Add comprehensive skill for building, testing, and debugging Hermes Agent
RL environments for Atropos training. Includes:
- SKILL.md: Full guide covering HermesAgentBaseEnv interface, required
methods, config class, CLI modes (serve/process/evaluate), reward
function patterns, common pitfalls, and minimum implementation checklist
- New 'Inference Setup' section: instructs the agent to always ask the
user for their inference provider (OpenRouter + model choice, self-hosted
VLLM endpoint, or other OpenAI-compatible API) before running tests
- references/agentresult-fields.md: AgentResult dataclass field reference
- references/atropos-base-env.md: Atropos BaseEnv API reference
- references/usage-patterns.md: Step-by-step patterns for process,
evaluate, serve, and smoke test modes
Will be auto-synced to ~/.hermes/skills/ via skills_sync.
Comprehensive skill for playing Pokemon Red/Blue via the pokemon-agent
package (NousResearch/pokemon-agent). Includes:
- Full startup procedure (uv venv, server, localhost.run dashboard tunnel)
- Save/load lifecycle and naming conventions
- Gameplay loop with emphasis on frequent vision checks
- Hard-learned navigation tips:
- Use vision every 2-4 steps (RAM state is blind to obstacles)
- Wait 2-3 seconds after door/stair warps for map transitions
- Sidestep after exiting buildings to avoid re-entering
- Hold B to speed Gen 1's slow text scrolling
- Ledges are one-way — use vision to find gaps
- Battle strategy, type chart, Gen 1 quirks
- Memory conventions with PKM: prefix
- Progression milestones through all 8 gyms + Elite Four
Adds a 'find-nearby' skill for discovering nearby places using
OpenStreetMap (Overpass + Nominatim). No API keys needed. Works with:
- Coordinates (from Telegram location pins)
- Addresses, cities, zip codes, landmarks (auto-geocoded)
- Multiple place types (restaurant, cafe, bar, pharmacy, etc.)
Returns names, distances, cuisine, hours, addresses, and Google Maps
links (pin + directions). 184-line stdlib-only script.
Also adds Telegram location message handling:
- New MessageType.LOCATION in gateway base
- Telegram adapter handles LOCATION and VENUE messages
- Injects lat/lon coordinates into conversation context
- Prompts agent to ask what the user wants nearby
Inspired by PR #422 (reimplemented with simpler script and broader
skill scope — addresses/cities/zips, not just Telegram coordinates).
Add MCP sampling/createMessage capability via SamplingHandler class.
Text-only sampling + tool use in sampling with governance (rate limits,
model whitelist, token caps, tool loop limits). Per-server audit metrics.
Based on concept from PR #366 by eren-karakus0. Restructured as class-based
design with bug fixes and tests using real MCP SDK types.
50 new tests, 2600 total passing.
Added pitfalls discovered during live abliteration testing:
- Models < 1B have fragmented refusal, respond poorly (0.5B: 60%→20%)
- Models 3B+ work much better (3B: 75%→0% with advanced defaults)
- aggressive method can backfire on small models (made it worse)
- Spectral certification RED is common even when refusal rate is 0%
- Fixed torch property: total_mem → total_memory
AgentMail requires a third-party API key (free tier available, paid
plans from $20/mo) — not appropriate for bundled skills that show
up in every user's system prompt.
Added a Requirements section at the top with clear instructions
to add AGENTMAIL_API_KEY to ~/.hermes/.env. Streamlined setup steps
to avoid duplicating the key in both .env and config.yaml.
New browser capabilities and a built-in skill for agent-driven web QA.
## New tool: browser_console
Returns console messages (log/warn/error/info) AND uncaught JavaScript
exceptions in a single call. Uses agent-browser's 'console' and 'errors'
commands through the existing session plumbing. Supports --clear to reset
buffers. Verified working in both local and Browserbase cloud modes.
## Enhanced tool: browser_vision(annotate=True)
New boolean parameter on browser_vision. When true, agent-browser overlays
numbered [N] labels on interactive elements — each [N] maps to ref @eN.
Annotation data (element name, role, bounding box) returned alongside the
vision analysis. Useful for QA reports and spatial reasoning.
## Config: browser.record_sessions
Auto-record browser sessions as WebM video files when enabled:
- Starts recording on first browser_navigate
- Stops and saves on browser_close
- Saves to ~/.hermes/browser_recordings/
- Works in both local and cloud modes (verified)
- Disabled by default
## Built-in skill: dogfood
Systematic exploratory QA testing for web applications. Teaches the agent
a 5-phase workflow:
1. Plan — accept URL, create output dirs, set scope
2. Explore — systematic crawl with annotated screenshots
3. Collect Evidence — screenshots, console errors, JS exceptions
4. Categorize — severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low) and category
(Functional/Visual/Accessibility/Console/UX/Content)
5. Report — structured markdown with per-issue evidence
Includes:
- skills/dogfood/SKILL.md — full workflow instructions
- skills/dogfood/references/issue-taxonomy.md — severity/category defs
- skills/dogfood/templates/dogfood-report-template.md — report template
## Tests
21 new tests covering:
- browser_console message/error parsing, clear flag, empty/failed states
- browser_console schema registration
- browser_vision annotate schema and flag passing
- record_sessions config defaults and recording lifecycle
- Dogfood skill file existence and content validation
Addresses #315.
