermes chat -q 'Set up CI/CD for ~/myapp'\", background=true)\n`\n\n### Interactive PTY Mode (via tmux)\n\nHermes uses prompt_toolkit, which requires a real terminal. Use tmux for interactive spawning:\n\n`\n# Start\nterminal(command=\"tmux new-session -d -s agent1 -x 120 -y 40 'hermes'\", timeout=10)\n\n# Wait for startup, then send a message\nterminal(command=\"sleep 8 && tmux send-keys -t agent1 'Build a FastAPI auth service' Enter\", timeout=15)\n\n# Read output\nterminal(command=\"sleep 20 && tmux capture-pane -t agent1 -p\", timeout=5)\n\n# Send follow-up\nterminal(command=\"tmux send-keys -t agent1 'Add rate limiting middleware' Enter\", timeout=5)\n\n# Exit\nterminal(command=\"tmux send-keys -t agent1 '/exit' Enter && sleep 2 && tmux kill-session -t agent1\", timeout=10)\n`\n\n### Multi-Agent Coordination\n\n`\n# Agent A: backend\nterminal(command=\"tmux new-session -d -s backend -x 120 -y 40 'hermes -w'\", timeout=10)\nterminal(command=\"sleep 8 && tmux send-keys -t backend 'Build REST API for user management' Enter\", timeout=15)\n\n# Agent B: frontend\nterminal(command=\"tmux new-session -d -s frontend -x 120 -y 40 'hermes -w'\", timeout=10)\nterminal(command=\"sleep 8 && tmux send-keys -t frontend 'Build React dashboard for user management' Enter\", timeout=15)\n\n# Check progress, relay context between them\nterminal(command=\"tmux capture-pane -t backend -p | tail -30\", timeout=5)\nterminal(command=\"tmux send-keys -t frontend 'Here is the API schema from the backend agent: ...' Enter\", timeout=5)\n`\n\n### Session Resume\n\n`\n# Resume most recent session\nterminal(command=\"tmux new-session -d -s resumed 'hermes --continue'\", timeout=10)\n\n# Resume specific session\nterminal(command=\"tmux new-session -d -s resumed 'hermes --resume 20260225_143052_a1b2c3'\", timeout=10)\n`\n\n### Tips\n\n- **Prefer delegate_task for quick subtasks** — less overhead than spawning a full process\n- **Use -w (worktree mode)** when spawning agents that edit code — prevents git conflicts\n- **Set timeouts** for one-shot mode — complex tasks can take 5-10 minutes\n- **Use hermes chat -q for fire-and-forget** — no PTY needed\n- **Use tmux for interactive sessions** — raw PTY mode has \\r vs \\n issues with prompt_toolkit\n- **For scheduled tasks**, use the cronjob tool instead of spawning — handles delivery and retry\n\n---\n\n## Durable & Background Systems\n\nFour systems run alongside the main conversation loop. Quick reference\nhere; full developer notes live in AGENTS.md, user-facing docs under\nwebsite/docs/user-guide/features/.\n\n### Delegation (delegate_task)\n\nSynchronous subagent spawn — the parent waits for the child's summary\nbefore continuing its own loop. Isolated context + terminal session.\n\n- **Single:** delegate_task(goal, context, toolsets).\n- **Batch:** delegate_task(tasks=[{goal, ...}, ...]) runs children in\n parallel, capped by delegation.max_concurrent_children (default 3).\n- **Roles:** leaf (default; cannot re-delegate) vs orchestrator\n (can spawn its own workers, bounded by delegation.max_spawn_depth).\n- **Not durable.** If the parent is interrupted, the child is\n cancelled. For work that must outlive the turn, use cronjob or\n terminal(background=True, notify_on_complete=True).\n\nConfig: delegation.* in config.yaml.\n\n### Cron (scheduled jobs)\n\nDurable scheduler — cron/jobs.py + cron/scheduler.py. Drive it via\nthe cronjob tool, the hermes cron CLI (list, add, edit,\npause, resume, run, remove), or the /cron slash command.\n\n- **Schedules:** duration (\"30m\", \"2h\"), \"every\" phrase\n (\"every monday 9am\"), 5-field cron (\"0 9 * * *\"), or ISO timestamp.\n- **Per-job knobs:** skills, model/provider override, script\n (pre-run data collection; no_agent=True makes the script the whole\n job), context_from (chain job A's output into job B), workdir\n (run in a specific dir with its AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md loaded),\n multi-platform delivery.