Hermes Agent CLI Tools: List and What Each One Does

The CLI surface in one sentence

Hermes Agent’s CLI today: chat, config, sessions, cron, skills, plugins, memory, fact_store, curator. Each is one subcommand with subcommand-specific flags. The --toolsets flag scopes the loaded tools for any single call.

The full command tree starts at hermes --help and goes two levels deep. Group the commands by their role.

The chat subcommand

hermes chat is the primary agent invocation. Modes:

• hermes chat -q "Reply with OK" — single-shot query. Useful for cron and tooling.
• hermes chat (no -q) — interactive REPL. Useful for exploration.
• hermes chat --provider <name> — pick a specific provider. Useful when testing a model switch.
• hermes chat --model <name> — pick a specific model within the chosen provider.
• hermes chat --toolsets web,terminal — load only the listed toolsets; the rest stay unloaded. Smaller model context, faster response.
• hermes chat --resume <session_id> — continue a prior session.

Three flag patterns worth memorizing:

1. -q "..." — query mode. The most useful for cron and tests.
2. --toolsets ... — tool loading is per-call. Default loads every toolset.
3. --toolsets="" — load nothing; the agent is just the bare LLM with no tools.

The config subcommand

hermes config reads and writes ~/.hermes/config.yaml. Modes:

• hermes config show — print the active config.
• hermes config show --provider <name> — print one provider’s config (api_key masked).
• hermes config set <key> <value> — set a single config key. Persists.
• hermes config get <key> — read a single key.

The config keys are dotted paths: provider.openai.api_key, provider.anthropic.default_model, default_provider. Setting a key requires the right section to exist; if it doesn’t, hermes config set errors.

The sessions subcommand

hermes sessions reads ~/.hermes/sessions.sqlite (or analogous). Modes:

• hermes sessions list --source <backend> — list sessions from one backend (default: local).
• hermes sessions search <query> — full-text search across session content.
• hermes sessions resume <session_id> — resume a prior session.
• hermes sessions continue <session_id> — alias for resume; matches the --continue flag on chat.

The --source flag is mandatory for list (without it, you get the union of all backends which can be huge).

The cron subcommand

hermes cron manages scheduled jobs. Modes:

• hermes cron list — list jobs with their schedules.
• hermes cron create --prompt "..." --schedule "30 11 * * *" — create a new job.
• hermes cron pause <job_id> — pause a job.
• hermes cron resume <job_id> — resume a paused job.
• hermes cron update <job_id> --prompt "..." — change the prompt.
• hermes cron run <job_id> — fire the job immediately (single-shot).
• hermes cron remove <job_id> — delete.

The create and update modes take a self-contained prompt. The cron-run session is fresh — no memory, no skills, no session history. The prompt must include all context the job needs.

The skills subcommand

hermes skills lists and inspects skills. Modes:

• hermes skills list — all installed skills.
• hermes skills browse — interactive skill browser (prompts for filter).
• hermes skills view <name> — show the SKILL.md frontmatter and content.
• hermes skills create — start a new skill (writes a SKILL.md stub).

The view and create modes operate on ~/.hermes/profiles/<active>/skills/.

The plugins subcommand

hermes plugins lists and inspects plugins. Modes:

• hermes plugins list — installed plugins.
• hermes plugins load <name> — re-load a plugin at runtime.
• hermes plugins unload <name> — unload.

Plugins live at /opt/hermes/plugins/<name>/ and use the register(ctx) entry-point. The plugins listing includes the version, the entry point, and whether it’s currently active.

The memory subcommand

hermes memory reads and writes the persistent memory file. Modes:

• hermes memory list — show current memory entries.
• hermes memory add "<text>" — add an entry. Goes through Johnny5 routing gate.
• hermes memory remove <id> — remove.
• hermes memory search "<query>" — search across memory entries.

The add mode is the Johnny5 gate: an entry must be a stable, cross-cutting fact (not a per-task note, not an in-progress todo).

The fact_store subcommand

hermes fact_store reads and writes the deeper-structured memory. Modes:

• hermes fact_store add --category <cat> --content "..." — store a fact.
• hermes fact_store search "<query>" — search facts.
• hermes fact_store probe <entity> — all facts about an entity.
• hermes fact_store reason "<entities>" — compositional reasoning across entities.
• hermes fact_store contradict — find conflicting facts.
• hermes fact_store list — list all facts.

fact_store is for facts that need composition across entities (e.g. user + project + tool). memory is for facts that are always-loaded in any session.

The curator subcommand

hermes curator is the drift detector. Modes:

• hermes curator list — show installed skills + recent diffs.
• hermes curator pin <name> — pin a skill to prevent deletion.
• hermes curator unpin <name> — unpin.
• hermes curator absorb <from> --into <to> — merge one skill into another.
• hermes curator prune — delete unpinned skills older than threshold.

The curator is the operator’s tool for the weekly skill sweep. It doesn’t auto-prune; it surfaces candidates.

The cross-cutting flags

Three flags appear across multiple subcommands:

1. --toolsets ... — scope tool loading. Default loads everything.
2. --provider <name> — pick the provider for the call. Most subcommands default to the active config’s default_provider.
3. --json — emit JSON instead of human-readable text. Useful for piping.

What NOT to do

• Don’t run hermes with no subcommand hoping for an interactive default. Each subcommand is its own mode.
• Don’t --toolsets "" without understanding the trade-off — agents without tools can’t act on the world.
• Don’t hermes memory add per-session preferences. The Johnny5 gate will reject; if you bypass the gate, the entry rots.
• Don’t hermes cron remove while a job is running. Pause first; the scheduler respects pause on the next tick.

Sources

• Hermes Agent docs
• ABS companion: Hermes Agent Tools: Enabling Only What You Need
• ABS companion: Terminal Commands Versus Python
• ABS companion: Hermes Agent Cron Jobs

Last verified: 2026-07-14 against Hermes v0.18.2 (2026.7.7.2). CLI surface is stable across minor versions.