hermes-agent/website/docs/reference/profile-commands.md

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Profile Commands Reference

This page covers all commands related to Hermes profiles. For general CLI commands, see CLI Commands Reference.

hermes profile

hermes profile <subcommand>

Top-level command for managing profiles. Running hermes profile without a subcommand shows help.

Subcommand	Description
list	List all profiles.
use	Set the active (default) profile.
create	Create a new profile.
delete	Delete a profile.
show	Show details about a profile.
alias	Regenerate the shell alias for a profile.
rename	Rename a profile.
export	Export a profile to a tar.gz archive.
import	Import a profile from a tar.gz archive.

hermes profile list

hermes profile list

Lists all profiles. The currently active profile is marked with *.

Example:

$ hermes profile list
  default
* work
  dev
  personal

No options.

hermes profile use

hermes profile use <name>

Sets <name> as the active profile. All subsequent hermes commands (without -p) will use this profile.

Argument	Description
<name>	Profile name to activate. Use default to return to the base profile.

Example:

hermes profile use work
hermes profile use default

hermes profile create

hermes profile create <name> [options]

Creates a new profile.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Name for the new profile. Must be a valid directory name (alphanumeric, hyphens, underscores).
--clone	Copy config.yaml, .env, and SOUL.md from the current profile.
--clone-all	Copy everything (config, memories, skills, sessions, state) from the current profile.
--clone-from <profile>	Clone from a specific profile instead of the current one. Used with --clone or --clone-all.

Examples:

# Blank profile — needs full setup
hermes profile create mybot

# Clone config only from current profile
hermes profile create work --clone

# Clone everything from current profile
hermes profile create backup --clone-all

# Clone config from a specific profile
hermes profile create work2 --clone --clone-from work

hermes profile delete

hermes profile delete <name> [options]

Deletes a profile and removes its shell alias.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Profile to delete.
--yes, -y	Skip confirmation prompt.

Example:

hermes profile delete mybot
hermes profile delete mybot --yes

:::warning This permanently deletes the profile's entire directory including all config, memories, sessions, and skills. Cannot delete the currently active profile. :::

hermes profile show

hermes profile show <name>

Displays details about a profile including its home directory, configured model, gateway status, skills count, and configuration file status.

Argument	Description
<name>	Profile to inspect.

Example:

$ hermes profile show work
Profile: work
Path:    ~/.hermes/profiles/work
Model:   anthropic/claude-sonnet-4 (anthropic)
Gateway: stopped
Skills:  12
.env:    exists
SOUL.md: exists
Alias:   ~/.local/bin/work

hermes profile alias

hermes profile alias <name> [options]

Regenerates the shell alias script at ~/.local/bin/<name>. Useful if the alias was accidentally deleted or if you need to update it after moving your Hermes installation.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Profile to create/update the alias for.
--remove	Remove the wrapper script instead of creating it.
--name <alias>	Custom alias name (default: profile name).

Example:

hermes profile alias work
# Creates/updates ~/.local/bin/work

hermes profile alias work --name mywork
# Creates ~/.local/bin/mywork

hermes profile alias work --remove
# Removes the wrapper script

hermes profile rename

hermes profile rename <old-name> <new-name>

Renames a profile. Updates the directory and shell alias.

Argument	Description
<old-name>	Current profile name.
<new-name>	New profile name.

Example:

hermes profile rename mybot assistant
# ~/.hermes/profiles/mybot → ~/.hermes/profiles/assistant
# ~/.local/bin/mybot → ~/.local/bin/assistant

hermes profile export

hermes profile export <name> [options]

Exports a profile as a compressed tar.gz archive.

Argument / Option	Description
<name>	Profile to export.
-o, --output <path>	Output file path (default: <name>.tar.gz).

Example:

hermes profile export work
# Creates work.tar.gz in the current directory

hermes profile export work -o ./work-2026-03-29.tar.gz

hermes profile import

hermes profile import <archive> [options]

Imports a profile from a tar.gz archive.

Argument / Option	Description
<archive>	Path to the tar.gz archive to import.
--name <name>	Name for the imported profile (default: inferred from archive).

Example:

hermes profile import ./work-2026-03-29.tar.gz
# Infers profile name from the archive

hermes profile import ./work-2026-03-29.tar.gz --name work-restored

hermes -p / hermes --profile

hermes -p <name> <command> [options]
hermes --profile <name> <command> [options]

Global flag to run any Hermes command under a specific profile without changing the sticky default. This overrides the active profile for the duration of the command.

Option	Description
-p <name>, --profile <name>	Profile to use for this command.

Examples:

hermes -p work chat -q "Check the server status"
hermes --profile dev gateway start
hermes -p personal skills list
hermes -p work config edit

hermes completion

hermes completion <shell>

Generates shell completion scripts. Includes completions for profile names and profile subcommands.

Argument	Description
<shell>	Shell to generate completions for: bash or zsh.

Examples:

# Install completions
hermes completion bash >> ~/.bashrc
hermes completion zsh >> ~/.zshrc

# Reload shell
source ~/.bashrc

After installation, tab completion works for:

• hermes profile <TAB> — subcommands (list, use, create, etc.)
• hermes profile use <TAB> — profile names
• hermes -p <TAB> — profile names

See also

• Profiles User Guide
• CLI Commands Reference
• FAQ — Profiles section