\n- **Invariants:** 3-minute hard interrupt per run, .tick.lock file\n prevents duplicate ticks across processes, cron sessions pass\n skip_memory=True by default, and cron deliveries are framed with a\n header/footer instead of being mirrored into the target gateway\n session (keeps role alternation intact).\n\nUser docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/cron\n\n### Curator (skill lifecycle)\n\nBackground maintenance for agent-created skills. Tracks usage, marks\nidle skills stale, archives stale ones, keeps a pre-run tar.gz backup\nso nothing is lost.\n\n- **CLI:** hermes curator — status, run, pause, resume,\n pin, unpin, archive, restore, prune, backup, rollback.\n- **Slash:** /curator mirrors the CLI.\n- **Scope:** only touches skills with created_by: \"agent\" provenance.\n Bundled + hub-installed skills are off-limits. **Never deletes** —\n max destructive action is archive. Pinned skills are exempt from\n every auto-transition and every LLM review pass.\n- **Telemetry:** sidecar at ~/.hermes/skills/.usage.json holds\n per-skill use_count, view_count, patch_count,\n last_activity_at, state, pinned.\n\nConfig: curator.* (enabled, interval_hours, min_idle_hours,\nstale_after_days, archive_after_days, backup.*).\nUser docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/curator\n\n### Kanban (multi-agent work queue)\n\nDurable SQLite board for multi-profile / multi-worker collaboration.\nUsers drive it via hermes kanban ; dispatcher-spawned workers\nsee a focused kanban_* toolset gated by HERMES_KANBAN_TASK, and\norchestrator profiles can opt into the broader kanban toolset. Normal\nsessions still have zero kanban_* schema footprint unless configured.\n\n- **CLI verbs (common):** init, create, list (alias ls),\n show, assign, link, unlink, comment, complete, block,\n unblock, archive, tail. Less common: watch, stats, runs,\n log, dispatch, daemon, gc.\n- **Worker/orchestrator toolset:** kanban_show, kanban_complete,\n kanban_block, kanban_heartbeat, kanban_comment, kanban_create,\n kanban_link; profiles that explicitly enable the kanban toolset\n outside a dispatcher-spawned task also get kanban_list and\n kanban_unblock for board routing.\n- **Dispatcher** runs inside the gateway by default\n (kanban.dispatch_in_gateway: true) — reclaims stale claims,\n promotes ready tasks, atomically claims, spawns assigned profiles.\n Auto-blocks a task after failure_limit consecutive spawn failures\n (default 2; configurable via kanban.failure_limit or per-task\n max_retries).\n- **Isolation:** board is the hard boundary (workers get\n HERMES_KANBAN_BOARD pinned in env); tenant is a soft namespace\n within a board for workspace-path + memory-key isolation.\n\nUser docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/kanban\n\n---\n\n## Windows-Specific Quirks\n\nHermes runs natively on Windows (PowerShell, cmd, Windows Terminal, git-bash\nmintty, VS Code integrated terminal). Most of it just works, but a handful\nof differences between Win32 and POSIX have bitten us — document new ones\nhere as you hit them so the next person (or the next session) doesn't\nrediscover them from scratch.\n\n### Input / Keybindings\n\n**Alt+Enter doesn't insert a newline.** Windows Terminal intercepts Alt+Enter\nat the terminal layer to toggle fullscreen — the keystroke never reaches\nprompt_toolkit. Use **Ctrl+Enter** instead. Windows Terminal delivers\nCtrl+Enter as LF (c-j), distinct from plain Enter (c-m / CR), and the\nCLI binds c-j to newline insertion on win32 only (see\n_bind_prompt_submit_keys + the Windows-only c-j binding in cli.py).\nSide effect: the raw Ctrl+J keystroke also inserts a newline on Windows —\nunavoidable, because Windows Terminal collapses Ctrl+Enter and Ctrl+J to\nthe same keycode at the Win32 console API layer. No conflicting binding\nexisted for Ctrl+J on Windows, so this is a harmless side effect.\n\nmintty / git-bash behaves the same (fullscreen on Alt+Enter) unless you\ndisable Alt+Fn shortcuts in Options → Keys. Easier to just use Ctrl+Enter.\n\n**Diagnosing keybindings.