hermes-agent/website/docs/reference/tools-reference.md

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3	Built-in Tools Reference	Authoritative reference for Hermes built-in tools, grouped by toolset

Built-in Tools Reference

This page documents all 47 built-in tools in the Hermes tool registry, grouped by toolset. Availability varies by platform, credentials, and enabled toolsets.

Quick counts: 11 browser tools, 4 file tools, 10 RL tools, 4 Home Assistant tools, 2 terminal tools, 2 web tools, and 14 standalone tools across other toolsets.

:::tip MCP Tools In addition to built-in tools, Hermes can load tools dynamically from MCP servers. MCP tools appear with a server-name prefix (e.g., github_create_issue for the github MCP server). See MCP Integration for configuration. :::

browser toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
browser_back	Navigate back to the previous page in browser history. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.	—
browser_click	Click on an element identified by its ref ID from the snapshot (e.g., '@e5'). The ref IDs are shown in square brackets in the snapshot output. Requires browser_navigate and browser_snapshot to be called first.	—
browser_console	Get browser console output and JavaScript errors from the current page. Returns console.log/warn/error/info messages and uncaught JS exceptions. Use this to detect silent JavaScript errors, failed API calls, and application warnings. Requi…	—
browser_get_images	Get a list of all images on the current page with their URLs and alt text. Useful for finding images to analyze with the vision tool. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.	—
browser_navigate	Navigate to a URL in the browser. Initializes the session and loads the page. Must be called before other browser tools. For simple information retrieval, prefer web_search or web_extract (faster, cheaper). Use browser tools when you need…	—
browser_press	Press a keyboard key. Useful for submitting forms (Enter), navigating (Tab), or keyboard shortcuts. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.	—
browser_scroll	Scroll the page in a direction. Use this to reveal more content that may be below or above the current viewport. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.	—
browser_snapshot	Get a text-based snapshot of the current page's accessibility tree. Returns interactive elements with ref IDs (like @e1, @e2) for browser_click and browser_type. full=false (default): compact view with interactive elements. full=true: comp…	—
browser_type	Type text into an input field identified by its ref ID. Clears the field first, then types the new text. Requires browser_navigate and browser_snapshot to be called first.	—
browser_vision	Take a screenshot of the current page and analyze it with vision AI. Use this when you need to visually understand what's on the page - especially useful for CAPTCHAs, visual verification challenges, complex layouts, or when the text snaps…	—

clarify toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
clarify	Ask the user a question when you need clarification, feedback, or a decision before proceeding. Supports two modes: 1. Multiple choice — provide up to 4 choices. The user picks one or types their own answer via a 5th 'Other' option. 2.…	—

code_execution toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
execute_code	Run a Python script that can call Hermes tools programmatically. Use this when you need 3+ tool calls with processing logic between them, need to filter/reduce large tool outputs before they enter your context, need conditional branching (…	—

cronjob toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
cronjob	Unified scheduled-task manager. Use action="create", "list", "update", "pause", "resume", "run", or "remove" to manage jobs. Supports skill-backed jobs with one or more attached skills, and skills=[] on update clears attached skills. Cron runs happen in fresh sessions with no current-chat context.	—

delegation toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
delegate_task	Spawn one or more subagents to work on tasks in isolated contexts. Each subagent gets its own conversation, terminal session, and toolset. Only the final summary is returned -- intermediate tool results never enter your context window. TWO…	—

file toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
patch	Targeted find-and-replace edits in files. Use this instead of sed/awk in terminal. Uses fuzzy matching (9 strategies) so minor whitespace/indentation differences won't break it. Returns a unified diff. Auto-runs syntax checks after editing…	—
read_file	Read a text file with line numbers and pagination. Use this instead of cat/head/tail in terminal. Output format: 'LINE_NUM|CONTENT'. Suggests similar filenames if not found. Use offset and limit for large files. NOTE: Cannot read images o…	—
search_files	Search file contents or find files by name. Use this instead of grep/rg/find/ls in terminal. Ripgrep-backed, faster than shell equivalents. Content search (target='content'): Regex search inside files. Output modes: full matches with line…	—
write_file	Write content to a file, completely replacing existing content. Use this instead of echo/cat heredoc in terminal. Creates parent directories automatically. OVERWRITES the entire file — use 'patch' for targeted edits.	—

homeassistant toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
ha_call_service	Call a Home Assistant service to control a device. Use ha_list_services to discover available services and their parameters for each domain.	—
ha_get_state	Get the detailed state of a single Home Assistant entity, including all attributes (brightness, color, temperature setpoint, sensor readings, etc.).	—
ha_list_entities	List Home Assistant entities. Optionally filter by domain (light, switch, climate, sensor, binary_sensor, cover, fan, etc.) or by area name (living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc.).	—
ha_list_services	List available Home Assistant services (actions) for device control. Shows what actions can be performed on each device type and what parameters they accept. Use this to discover how to control devices found via ha_list_entities.	—

