Hermes Agent: Skills System
Last updated: 2026-08-31
The Skills system is the core of Hermes's "self-evolution" — it doesn't just use preset features, it learns new skills, auto-improves existing ones, and gets stronger with use.
💡 Tip: Skills are Hermes's unique core capability. Unlike traditional Agents, Hermes skills aren't static code but dynamic capability units that can be auto-created, improved, and composed.
📋 Prerequisites: Lesson 6 — Memory System
1. What You Will Learn
| # | Content |
|---|---|
| ❶ | Skill concepts and types |
| ❷ | /learn command teaching |
| ❸ | Auto skill learning mechanism |
| ❹ | Skill file structure and creation |
| ❺ | Skill composition and chaining |
2. Story
(1) Pain Point: Repeated Instructions Every Time
Bob has to repeat "check type safety, look for XSS vulnerabilities, check performance, test coverage..." every time he asks AI to review code.
(2) Solution: Teach Once, Remember Forever
BASH
/learn When I ask you to review code, always check these 5 items:
1. Type safety (TypeScript strict mode)
2. Security vulnerabilities (XSS, SQL injection)
3. Performance issues (N+1 queries, memory leaks)
4. Test coverage
5. Code style consistency
→ ✅ Skill "code-review-checklist" created!
→ Next time just say "review code", Agent auto-executes all 5 items.
3. Skill Types
| Type | Source | Example | Editable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in | System pre-installed | web-search, code-review | ❌ |
| Learned | /learn created | my-code-style | ✅ |
| Auto | Observation-created | frequent-pattern | ✅ |
| Plugin | Plugin marketplace | jira-integration | ✅ |
| Composite | Multi-skill combo | full-review | ✅ |
Skill levels from simple (fixed Prompt) to self-evolving (observe + improve).
4. /learn Command
BASH
# Simple preference
/learn Always add unit tests when answering code questions
# Conditional trigger
/learn When I mention "daily report", summarize today's Git commits
# Tool chain
/learn When I say "search", use web-search then summarize
# Named skill
/learn --name "react-review" When reviewing React components check: props types, hooks rules, performance
Interactive Teaching
BASH
/learn --interactive
Agent: I'm ready to learn! Describe the skill you want me to learn.
me: Help me do code reviews
Agent: I understand. To create an accurate skill, please answer:
1. Which languages? → Python, TypeScript
2. What to focus on? → Security, performance, types
3. Output format? → Markdown report
me: [Answer questions]
Agent: ✅ Skill "code-review" created!
5. Auto Skill Learning
BASH
# You make similar requests 3 times:
me: Write a FastAPI route with type hints and docs
me: Write another route, same style
me: One more route, same as before
# Hermes suggests:
Agent: 💡 I noticed you've requested the same code style 3 times.
Create skill "fastapi-route-style"?
/confirm or /dismiss
me: /confirm
Agent: ✅ Skill "fastapi-route-style" created!
6. Skill File Structure
YAML
# ~/.hermes/skills/custom/react-component-review.yaml
name: "react-component-review"
description: "Review React component code quality"
version: "1.0.0"
triggers:
- "review component"
- "组件检查"
actions:
- type: "check"
category: "type-safety"
prompt: "Check TypeScript types are complete and correct"
- type: "check"
category: "accessibility"
prompt: "Check WCAG 2.1 accessibility"
- type: "check"
category: "performance"
prompt: "Check React performance issues"
- type: "generate"
format: "markdown"
template: "review-report"
7. Skill Composition
YAML
# Composite skill
name: "full-release"
description: "Complete release workflow"
type: "composite"
skills:
- name: "code-review"
- name: "run-tests"
- name: "check-security"
- name: "deploy-staging"
- name: "notify-team"
execution: "sequential"
BASH
me: Review this component, run tests, deploy if passing
Agent: [Chain execution]
1. ⚡ code-review → 2 issues found
2. 🔧 Fix → Done
3. ⚡ code-review → Passed
4. 🧪 run-tests → All passed
5. 🚀 deploy-staging → Deployed
6. 📢 notify-team → Team notified
❓ FAQ
Q How many skills can I create?
A No hard limit. 50-100 skills work fine; semantic retrieval means quantity doesn't affect performance.
Q Can I share skills?
A Yes.
hermes skill export <name> to export YAML, others hermes skill import to import.Q Difference between skills and tools?
A Tools are atomic operations (read file, search). Skills are higher-level capabilities (code review) that can combine multiple tools.
📖 Summary
- Skills are Hermes's self-evolution core: built-in, learned, auto, plugin, composite types
/learnfor teaching, interactive or direct description- Auto-learning: observe repeated patterns → suggest → confirm
- YAML skill files with triggers, action chains, output templates
- Composite skills for complex workflow automation
📝 Exercises
- Basic (⭐): Create a simple skill with
/learn, verify it works in a new conversation. - Intermediate (⭐⭐): Create a 3-step tool skill for automated workflow (search → summarize → translate).
- Advanced (⭐⭐⭐): Design a self-evolution experiment: use the same pattern for 5 days, observe if Agent suggests skill creation.
