Create Your First Hermes Skill
Create custom skills that extend Hermes with new capabilities — from API integrations to complex workflows.
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.
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.