**Status:** Not started (currently Browserbase cloud only)
**Priority:** Medium
Support local Chrome/Chromium via Chrome DevTools Protocol alongside existing Browserbase cloud backend.
**What other agents do:**
- **OpenClaw**: Full CDP-based Chrome control with snapshots, actions, uploads, profiles, file chooser, PDF save, console messages, tab management. Uses local Chrome for persistent login sessions.
- **Cline**: Headless browser with Computer Use (click, type, scroll, screenshot, console logs)
**Our approach:**
- Add a `local` backend option to `browser_tool.py` using Playwright or raw CDP
- Config toggle: `browser.backend: local | browserbase | auto`
-`auto` mode: try local first, fall back to Browserbase
- Local advantages: free, persistent login sessions, no API key needed
- Local disadvantages: no CAPTCHA solving, no stealth mode, requires Chrome installed
- Reuse the same 10-tool interface -- just swap the backend
- Later: Chrome profile management for persistent sessions across restarts
**Status:** Partially implemented (event hooks exist in `gateway/hooks.py`)
**Priority:** Medium
Full Python plugin interface that goes beyond the current hook system.
**What other agents do:**
- **OpenClaw**: Plugin SDK with tool-send capabilities, lifecycle phase hooks (before-agent-start, after-tool-call, model-override), plugin registry with install/uninstall.
- **Pi**: Extensions are TypeScript modules that can register tools, commands, keyboard shortcuts, custom UI widgets, overlays, status lines, dialogs, compaction hooks, raw terminal input listeners. Extremely comprehensive.
- **OpenCode**: MCP client support (stdio, SSE, StreamableHTTP), OAuth auth for MCP servers. Also has Copilot/Codex plugins.
- **Codex**: Full MCP integration with skill dependencies.
- **Cline**: MCP integration + lifecycle hooks with cancellation support.
**Our approach (phased):**
### Phase 1: Enhanced hooks
- Expand the existing `gateway/hooks.py` to support more events: `before-tool-call`, `after-tool-call`, `before-response`, `context-compress`, `session-end`
**Priority:** High -- this is becoming an industry standard
MCP is the protocol that Codex, Cline, and OpenCode all support for connecting to external tool servers. Supporting MCP would instantly give Hermes access to hundreds of community tool servers.
**What other agents do:**
- **Codex**: Full MCP integration with skill dependencies
- After each tool call (or batch of tool calls in a single turn) that modifies files, create a lightweight checkpoint of the affected files
- Git-based when the project is a repo: auto-commit to a detached/temporary branch (`hermes/checkpoints/<session>`) after each agent turn, squash or discard on session end
- Non-git fallback: tar snapshots of changed files in `~/.hermes/checkpoints/<session_id>/`
-`hermes rollback` CLI command to restore to a previous checkpoint
- Agent-accessible via a `checkpoint` tool: `list` (show available restore points), `restore` (roll back to a named point), `diff` (show what changed since a checkpoint)
- Configurable: off by default (opt-in via `config.yaml`), since auto-committing can be surprising