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Alexander Whitestone 341c85381c feat: Timmy's sovereign config — soul, memories, skins, playbooks

Migrated from hermes/hermes-config (now archived).

Contents:
  SOUL.md — Inscription 1, the immutable conscience
  config.yaml — live Hermes harness configuration
  memories/ — persistent agent memory + user profile
  skins/ — timmy.yaml + trismegistus.yaml personalities
  playbooks/ — 6 specialist agent configs
  cron/ — scheduled job definitions
  docs/design-log/ — historical design decisions
  FALSEWORK.md — API cost management strategy
  channel_directory.json — platform channel mappings

Applied as side-car to Hermes harness. No hacking on the harness.

2026-03-24 17:45:12 -04:00

6.7 KiB

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Falsework Principle — API Cost Management

Created: 2026-03-18

Purpose: Document what runs on Claude (expensive), what runs local (free),

and how to incrementally shift load from cloud to local.

The Metaphor

Falsework = temporary scaffolding that holds the structure while it cures. When the permanent structure (local models) can bear the load, remove the scaffolding (cloud API calls). Don't wait for perfection — use what works NOW, upgrade incrementally.

Current State (2026-03-18)

ZERO COST (running now)

Component	What it does	API calls
timmy-status.sh	Gitea + git dashboard (bash)	0
timmy-loopstat.sh	Queue/perf stats from logs	0
timmy-strategy.sh	Strategic view panel	0
timmy-watchdog.sh	Restarts dead tmux panes	0
tower-watchdog.sh	Restarts dead tower panes	0
hermes-startup.sh	Boot orchestrator	0
start-dashboard.sh	tmux layout creator	0
tower-timmy.sh	Timmy's tower side	0 (local)

MODERATE COST (running now)

Component	What it does	API calls
tower-hermes.sh	Hermes side of tower chat	1 Claude/turn
		Gated by Timmy's
		local response time
		(~1 call/30-60sec)

HEAVY COST (NOT running — held)

Component	What it does	API calls
timmy-loop.sh	Continuous triage + delegation	1 Claude Opus/cycle
	+ timmy-loop-prompt.md	Runs continuously
		BIGGEST COST CENTER
kimi-loop.sh	Per-issue coding agent	1 Claude Code/issue
		Bursty, not cont.
hermes (pane 4)	Interactive Hermes chat	Per-interaction

Falsework Migration Plan

Phase 1: DONE — Separate and hold (today)

Split the tmux layout so API-heavy panes don't auto-start
Tower-hermes is the only active Claude consumer
All monitoring is pure bash, zero API cost

Phase 2: Tower Hermes → Local (next)

Tower conversation is LOW STAKES. It's two AIs chatting. This does NOT need Claude Opus.

FALSEWORK APPROACH:

Create ~/.hermes-tower/ config with local-only backend
tower-hermes.sh: change hermes chat to HERMES_HOME=~/.hermes-tower hermes chat
Backend: hermes3:latest or qwen3:30b via Ollama
Result: tower becomes ZERO API COST
Quality: will be dumber but that's fine for conversation

Phase 3: Loop Triage → Hybrid (requires work)

The loop prompt (timmy-loop-prompt.md) does 6 phases. NOT all need Opus:

WHAT CAN GO LOCAL:

Phase 0 (check stop file) — already bash
Phase 1 (fix broken PRs) — needs code reasoning → KEEP CLAUDE
Phase 2 (fast triage) — read issues, score them → LOCAL POSSIBLE A local model can read JSON and assign priorities
Phase 3 (execute top) — depends on task type
Phase 4 (retro) — summarize what happened → LOCAL POSSIBLE
Phase 5/6 (deep triage/cleanup) — periodic → LOCAL POSSIBLE

FALSEWORK APPROACH:

Split the loop into "triage" (local) and "execute" (Claude)
Local model handles: reading issues, scoring, assigning labels
Claude handles: actual code review, complex delegation decisions
Gate: only call Claude when there's real work, not every cycle

Phase 4: Kimi → Local Coding Agent (requires model work)

kimi-loop.sh currently runs kimi which is Claude Code ($2/issue budget).

FALSEWORK OPTIONS: a) Use qwen3:30b as coding agent (has tool use, just slower) b) Use Kimi API (Moonshot) — cheaper than Claude, decent at code c) Keep Claude Code but increase poll interval to reduce frequency d) Only assign Kimi issues that are scoped/small (1-3 files)

RECOMMENDED: Option (c) for now — same agent, less frequent. Then migrate to (a) as local model quality improves.

Phase 5: Smart Routing (permanent structure)

Once local models handle triage reliably:

Enable smart_model_routing in hermes config
Simple turns → hermes3:latest (local, free)
Complex turns → Claude Opus (cloud, paid)
Tower → always local
Loop triage → local, execution → Claude
PR review → always Claude (stakes too high)

Cost Estimation (rough)

Scenario	Claude calls/hour	Opus cost/hour*
Everything on Claude	~120	~$12-24
Current (tower only)	~60	~$6-12
Phase 2 (tower local)	~0	~$0
Phase 3 (loop hybrid)	~10-20	~$1-4
Phase 5 (smart route)	~5-10	~$0.50-2

*Very rough. Depends on prompt size, response length, Opus pricing.

Rules for Falsework

NEVER sacrifice quality gates for cost. If local model can't do PR review reliably, keep it on Claude.
Start with the LOWEST STAKES component. Tower chat → loop triage → PR review. Never the reverse.
Test locally BEFORE removing the scaffolding. Run both paths, compare results, then switch.
Keep the Claude path AVAILABLE. Don't delete configs — comment them out. If local breaks, flip back in 30 seconds.
Monitor degradation. If local triage starts miscategorizing issues, that's the signal to keep Claude for that phase.

Quick Reference: How to Start Each Component

# Zero cost — start freely
~/.hermes/bin/start-dashboard.sh    # tmux layout + status panels
~/.hermes/bin/tower-timmy.sh        # Timmy side (local)
~/.hermes/bin/timmy-watchdog.sh     # cron: */8 * * * *
~/.hermes/bin/tower-watchdog.sh     # cron: */5 * * * *

# Moderate cost — start with awareness
~/.hermes/bin/tower-hermes.sh       # ~1 Claude call per Timmy response

# Heavy cost — start deliberately
~/.hermes/bin/timmy-loop.sh         # Continuous Claude Opus calls
~/.hermes/bin/kimi-loop.sh          # Claude Code per issue
hermes                              # Interactive Hermes (per-interaction)

# Stop everything
touch ~/Timmy-Time-dashboard/.loop/STOP   # stops the loop
tmux kill-session -t timmy-loop           # kills dashboard
tmux kill-session -t tower                # kills tower

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