** Run python scripts/keystroke_diagnostic.py\n(repo root) to see exactly how prompt_toolkit identifies each keystroke\nin the current terminal. Answers questions like \"does Shift+Enter come\nthrough as a distinct key?\" (almost never — most terminals collapse it\nto plain Enter) or \"what byte sequence is my terminal sending for\nCtrl+Enter?\" This is how the Ctrl+Enter = c-j fact was established.\n\n### Config / Files\n\n**HTTP 400 \"No models provided\" on first run.** config.yaml was saved\nwith a UTF-8 BOM (common when Windows apps write it). Re-save as UTF-8\nwithout BOM. hermes config edit writes without BOM; manual edits in\nNotepad are the usual culprit.\n\n### execute_code / Sandbox\n\n**WinError 10106** (\"The requested service provider could not be loaded\nor initialized\") from the sandbox child process — it can't create an\nAF_INET socket, so the loopback-TCP RPC fallback fails before\nconnect(). Root cause is usually **not** a broken Winsock LSP; it's\nHermes's own env scrubber dropping SYSTEMROOT / WINDIR / COMSPEC\nfrom the child env. Python's socket module needs SYSTEMROOT to locate\nmswsock.dll. Fixed via the _WINDOWS_ESSENTIAL_ENV_VARS allowlist in\ntools/code_execution_tool.py. If you still hit it, echo os.environ\ninside an execute_code block to confirm SYSTEMROOT is set. Full\ndiagnostic recipe in references/execute-code-sandbox-env-windows.md.\n\n### Testing / Contributing\n\n**scripts/run_tests.sh doesn't work as-is on Windows** — it looks for\nPOSIX venv layouts (.venv/bin/activate). The Hermes-installed venv at\nvenv/Scripts/ has no pip or pytest either (stripped for install size).\nWorkaround: install pytest + pytest-xdist + pyyaml into a system Python\n3.11 user site, then invoke pytest directly with PYTHONPATH set:\n\n`bash\n\"/c/Program Files/Python311/python\" -m pip install --user pytest pytest-xdist pyyaml\nexport PYTHONPATH=\"$(pwd)\"\n\"/c/Program Files/Python311/python\" -m pytest tests/foo/test_bar.py -v --tb=short -n 0\n`\n\nUse -n 0, not -n 4 — pyproject.toml's default addopts already\nincludes -n, and the wrapper's CI-parity guarantees don't apply off POSIX.\n\n**POSIX-only tests need skip guards.** Common markers already in the codebase:\n- Symlinks — elevated privileges on Windows\n- 0o600 file modes — POSIX mode bits not enforced on NTFS by default\n- signal.SIGALRM — Unix-only (see tests/conftest.py::_enforce_test_timeout)\n- Winsock / Windows-specific regressions — @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform != \"win32\", ...)\n\nUse the existing skip-pattern style (sys.platform == \"win32\" or\nsys.platform.startswith(\"win\")) to stay consistent with the rest of the\nsuite.\n\n### Path / Filesystem\n\n**Line endings.** Git may warn LF will be replaced by CRLF the next time\nGit touches it. Cosmetic — the repo's .gitattributes normalizes. Don't\nlet editors auto-convert committed POSIX-newline files to CRLF.\n\n**Forward slashes work almost everywhere.** C:/Users/... is accepted by\nevery Hermes tool and most Windows APIs. Prefer forward slashes in code\nand logs — avoids shell-escaping backslashes in bash.\n\n---\n\n## Troubleshooting\n\n### Voice not working\n1. Check stt.enabled: true in config.yaml\n2. Verify provider: pip install faster-whisper or set API key\n3. In gateway: /restart. In CLI: exit and relaunch.\n\n### Tool not available\n1. hermes tools — check if toolset is enabled for your platform\n2. Some tools need env vars (check .env)\n3. /reset after enabling tools\n\n### Model/provider issues\n1. hermes doctor — check config and dependencies\n2. hermes auth — re-authenticate OAuth providers (or hermes auth add )\n3. Check .env has the right API key\n4. **Copilot 403**: gh auth login tokens do NOT work for Copilot API. You must use the Copilot-specific OAuth device code flow via hermes model → GitHub Copilot.\n\n### Changes not taking effect\n- **Tools/skills:** /reset starts a new session with updated toolset\n- **Config changes:** In gateway: /restart. In CLI: exit and relaunch.