Solana blockchain queries are a niche use case — not needed by every user.
Moved from skills/ (bundled) to optional-skills/ (installable via Skills Hub).
Major issues fixed:
- Removed dead APIs: artii.herokuapp.com (404 since Heroku free tier
ended 2022), patorjk.com TAAG AJAX endpoint (404)
- Removed unusable sources: emojicombos.com (3.3MB JS blob, not
curl-accessible), asciiart.eu (art loads via JavaScript only)
New working sources added:
- asciified API (asciified.thelicato.io): free text-to-ASCII REST API,
250+ FIGlet fonts, returns plain text, no auth — perfect remote
alternative when pyfiglet isn't installed
- ascii.co.uk: classic ASCII art archive, art in <pre> tags,
extractable with simple curl + Python parsing
- qrenco.de: QR codes as ASCII art via curl
- wttr.in: weather and moon phase as ASCII art via curl
Also fixed: Tool 6 no longer relies on web_extract inside
execute_code (which was the original #662 bug). All web lookups
now use terminal curl which is universally available.
Skills can now declare runtime prerequisites (env vars, CLI binaries) via
YAML frontmatter. Skills with unmet prerequisites are excluded from the
system prompt so the agent never claims capabilities it can't deliver, and
skill_view() warns the agent about what's missing.
Three layers of defense:
- build_skills_system_prompt() filters out unavailable skills
- _find_all_skills() flags unmet prerequisites in metadata
- skill_view() returns prerequisites_warning with actionable details
Tagged 12 bundled skills that have hard runtime dependencies:
gif-search (TENOR_API_KEY), notion (NOTION_API_KEY), himalaya, imessage,
apple-notes, apple-reminders, openhue, duckduckgo-search, codebase-inspection,
blogwatcher, songsee, mcporter.
Closes#658Fixes#630
Adds a new market-data/polymarket skill for querying Polymarket's public
prediction market APIs. Pure read-only, zero authentication required,
zero external dependencies (stdlib only).
Includes:
- SKILL.md: Agent instructions with key concepts and workflow
- references/api-endpoints.md: Full API reference (Gamma, CLOB, Data APIs)
- scripts/polymarket.py: CLI helper for search, trending, prices, orderbooks,
price history, and recent trades
Addresses #589.
Add Python DDGS library examples for all 4 search types (text, news,
images, videos) with return field documentation, quick reference table,
and validated gotchas. Reorganize to put Python API primary, CLI secondary.
Soften Firecrawl-fallback framing. All examples validated on ddgs==9.11.2.
Add a 'platforms' field to SKILL.md frontmatter that restricts skills
to specific operating systems. Skills with platforms: [macos] only
appear in the system prompt, skills_list(), and slash commands on macOS.
Skills without the field load everywhere (backward compatible).
Implementation:
- skill_matches_platform() in tools/skills_tool.py — core filter
- Wired into all 3 discovery paths: prompt_builder.py, skills_tool.py,
skill_commands.py
- 28 new tests across 3 test files
New bundled Apple/macOS skills (all platforms: [macos]):
- imessage — Send/receive iMessages via imsg CLI
- apple-reminders — Manage Reminders via remindctl CLI
- apple-notes — Manage Notes via memo CLI
- findmy — Track devices/AirTags via AppleScript + screen capture
Docs updated: CONTRIBUTING.md, AGENTS.md, creating-skills.md,
skills.md (user guide)
- Restored 21 skills removed in commits 757d012 and 740dd92:
accelerate, audiocraft, code-review, faiss, flash-attention, gguf,
grpo-rl-training, guidance, llava, nemo-curator, obliteratus, peft,
pytorch-fsdp, pytorch-lightning, simpo, slime, stable-diffusion,
tensorrt-llm, torchtitan, trl-fine-tuning, whisper
- Rewrote sync_skills() with proper update semantics:
* New skills (not in manifest): copied to user dir
* Existing skills (in manifest + on disk): updated via hash comparison
* User-deleted skills (in manifest, not on disk): respected, not re-added
* Stale manifest entries (removed from bundled): cleaned from manifest
- Added sync_skills() to CLI startup (cmd_chat) and gateway startup
(start_gateway) — previously only ran during 'hermes update'
- Updated cmd_update output to show new/updated/cleaned counts
- Rewrote tests: 20 tests covering manifest CRUD, dir hashing, fresh
install, user deletion respect, update detection, stale cleanup, and
name collision handling
75 bundled skills total. 2002 tests pass.
