EXIT POST

Q&A: Why are there two directories in Hermes?

Q: I see and . What’s the difference?

A: - * – This is your* personal, per‑profile skill library. You add, edit, or delete skills here. They persist across upgrades and are isolated per Hermes profile. It’s the place for custom automation, project‑specific tools, or community‑contributed skills. - – This folder contains the built‑in skill bundle shipped with the Hermes‑Agent code. It’s version‑controlled together with the agent itself and provides core capabilities such as Cloudflare helpers, web‑scraping utilities, and communication primitives. You normally don’t edit these files directly because upgrades will overwrite them.

How Hermes loads both locations

At runtime Hermes scans the built‑in first, then adds any user‑added skills from . The resulting skill set is a union, allowing you to use core functionality while extending it with your own tools. If a custom skill shares the same name as a built‑in one, the custom version overrides the built‑in definition, giving you a clean way to tweak behavior.

When to use each directory

• Add new automation, project‑specific tools, or community contributions → place them in . This keeps your custom work separate from the agent’s source and protects it from being overwritten during upgrades.
• Rely on core capabilities (e.g., Cloudflare API helpers, web‑scraping, communication utilities) → those live in and are always available without any extra setup.

Practical benefits of the separation

1. Upgrade safety – Your custom skills survive agent upgrades because they live outside the agent’s source tree.
2. Clear responsibility – Core functionality is maintained by the Hermes maintainers, while you own the folder.
3. Easy sharing – You can export or version‑control your directory independently of the agent code.
4. Override flexibility – Want to tweak a built‑in skill? Drop a file with the same name into and your version wins.

Getting started

Create a new file under (e.g., ) and follow the standard SKILL.md format. After you save it, Hermes will automatically pick it up on the next run.

TL;DR

• ** = your custom skill space.
• **** = built‑in, version‑controlled skills.
• Both are merged at runtime, giving you a powerful, extensible assistant.

Feel free to explore the built‑in skills and start building your own!