\n- **Code changes:** Restart the CLI or gateway process\n\n### Skills not showing\n1. hermes skills list — verify installed\n2. hermes skills config — check platform enablement\n3. Load explicitly: /skill name or hermes -s name\n\n### Gateway issues\nCheck logs first:\n`bash\ngrep -i \"failed to send\\|error\" ~/.hermes/logs/gateway.log | tail -20\n`\n\nCommon gateway problems:\n- **Gateway dies on SSH logout**: Enable linger: sudo loginctl enable-linger $USER\n- **Gateway dies on WSL2 close**: WSL2 requires systemd=true in /etc/wsl.conf for systemd services to work. Without it, gateway falls back to nohup (dies when session closes).\n- **Gateway crash loop**: Reset the failed state: systemctl --user reset-failed hermes-gateway\n\n### Platform-specific issues\n- **Discord bot silent**: Must enable **Message Content Intent** in Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents.\n- **Slack bot only works in DMs**: Must subscribe to message.channels event. Without it, the bot ignores public channels.\n- **Windows-specific issues** (Alt+Enter newline, WinError 10106, UTF-8 BOM config, test suite, line endings): see the dedicated **Windows-Specific Quirks** section above.\n\n### Auxiliary models not working\nIf auxiliary tasks (vision, compression, session_search) fail silently, the auto provider can't find a backend. Either set OPENROUTER_API_KEY or GOOGLE_API_KEY, or explicitly configure each auxiliary task's provider:\n`bash\nhermes config set auxiliary.vision.provider \nhermes config set auxiliary.vision.model \n`\n\n---\n\n## Where to Find Things\n\n| Looking for... | Location |\n|----------------|----------|\n| Config options | hermes config edit or [Configuration docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration) |\n| Available tools | hermes tools list or [Tools reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/tools-reference) |\n| Slash commands | /help in session or [Slash commands reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/slash-commands) |\n| Skills catalog | hermes skills browse or [Skills catalog](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/skills-catalog) |\n| Provider setup | hermes model or [Providers guide](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/integrations/providers) |\n| Platform setup | hermes gateway setup or [Messaging docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/) |\n| MCP servers | hermes mcp list or [MCP guide](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp) |\n| Profiles | hermes profile list or [Profiles docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/profiles) |\n| Cron jobs | hermes cron list or [Cron docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/cron) |\n| Memory | hermes memory status or [Memory docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/memory) |\n| Env variables | hermes config env-path or [Env vars reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/environment-variables) |\n| CLI commands | hermes --help or [CLI reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/cli-commands) |\n| Gateway logs | ~/.hermes/logs/gateway.log |\n| Session files | hermes sessions browse (reads state.db) |\n| Source code | ~/.hermes/hermes-agent/ |\n\n---\n\n## References\n\n- references/webhooks.md — Full webhook setup, route config, payload templating, event-driven agent-run patterns\n- references/native-mcp.md — Native MCP client: how built-in client connects servers, auto-discovers tools, catalog install\n- references/reverse-proxy-ws-cors.md — Reverse proxy, WebSocket, and CORS configuration for gateway\n- references/custom-skills.md — Custom skill development patterns: directory structure, Node.js/Python skills, face-api.js model weights, Discord mirror bridge integration, common pitfalls\n\n---\n\n## Contributor Quick Reference\n\nFor occasional contributors and PR authors. Full developer docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/developer-guide/\n\n### Project Layout\n\n`\nhermes-agent/\n├── run_agent.py # AIAgent — core conversation loop\n├── model_tools.py # Tool discovery and dispatch\n├── toolsets.py # Toolset definitions\n├── cli.py # Interactive CLI (HermesCLI)\n├── hermes_state.py # SQLite session store\n├── agent/ # Prompt builder, context compression, memory, model routing, credential pooling, skill dispatch\n├── hermes_cli/ # CLI subcommands, config, setup, commands\n│ ├── commands.py # Slash command registry (CommandDef)\n│ ├── config.py # DEFAULT_CONFIG, env var definitions\n│ └── main.py # CLI entry point and argparse\n├── tools/ # One file per tool\n│ └── registry.py # Central tool registry\n├── gateway/ # Messaging gateway\n│ └── platforms/ # Platform adapters (telegram, discord, etc.)