Hermes Agent Skill Authoring Quick-Start

What is a skill?

A skill is a reusable playbook Hermes loads on demand. It lives as a SKILL.md file (plus optional templates, references, and scripts) inside a profile's skills directory. Skills carry domain knowledge so the agent does not have to re-discover procedures every session.

Directory layout

skills/
  my-skill/
    SKILL.md              # required — frontmatter + body
    references/
      api.md              # optional
    templates/
      config.yaml         # optional
    scripts/
      validate.py         # optional

SKILL.md structure

---
name: my-skill
description: One sentence on what it does and when to load it.
---

Body follows the frontmatter. Keep it short: steps, pitfalls, and the exact commands or workflows the agent should run.

Loading a skill

skill_view(name='my-skill')

Call once at the top of a session when the task touches that domain. Do not load process skills (testing, debugging) for work you already know.

Authoring rules

Frontmatter requires only name and description.
Write imperative facts, not instructions to yourself.
Put reusable procedures in the skill body; one-off facts go in memory.
If the skill has templates or scripts, list them in linked_files and load them with a second skill_view(name='my-skill', file_path='...') call.
Test the skill by invoking it on a real task before committing.

When to update a skill

After a correction from the user.
After discovering a new pitfall or a better command.
When a workflow changes across sessions.

Example: minimal working skill

skills/example/SKILL.md:

---
name: example
description: Prints a greeting. Load when user says 'greet me'.
---

echo "Hello from the example skill."

Load it:

skill_view(name='example')

Anti-patterns

Do not author skills during a one-shot run with no later session to reuse them.
Do not put task-specific notes in memory; memory is injected every turn and must stay small.
Do not edit another profile's skills unless the user explicitly directs you.

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