Hermes Agent

Turn OpenClaw into a learning-loop agent with seeded workspace rules, skill promotion, reflective memory, and proactive maintenance.

Security Scan

The skill's instructions, required resources, and scope are coherent with its stated purpose: it creates and manages a local ~/hermes-agent/ memory and non‑destructively seeds OpenClaw workspace files after asking the user.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description promise a local learning loop and the skill only asks to create/read/write a local ~/hermes-agent/ directory and to add small additive seed blocks to OpenClaw workspace files (AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, HEARTBEAT.md). No network access, binaries, or credentials are requested — this footprint matches the stated purpose.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md and companion files explicitly instruct the agent to create ~/hermes-agent/ files and to patch workspace files non‑destructively. The instructions include sensible guardrails (ask before writing, keep edits additive and small). This is within scope for a learning-loop skill, but it does require write access to the user's home and workspace files — users should expect and authorize those edits before activation.

Install Mechanism

Instruction-only skill with no install spec and no code files. Low installation risk: nothing is downloaded or executed beyond the agent following the prose instructions at runtime.

Credentials

No environment variables, credentials, or external endpoints are requested. The only persistent state is local files under ~/hermes-agent/ and small edits to the existing OpenClaw workspace — this is proportional to the claimed functionality.

Persistence & Privilege

Skill persists local state under ~/hermes-agent/ and may modify workspace files if the user consents. It is not force-enabled (always:false). The platform default allows autonomous invocation, so confirm the agent will ask before making edits as the skill instructs; if you prefer, restrict autonomous execution or require explicit user approval for writes.

Assessment

This skill is internally consistent and low-risk in that it only creates local files and asks to add small, additive seed blocks to your OpenClaw workspace. Before installing: (1) review or back up AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, HEARTBEAT.md so you can revert edits if you don't like them; (2) confirm the agent will ask for permission before writing (the skill's text says it will — make sure runtime behavior matches this); (3) decide whether you want local persistent memory under ~/hermes-agent/ and whether any repos or paths should be excluded; (4) if you are concerned about autonomous edits, keep the skill user-invocable and restrict autonomous agent invocation or test it in a safe workspace first.

When to Use

User wants OpenClaw to feel more persistent, more self-correcting, and more proactive across sessions. Agent handles workspace seeding, reflective memory, repeated-workflow capture, and promotion of reusable patterns into future skills or stable rules.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/hermes-agent/. If ~/hermes-agent/ does not exist, run setup.md. See memory-template.md for structure.

~/hermes-agent/
|-- memory.md            # HOT: current rules, active signals, stable lessons
|-- promotions.md        # Candidate workflows that may graduate into skills
|-- reflections.md       # Recent post-task reflections
|-- workspace-state.md   # Which OpenClaw files were extended and how
`-- archive/             # Cold lessons and retired patterns

Quick Reference

Topic	File
Setup guide	setup.md
Memory template	memory-template.md
Loop design	loop.md
OpenClaw seed blocks	openclaw-seed.md
Skill promotion rules	promotion.md

Core Rules

1. Seed OpenClaw Non-Destructively

• Extend AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, or HEARTBEAT.md only with additive blocks.
• Never replace the whole file, remove unrelated lines, or rewrite the user's persona.
• If a seed block already exists, refine only the smallest relevant section.

2. Retrieve Before Non-Trivial Work

• Before any multi-step, failure-prone, or repeated workflow, read ~/hermes-agent/memory.md.
• Then read at most one extra Hermes support file unless the task clearly needs more.
• Do not load the full Hermes stack "just in case".
• Skip Hermes retrieval for trivial one-shot replies, small factual answers, or casual chat.

3. Reflect Immediately After Significant Work

• After meaningful execution, compare intent, outcome, and friction.
• Write one concise reflection to reflections.md when the lesson is reusable.
• If the lesson changes future behavior, also distill it into memory.md.

4. Promote Repetition Into Stable Capability

• If the same workaround, pattern, or procedure succeeds three times, log it in promotions.md.
• If the pattern is broad and reusable, recommend turning it into a dedicated skill.
• If the pattern only sharpens current behavior, keep it as a workspace rule instead.

5. Keep Memory Bounded and Operational

• memory.md stays short, current, and execution-oriented.
• Move stale or superseded lessons to archive/.
• Prefer one strong rule over five similar notes.
• Prefer AGENTS.md for routing rules, SOUL.md for tone pressure, and HEARTBEAT.md for periodic maintenance. Do not duplicate the same rule in all three.

6. Respect Local Boundaries

• Store only operational lessons, preferences, and workflow decisions.
• Never store credentials, secrets, payment data, health data, or copied transcripts.
• Never modify SKILL.md or claim native OpenClaw hooks that do not exist.

Common Traps

• Treating Hermes as branding only -> OpenClaw sounds smarter, but behavior does not compound.
• Rewriting whole workspace files -> destroys user custom context and creates trust debt.
• Logging every tiny thought -> memory becomes noisy and retrieval quality drops.
• Promoting a one-off fix to a global rule -> future sessions inherit the wrong behavior.
• Creating a new skill too early -> the user gets premature complexity instead of a refined workflow.

Security & Privacy

Data that stays local:

• Lessons, reflections, workspace integration state, and promotion candidates under ~/hermes-agent/
• Additive seed blocks placed in local OpenClaw workspace files

Data that leaves your machine:

• None by this skill itself

This skill does NOT:

• make network requests
• access files outside the local OpenClaw workspace and ~/hermes-agent/
• replace the full contents of AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, or HEARTBEAT.md
• store secrets or sensitive personal data

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• self-improving - capture corrections and recurring lessons so execution quality compounds
• memory - structure durable local memory for agent continuity
• workflow - formalize repeated operating patterns into stable execution sequences
• skill-builder - turn a proven repeated workflow into a dedicated skill package

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star hermes-agent
• Stay updated: clawhub sync