hermes-agent/website/docs/user-guide/features/hooks.md

---
sidebar_position: 6
title: "Event Hooks"
description: "Run custom code at key lifecycle points — log activity, send alerts, post to webhooks"
---

# Event Hooks

Hermes has two hook systems that run custom code at key lifecycle points:

| System | Registered via | Runs in | Use case |
|--------|---------------|---------|----------|
| **[Gateway hooks](#gateway-event-hooks)** | `HOOK.yaml` + `handler.py` in `~/.hermes/hooks/` | Gateway only | Logging, alerts, webhooks |
| **[Plugin hooks](#plugin-hooks)** | `ctx.register_hook()` in a [plugin](/docs/user-guide/features/plugins) | CLI + Gateway | Tool interception, metrics, guardrails |

Both systems are non-blocking — errors in any hook are caught and logged, never crashing the agent.

## Gateway Event Hooks

Gateway hooks fire automatically during gateway operation (Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp) without blocking the main agent pipeline.

### Creating a Hook

Each hook is a directory under `~/.hermes/hooks/` containing two files:

```text
~/.hermes/hooks/
└── my-hook/
    ├── HOOK.yaml      # Declares which events to listen for
    └── handler.py     # Python handler function
```

#### HOOK.yaml

```yaml
name: my-hook
description: Log all agent activity to a file
events:
  - agent:start
  - agent:end
  - agent:step
```

The `events` list determines which events trigger your handler. You can subscribe to any combination of events, including wildcards like `command:*`.

#### handler.py

```python
import json
from datetime import datetime
from pathlib import Path

LOG_FILE = Path.home() / ".hermes" / "hooks" / "my-hook" / "activity.log"

async def handle(event_type: str, context: dict):
    """Called for each subscribed event. Must be named 'handle'."""
    entry = {
        "timestamp": datetime.now().isoformat(),
        "event": event_type,
        **context,
    }
    with open(LOG_FILE, "a") as f:
        f.write(json.dumps(entry) + "\n")
```

**Handler rules:**
- Must be named `handle`
- Receives `event_type` (string) and `context` (dict)
- Can be `async def` or regular `def` — both work
- Errors are caught and logged, never crashing the agent

### Available Events

| Event | When it fires | Context keys |
|-------|---------------|--------------|
| `gateway:startup` | Gateway process starts | `platforms` (list of active platform names) |
| `session:start` | New messaging session created | `platform`, `user_id`, `session_id`, `session_key` |
| `session:end` | Session ended (before reset) | `platform`, `user_id`, `session_key` |
| `session:reset` | User ran `/new` or `/reset` | `platform`, `user_id`, `session_key` |
| `agent:start` | Agent begins processing a message | `platform`, `user_id`, `session_id`, `message` |
| `agent:step` | Each iteration of the tool-calling loop | `platform`, `user_id`, `session_id`, `iteration`, `tool_names` |
| `agent:end` | Agent finishes processing | `platform`, `user_id`, `session_id`, `message`, `response` |
| `command:*` | Any slash command executed | `platform`, `user_id`, `command`, `args` |

#### Wildcard Matching

Handlers registered for `command:*` fire for any `command:` event (`command:model`, `command:reset`, etc.). Monitor all slash commands with a single subscription.

### Examples

#### Boot Checklist (BOOT.md) — Built-in

The gateway ships with a built-in `boot-md` hook that looks for `~/.hermes/BOOT.md` on every startup. If the file exists, the agent runs its instructions in a background session. No installation needed — just create the file.

**Create `~/.hermes/BOOT.md`:**

```markdown
# Startup Checklist

1. Check if any cron jobs failed overnight — run `hermes cron list`
2. Send a message to Discord #general saying "Gateway restarted, all systems go"
3. Check if /opt/app/deploy.log has any errors from the last 24 hours
```

The agent runs these instructions in a background thread so it doesn't block gateway startup. If nothing needs attention, the agent replies with `[SILENT]` and no message is delivered.

