How-To Guide
Create Your First Hermes Skill
Create custom skills that extend Hermes with new capabilities — from API integrations to complex workflows.
Quick answer
Create a Hermes skill by writing a small, documented instruction set the agent loads automatically when relevant. Skills live under ~/.hermes/skills; you can author one by hand or start from a hub skill via `hermes skills install`. Keep each skill narrow and testable so it stays reliable and cheap to load.
Skills are Hermes's superpower — reusable instruction sets that tell the agent exactly how to handle specific tasks. Unlike prompts you repeat manually, skills are loaded automatically when relevant, making Hermes faster and more consistent at specialized work.
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Before you start:
- ☑Hermes Agent installed
- ☑A task or workflow you want Hermes to handle consistently
- ☑Basic understanding of Markdown (skills are written in .md files)
Steps
- 1
Understand the skill structure
Each skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file describing when and how to use the skill
- 2
Create the skill directory
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skills/my-skill and create SKILL.md inside
- 3
Write the SKILL.md
Define the description, trigger conditions, step-by-step instructions, and any reference files
- 4
Add helper scripts
Put any bash scripts, templates, or reference docs in the skill folder
- 5
Test the skill
Trigger the skill by describing the matching task to Hermes and verify it follows your instructions
Pro Tips
- 💡The most important part of SKILL.md is the 'description' field — it's what Hermes uses to decide when to trigger the skill. Be specific about trigger conditions.
- 💡Hermes creates skills automatically from experience — check ~/.hermes/skills/ after a few weeks to see what it has learned on its own
- 💡Browse agentskills.io and ClawHub for community skills before building from scratch — many common workflows are already covered
Troubleshooting
❌ Hermes doesn't trigger the skill when expected
✅ Improve the 'description' field in SKILL.md — it needs to clearly describe WHEN this skill applies. Use phrases that match how you'd naturally ask for the task.
❌ Skill references a script that doesn't execute
✅ Make sure helper scripts in the skill folder are executable: 'chmod +x ~/.hermes/skills/my-skill/script.sh'. Hermes won't auto-chmod scripts.
❌ Skill works in testing but not in practice
✅ Check that the skill folder is in the correct location (~/.hermes/skills/). Run 'hermes skills list' to verify it's detected.
FAQ
Where do Hermes skills live?
Under ~/.hermes/skills. You can author one by hand or install from the hub with `hermes skills install owner/skills/name`, which runs a security scan because skills are executable code.
How is a skill different from just prompting?
A skill is loaded automatically when relevant instead of being re-typed each time. That makes the agent faster and more consistent, and it loads as a compact index rather than re-deriving the workflow every call.
What makes a good skill?
Keep it small, documented, and testable. Change one thing, run it against a real prompt, confirm the tool output, then reuse or publish it. Narrow skills stay reliable; sprawling ones drift.