:::note Honcho tools (honcho_conclude, honcho_context, honcho_profile, honcho_search) are no longer built-in. They are available via the Honcho memory provider plugin at plugins/memory/honcho/. See Plugins for installation and usage. :::

image_gen toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
image_generate	Generate high-quality images from text prompts using FLUX 2 Pro model with automatic 2x upscaling. Creates detailed, artistic images that are automatically upscaled for hi-rez results. Returns a single upscaled image URL. Display it using…	FAL_KEY

memory toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
memory	Save important information to persistent memory that survives across sessions. Your memory appears in your system prompt at session start -- it's how you remember things about the user and your environment between conversations. WHEN TO SA…	—

messaging toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
send_message	Send a message to a connected messaging platform, or list available targets. IMPORTANT: When the user asks to send to a specific channel or person (not just a bare platform name), call send_message(action='list') FIRST to see available tar…	—

moa toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
mixture_of_agents	Route a hard problem through multiple frontier LLMs collaboratively. Makes 5 API calls (4 reference models + 1 aggregator) with maximum reasoning effort — use sparingly for genuinely difficult problems. Best for: complex math, advanced alg…	OPENROUTER_API_KEY

rl toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
rl_check_status	Get status and metrics for a training run. RATE LIMITED: enforces 30-minute minimum between checks for the same run. Returns WandB metrics: step, state, reward_mean, loss, percent_correct.	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_edit_config	Update a configuration field. Use rl_get_current_config() first to see all available fields for the selected environment. Each environment has different configurable options. Infrastructure settings (tokenizer, URLs, lora_rank, learning_ra…	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_get_current_config	Get the current environment configuration. Returns only fields that can be modified: group_size, max_token_length, total_steps, steps_per_eval, use_wandb, wandb_name, max_num_workers.	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_get_results	Get final results and metrics for a completed training run. Returns final metrics and path to trained weights.	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_list_environments	List all available RL environments. Returns environment names, paths, and descriptions. TIP: Read the file_path with file tools to understand how each environment works (verifiers, data loading, rewards).	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_list_runs	List all training runs (active and completed) with their status.	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_select_environment	Select an RL environment for training. Loads the environment's default configuration. After selecting, use rl_get_current_config() to see settings and rl_edit_config() to modify them.	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_start_training	Start a new RL training run with the current environment and config. Most training parameters (lora_rank, learning_rate, etc.) are fixed. Use rl_edit_config() to set group_size, batch_size, wandb_project before starting. WARNING: Training…	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_stop_training	Stop a running training job. Use if metrics look bad, training is stagnant, or you want to try different settings.	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY
rl_test_inference	Quick inference test for any environment. Runs a few steps of inference + scoring using OpenRouter. Default: 3 steps x 16 completions = 48 rollouts per model, testing 3 models = 144 total. Tests environment loading, prompt construction, in…	TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY

session_search toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
session_search	Search your long-term memory of past conversations. This is your recall -- every past session is searchable, and this tool summarizes what happened. USE THIS PROACTIVELY when: - The user says 'we did this before', 'remember when', 'last ti…	—

skills toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
skill_manage	Manage skills (create, update, delete). Skills are your procedural memory — reusable approaches for recurring task types. New skills go to ~/.hermes/skills/; existing skills can be modified wherever they live. Actions: create (full SKILL.m…	—
skill_view	Skills allow for loading information about specific tasks and workflows, as well as scripts and templates. Load a skill's full content or access its linked files (references, templates, scripts). First call returns SKILL.md content plus a…	—
skills_list	List available skills (name + description). Use skill_view(name) to load full content.	—

terminal toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
process	Manage background processes started with terminal(background=true). Actions: 'list' (show all), 'poll' (check status + new output), 'log' (full output with pagination), 'wait' (block until done or timeout), 'kill' (terminate), 'write' (sen…	—
terminal	Execute shell commands on a Linux environment. Filesystem persists between calls. Do NOT use cat/head/tail to read files — use read_file instead. Do NOT use grep/rg/find to search — use search_files instead. Do NOT use ls to list directori…	—

todo toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
todo	Manage your task list for the current session. Use for complex tasks with 3+ steps or when the user provides multiple tasks. Call with no parameters to read the current list. Writing: - Provide 'todos' array to create/update items - merge=…	—

vision toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
vision_analyze	Analyze images using AI vision. Provides a comprehensive description and answers a specific question about the image content.	—

web toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
web_search	Search the web for information on any topic. Returns up to 5 relevant results with titles, URLs, and descriptions.	EXA_API_KEY or PARALLEL_API_KEY or FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or TAVILY_API_KEY
web_extract	Extract content from web page URLs. Returns page content in markdown format. Also works with PDF URLs — pass the PDF link directly and it converts to markdown text. Pages under 5000 chars return full markdown; larger pages are LLM-summarized.	EXA_API_KEY or PARALLEL_API_KEY or FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or TAVILY_API_KEY

tts toolset

Tool	Description	Requires environment
text_to_speech	Convert text to speech audio. Returns a MEDIA: path that the platform delivers as a voice message. On Telegram it plays as a voice bubble, on Discord/WhatsApp as an audio attachment. In CLI mode, saves to ~/voice-memos/. Voice and provider…	—