:::tip
No BOOT.md? The hook silently skips — zero overhead. Create the file whenever you need startup automation, delete it when you don't.
:::

#### Telegram Alert on Long Tasks

Send yourself a message when the agent takes more than 10 steps:

```yaml
# ~/.hermes/hooks/long-task-alert/HOOK.yaml
name: long-task-alert
description: Alert when agent is taking many steps
events:
  - agent:step
```

```python
# ~/.hermes/hooks/long-task-alert/handler.py
import os
import httpx

THRESHOLD = 10
BOT_TOKEN = os.getenv("TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN")
CHAT_ID = os.getenv("TELEGRAM_HOME_CHANNEL")

async def handle(event_type: str, context: dict):
    iteration = context.get("iteration", 0)
    if iteration == THRESHOLD and BOT_TOKEN and CHAT_ID:
        tools = ", ".join(context.get("tool_names", []))
        text = f"⚠️ Agent has been running for {iteration} steps. Last tools: {tools}"
        async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
            await client.post(
                f"https://api.telegram.org/bot{BOT_TOKEN}/sendMessage",
                json={"chat_id": CHAT_ID, "text": text},
            )
```

#### Command Usage Logger

Track which slash commands are used:

```yaml
# ~/.hermes/hooks/command-logger/HOOK.yaml
name: command-logger
description: Log slash command usage
events:
  - command:*
```

```python
# ~/.hermes/hooks/command-logger/handler.py
import json
from datetime import datetime
from pathlib import Path

LOG = Path.home() / ".hermes" / "logs" / "command_usage.jsonl"

def handle(event_type: str, context: dict):
    LOG.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    entry = {
        "ts": datetime.now().isoformat(),
        "command": context.get("command"),
        "args": context.get("args"),
        "platform": context.get("platform"),
        "user": context.get("user_id"),
    }
    with open(LOG, "a") as f:
        f.write(json.dumps(entry) + "\n")
```

#### Session Start Webhook

POST to an external service on new sessions:

```yaml
# ~/.hermes/hooks/session-webhook/HOOK.yaml
name: session-webhook
description: Notify external service on new sessions
events:
  - session:start
  - session:reset
```

```python
# ~/.hermes/hooks/session-webhook/handler.py
import httpx

WEBHOOK_URL = "https://your-service.example.com/hermes-events"

async def handle(event_type: str, context: dict):
    async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
        await client.post(WEBHOOK_URL, json={
            "event": event_type,
            **context,
        }, timeout=5)
```

### How It Works

1. On gateway startup, `HookRegistry.discover_and_load()` scans `~/.hermes/hooks/`
2. Each subdirectory with `HOOK.yaml` + `handler.py` is loaded dynamically
3. Handlers are registered for their declared events
4. At each lifecycle point, `hooks.emit()` fires all matching handlers
5. Errors in any handler are caught and logged — a broken hook never crashes the agent

:::info
Gateway hooks only fire in the **gateway** (Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp). The CLI does not load gateway hooks. For hooks that work everywhere, use [plugin hooks](#plugin-hooks).
:::

## Plugin Hooks

[Plugins](/docs/user-guide/features/plugins) can register hooks that fire in **both CLI and gateway** sessions. These are registered programmatically via `ctx.register_hook()` in your plugin's `register()` function.

```python
def register(ctx):
    ctx.register_hook("pre_tool_call", my_callback)
    ctx.register_hook("post_tool_call", my_callback)
```

### Available Plugin Hooks

| Hook | Fires when | Callback receives |
|------|-----------|-------------------|
| `pre_tool_call` | Before any tool executes | `tool_name`, `args`, `task_id` |
| `post_tool_call` | After any tool returns | `tool_name`, `args`, `result`, `task_id` |
| `pre_llm_call` | Before LLM API request | `session_id`, `user_message`, `conversation_history`, `is_first_turn`, `model`, `platform` |
| `post_llm_call` | After LLM API response | `session_id`, `user_message`, `assistant_response`, `conversation_history`, `model`, `platform` |
| `on_session_start` | Session begins | `session_id`, `model`, `platform` |
| `on_session_end` | Session ends | `session_id`, `completed`, `interrupted`, `model`, `platform` |

Callbacks receive keyword arguments matching the columns above:

```python
def my_callback(**kwargs):
    tool = kwargs["tool_name"]
    args = kwargs["args"]
    # ...
```

### Example: Block Dangerous Tools

```python
# ~/.hermes/plugins/tool-guard/__init__.py
BLOCKED = {"terminal", "write_file"}

def guard(**kwargs):
    if kwargs["tool_name"] in BLOCKED:
        print(f"⚠ Blocked tool call: {kwargs['tool_name']}")

def register(ctx):
    ctx.register_hook("pre_tool_call", guard)
```

See the **[Plugins guide](/docs/user-guide/features/plugins)** for full details on creating plugins.