\n├── cron/ # Job scheduler\n├── tests/ # ~3000 pytest tests\n└── website/ # Docusaurus docs site\n`\n\nConfig: ~/.hermes/config.yaml (settings), ~/.hermes/.env (API keys) — both under $HERMES_HOME when it is set.\n\n### Adding a Tool (3 files)\n\n**1. Create tools/your_tool.py:**\n`python\nimport json, os\nfrom tools.registry import registry\n\ndef check_requirements() -> bool:\n return bool(os.getenv(\"EXAMPLE_API_KEY\"))\n\ndef example_tool(param: str, task_id: str = None) -> str:\n return json.dumps({\"success\": True, \"data\": \"...\"})\n\nregistry.register(\n name=\"example_tool\",\n toolset=\"example\",\n schema={\"name\": \"example_tool\", \"description\": \"...\", \"parameters\": {...}},\n handler=lambda args, **kw: example_tool(\n param=args.get(\"param\", \"\"), task_id=kw.get(\"task_id\")),\n check_fn=check_requirements,\n requires_env=[\"EXAMPLE_API_KEY\"],\n)\n`\n\n**2. Add to toolsets.py** → _HERMES_CORE_TOOLS list.\n\nAuto-discovery: any tools/*.py file with a top-level registry.register() call is imported automatically — no manual list needed.\n\nAll handlers must return JSON strings. Use get_hermes_home() for paths, never hardcode ~/.hermes.\n\n### Adding a Slash Command\n\n1. Add CommandDef to COMMAND_REGISTRY in hermes_cli/commands.py\n2. Add handler in cli.py → process_command()\n3. (Optional) Add gateway handler in gateway/run.py\n\nAll consumers (help text, autocomplete, Telegram menu, Slack mapping) derive from the central registry automatically.\n\n### Agent Loop (High Level)\n\n`\nrun_conversation():\n 1. Build system prompt\n 2. Loop while iterations < max:\n a. Call LLM (OpenAI-format messages + tool schemas)\n b. If tool_calls → dispatch each via handle_function_call() → append results → continue\n c. If text response → return\n 3. Context compression triggers automatically near token limit\n`\n\n### Testing\n\n`bash\npython -m pytest tests/ -o 'addopts=' -q # Full suite\npython -m pytest tests/tools/ -q # Specific area\n`\n\n- Tests auto-redirect HERMES_HOME to temp dirs — never touch real ~/.hermes/\n- Run full suite before pushing any change\n- Use -o 'addopts=' to clear any baked-in pytest flags\n\n**Windows contributors:** scripts/run_tests.sh currently looks for POSIX venvs (.venv/bin/activate / venv/bin/activate) and will error out on Windows where the layout is venv/Scripts/activate + python.exe. The Hermes-installed venv at venv/Scripts/ also has no pip or pytest — it's stripped for end-user install size. Workaround: install pytest + pytest-xdist + pyyaml into a system Python 3.11 user site (/c/Program Files/Python311/python -m pip install --user pytest pytest-xdist pyyaml), then run tests directly:\n\n`bash\nexport PYTHONPATH=\"$(pwd)\"\n\"/c/Program Files/Python311/python\" -m pytest tests/tools/test_foo.py -v --tb=short -n 0\n`\n\nUse -n 0 (not -n 4) because pyproject.toml's default addopts already includes -n, and the wrapper's CI-parity story doesn't apply off-POSIX.