Hermes Bible Skill

Community knowledge base for Hermes Agent — 169 pages of unofficial docs, 25+ real-world flows, hidden features, SOUL.md patterns, and intent-based routing.

Source: The Hermes Bible · Built by iamlukethedev · Not affiliated with Nous Research.

What's Inside

File	What it does
SKILL.md	Main skill file — router with embedded knowledge, flows catalog, intent mappings
references/patterns.md	SOUL.md templates, delegation patterns, kanban concepts, cron patterns
references/flows-catalog.md	26 real-world flows with intent-based routing
references/hidden-features.md	8 community-sourced hidden Hermes features
references/index.md	Full 169-page documentation index with URLs
references/llms-full.md	Sanitized full-corpus markdown export from llms-full.txt for broad audits/offline lookup

Installation

Supported install modes:

1. Full install (recommended): clone + copy the full skill directory. This preserves SKILL.md and linked references/ files.
2. Light install: install the raw SKILL.md URL. This is useful for quick access, but linked reference files are not included.
3. Bundles: optional slash-command shortcuts for already-installed skills. Bundles do not install the skills they reference.

Recommended: clone + copy the full skill

This is the recommended install path because it copies both SKILL.md and the linked references/ files.

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/DeployFaith/hermes-bible-skill.git
cd hermes-bible-skill

# Install into the default Hermes home
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skills/hermes-bible
cp -r SKILL.md references ~/.hermes/skills/hermes-bible/

For a named Hermes profile:

PROFILE=YOUR_PROFILE
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/profiles/$PROFILE/skills/hermes-bible
cp -r SKILL.md references ~/.hermes/profiles/$PROFILE/skills/hermes-bible/

After copying, start a new Hermes session or run /reload-skills in a supported interactive surface.

Light install: main skill only

Hermes can install a direct URL to the raw SKILL.md file:

hermes skills install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DeployFaith/hermes-bible-skill/main/SKILL.md

This installs only SKILL.md. Hermes fetches the skill file; it does not clone this repository or install references/, bundles/, or scripts/. The clone + copy method above is recommended for the complete experience. In light mode, agents can still answer from the embedded routing tables and fetch live content from llms.txt, llms-full.txt, or specific page URLs when tools permit.

Optional: install a bundle

Bundles add slash commands that load one or more already-installed skills. Install hermes-bible first, then copy a bundle file:

mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skill-bundles
cp bundles/hermes-complete.yaml ~/.hermes/skill-bundles/
hermes bundles reload

Now /hermes-complete loads both hermes-agent and hermes-bible together, assuming both skills are installed.

For a named profile, place the bundle under that profile's Hermes home:

PROFILE=YOUR_PROFILE
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/profiles/$PROFILE/skill-bundles
cp bundles/hermes-complete.yaml ~/.hermes/profiles/$PROFILE/skill-bundles/

What It Covers

Hidden Features (Embedded)

• /handoff — move conversations between platforms
• hermes -c — continue last session
• Context compression levers
• /browser connect — drive your own browser
• REST API endpoints
• Native desktop app
• /steer — redirect mid-task
• /claude-code — Claude Code in the fleet

SOUL.md Operating Contract

Full template for making your agent behave like an operator, not a chatbot.

Real-World Flows

• 4 Agents → PRs for $12 (Jira automation)
• 9-Hour Overnight Workflow
• /goal Playbook (21 workflows)
• The 15 Levels of Hermes Agent Usage
• Polymarket trading agent
• Kanban mastery
• And 20 more...

Documentation Index

169 pages across 10 sections — Getting Started, Core Features, Messaging, Secrets, Skills, Using Hermes, Integrations, Guides, Developer Guide, Reference.

Bundles

The bundles/ directory contains ready-to-use skill bundles:

Bundle	What it does
hermes-bible.yaml	Loads just the community knowledge skill
hermes-complete.yaml	Loads both official docs AND community knowledge together

Install a bundle:

mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skill-bundles
cp bundles/hermes-complete.yaml ~/.hermes/skill-bundles/
hermes bundles reload

Then use /hermes-complete in chat to load both skills at once. Bundles reference installed skills; install hermes-bible first for /hermes-complete to load it successfully.

For a named profile, place the bundle under that profile's Hermes home:

PROFILE=YOUR_PROFILE
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/profiles/$PROFILE/skill-bundles
cp bundles/hermes-complete.yaml ~/.hermes/profiles/$PROFILE/skill-bundles/

How It Works

The skill uses a progressive disclosure pattern:

1. Embedded knowledge — answers common questions instantly (no fetch needed)
2. Reference files — loaded on demand via skill_view for deeper topics
3. Fetch-on-demand — web_extract to hermesbible.com for specific pages

This keeps token usage low (~4K for the main file) while having access to the full 169-page index. The large references/llms-full.md corpus is available for broad audits and offline lookup, but should be loaded only when needed.

Complementary Skills

• hermes-agent — Official docs, config commands, tool lists, setup steps
• hermes-bible — Community knowledge, patterns, workflows, hidden features

Use both together for complete Hermes expertise.

License

MIT — The content is sourced from The Hermes Bible, an unofficial community project. Original documentation is the property of Nous Research.

Self-Updating

The skill includes a self-updater script that fetches the latest content from hermesbible.com's llms.txt and llms-full.txt files and updates the reference files automatically.

Manual Update

# Dry run (default; see what would change)
python3 scripts/hermes-bible-updater.py --dry-run --verbose

# Apply updates without committing or pushing
python3 scripts/hermes-bible-updater.py --write

# Apply updates and create a local commit
python3 scripts/hermes-bible-updater.py --commit

# Apply updates, commit, and push explicitly
python3 scripts/hermes-bible-updater.py --commit --push

By default the updater is safe: it reports changes but does not write, commit, or push unless you pass the corresponding flag. Commit mode stages only generated reference files, not the whole worktree; it must not use git add -A.

Automated Updates (Cron)

Set up a cron job to check weekly:

# Copy the script to your Hermes scripts directory
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/scripts
cp scripts/hermes-bible-updater.py ~/.hermes/scripts/

# Create a cron job (runs every Monday at 3am; dry-run/report only by default)
hermes cron create --name hermes-bible-updater \
  --schedule "0 3 * * 1" \
  --script hermes-bible-updater.py \
  --no-agent

The updater will:

1. Fetch the latest llms.txt from hermesbible.com
2. Parse all docs and flows
3. Compare generated reference files with current files
4. Report new, removed, and changed content
5. Refresh sanitized references/llms-full.md from llms-full.txt unless --skip-full is passed
6. Redact credential-like assignment values before storing the full-corpus mirror
7. Write only with --write or --commit
8. Push only with explicit --commit --push
9. Print a JSON summary suitable for cron notifications