Follow-up to PR #267 merge:
- Fix CLI syntax: -k is keywords, -m is max results (was reversed)
- Add clear trigger condition: use only when web_search tool unavailable
- Remove misleading curl fallback (DuckDuckGo Instant Answer API is not
a web search endpoint)
- Fix package name: ddgs (renamed from duckduckgo-search)
- Add workflow section for search → web_extract pipeline
- Add pitfalls and limitations sections
- Fix author attribution to actual contributor
- Rewrite shell script as simple ddgs wrapper with availability check
emojicombos.com has a huge curated collection of ASCII art, dot art,
kaomoji, and emoji combos searchable via web_extract with a simple
URL pattern: https://emojicombos.com/{term}-ascii-art
No API key needed. Returns modern/meme art, pop culture references,
and kaomoji alongside classic ASCII art. Added as Source A (recommended
first) before asciiart.eu (Source B, classic archive).
Also added GitHub Octocat API as a fun easter egg and kaomoji search
to the decision flow.
Adds 5 additional tools from the awesome-ascii-art ecosystem:
- cowsay: 50+ characters with speech/thought bubbles
- boxes: 70+ decorative border designs, composable with pyfiglet
- toilet: colored text art with rainbow/metal/border filters
- ascii-image-converter: modern image-to-ASCII (PNG/JPEG/GIF/WEBP)
- jp2a: lightweight JPEG-to-ASCII fallback
Also adds fun extras (Star Wars telnet), resource links, and
an expanded decision flow covering all 7 modes.
Ref: github.com/moul/awesome-ascii-art
Adds two primary modes on top of the original LLM-generation approach:
- Mode 1: pyfiglet (571 fonts, pip install, no API key) for text banners
- Mode 2: asciiart.eu search (11,000+ pieces) via web_extract for pre-made art
- Mode 3: LLM-generated art using Unicode palette (original PR, now fallback)
Includes decision flow, font recommendations, and category reference.
Improvements to all 5 skills adapted from obra/superpowers:
- Restored anti-rationalization tables and red flags from originals
(key behavioral guardrails that prevent LLMs from taking shortcuts)
- Restored 'Rule of Three' for debugging (3+ failed fixes = question
architecture, not keep fixing)
- Restored Pattern Analysis and Hypothesis Testing phases in debugging
- Restored 'Why Order Matters' rebuttals and verification checklist in TDD
- Added proper Hermes delegate_task integration with real parameter examples
and toolset specifications throughout
- Added Hermes tool usage (search_files, read_file, terminal) for
investigation and verification steps
- Removed references to non-existent skills (brainstorming,
finishing-a-development-branch, executing-plans, using-git-worktrees)
- Removed generic language-specific sections (Go, Rust, Jest) that
added bulk without agent value
- Tightened prose — cut ~430 lines while adding more actionable content
- Added execution handoff section to writing-plans
- Consistent cross-references between the 5 skills
The ECMA schema directory was misspelled as 'fouth-edition'
instead of 'fourth-edition'. Renamed all 4 files within to
correct the path:
- opc-contentTypes.xsd
- opc-coreProperties.xsd
- opc-digSig.xsd
- opc-relationships.xsd
The ECMA schema directory was misspelled as 'fouth-edition'
instead of 'fourth-edition'. Renamed all 4 files within to
correct the path:
- opc-contentTypes.xsd
- opc-coreProperties.xsd
- opc-digSig.xsd
- opc-relationships.xsd
The ECMA schema directory was misspelled as 'fouth-edition'
instead of 'fourth-edition'. Renamed all 4 files within to
correct the path:
- opc-contentTypes.xsd
- opc-coreProperties.xsd
- opc-digSig.xsd
- opc-relationships.xsd
The ECMA schema directory was misspelled as 'fouth-edition'
instead of 'fourth-edition'. Renamed all 4 files within to
correct the path:
- opc-contentTypes.xsd
- opc-coreProperties.xsd
- opc-digSig.xsd
- opc-relationships.xsd
Unicode-based ASCII art generator skill with multiple styles
(block, shadow, outlined, gradient, decorative frame), character
palette reference, and usage examples. No external dependencies.
Add 5 new skills for professional software development workflows,
adapted from the Superpowers project ( obra/superpowers ):
- test-driven-development: RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle enforcement
- systematic-debugging: 4-phase root cause investigation
- subagent-driven-development: Structured delegation with two-stage review
- writing-plans: Comprehensive implementation planning
- requesting-code-review: Systematic code review process
These skills provide structured development workflows that transform
Hermes from a general assistant into a professional software engineer
with defined processes for quality assurance.
Skills are organized under software-development category and follow
Hermes skill format with proper frontmatter, examples, and integration
guidance with existing skills.
- Introduced a new skill for searching and retrieving academic papers from arXiv using their REST API, allowing searches by keyword, author, category, or ID.
- Added a helper script for clean output of search results, including options for sorting and filtering.
- Created a DESCRIPTION.md file outlining the purpose and functionality of the research skills.
- Introduced new skills for extracting text from PDFs, scanned documents, and images using OCR and document parsing tools.
- Added detailed documentation for usage and installation of `pymupdf` and `marker-pdf` for local extraction.
- Implemented scripts for text extraction with both lightweight and high-quality options, including support for various document formats.
- Updated web extraction functionality to handle PDF URLs directly, enhancing usability for academic papers and documents.