\n\n**Cross-platform test guards:** tests that use POSIX-only syscalls need a skip marker. Common ones already in the codebase:\n- Symlink creation → @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == \"win32\", reason=\"Symlinks require elevated privileges on Windows\") (see tests/cron/test_cron_script.py)\n- POSIX file modes (0o600, etc.) → @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform.startswith(\"win\"), reason=\"POSIX mode bits not enforced on Windows\") (see tests/hermes_cli/test_auth_toctou_file_modes.py)\n- signal.SIGALRM → Unix-only (see tests/conftest.py::_enforce_test_timeout)\n- Live Winsock / Windows-specific regression tests → @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform != \"win32\", reason=\"Windows-specific regression\")\n\n**Monkeypatching sys.platform is not enough** when the code under test also calls platform.system() / platform.release() / platform.mac_ver(). Those functions re-read the real OS independently, so a test that sets sys.platform = \"linux\" on a Windows runner will still see platform.system() == \"Windows\" and route through the Windows branch. Patch all three together:\n\n`python\nmonkeypatch.setattr(sys, \"platform\", \"linux\")\nmonkeypatch.setattr(platform, \"system\", lambda: \"Linux\")\nmonkeypatch.setattr(platform, \"release\", lambda: \"6.8.0-generic\")\n`\n\nSee tests/agent/test_prompt_builder.py::TestEnvironmentHints for a worked example.\n\n### Extending the system prompt's execution-environment block\n\nFactual guidance about the host OS, user home, cwd, terminal backend, and shell (bash vs. PowerShell on Windows) is emitted from agent/prompt_builder.py::build_environment_hints(). This is also where the WSL hint and per-backend probe logic live. The convention:\n\n- **Local terminal backend** → emit host info (OS, $HOME, cwd) + Windows-specific notes (hostname ≠ username, terminal uses bash not PowerShell).\n- **Remote terminal backend** (anything in _REMOTE_TERMINAL_BACKENDS: docker, singularity, modal, daytona, ssh, managed_modal) → **suppress** host info entirely and describe only the backend. A live uname/whoami/pwd probe runs inside the backend via tools.environments.get_environment(...).execute(...), cached per process in _BACKEND_PROBE_CACHE, with a static fallback if the probe times out.\n- **Key fact for prompt authoring:** when TERMINAL_ENV != \"local\", *every* file tool (read_file, write_file, patch, search_files) runs inside the backend container, not on the host. The system prompt must never describe the host in that case — the agent can't touch it.\n\nFull design notes, the exact emitted strings, and testing pitfalls:\nreferences/prompt-builder-environment-hints.md.\n\n**Refactor-safety pattern (POSIX-equivalence guard):** when you extract inline logic into a helper that adds Windows/platform-specific behavior, keep a _legacy_ oracle function in the test file that's a verbatim copy of the old code, then parametrize-diff against it. Example: tests/tools/test_code_execution_windows_env.py::TestPosixEquivalence. This locks in the invariant that POSIX behavior is bit-for-bit identical and makes any future drift fail loudly with a clear diff.\n\n### Commit Conventions\n\n`\ntype: concise subject line\n\nOptional body.\n`\n\nTypes: fix:, feat:, refactor:, docs:, chore:\n\n### Key Rules\n\n- **Never break prompt caching** — don't change context, tools, or system prompt mid-conversation\n- **Message role alternation** — never two assistant or two user messages in a row\n- Use get_hermes_home() from hermes_constants for all paths (profile-safe)\n- Config values go in config.yaml, secrets go in .env\n- New tools need a check_fn` so they only appear when requirements are met\n", "path": "autonomous-ai-agents/hermes-agent/SKILL.md", "skill_dir": "/root/.hermes/skills/autonomous-ai-agents/hermes-agent", "linked_files": {"references": ["references/custom-skills.md", "references/webhooks.md", "references/native-mcp.md", "references/reverse-proxy-ws-cors.md"]}, "usage_hint": "To view linked files, call skill_view(name, file_path) where file_path is e.g. 'references/api.md' or 'assets/config.yaml'", "required_environment_variables": [], "required_commands": [], "missing_required_environment_variables": [], "missing_credential_files": [], "missing_required_commands": [], "setup_needed": false, "setup_skipped": false, "readiness_status": "available", "metadata": {"hermes": {"tags": ["hermes", "setup", "configuration", "multi-agent", "spawning", "cli", "gateway", "development"], "homepage": "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent", "related_skills": ["claude-code", "codex", "opencode"]}}}