::tip MCP Tools
In addition to built-in tools, Hermes can load tools dynamically from MCP servers. MCP tools appear with the prefix mcp_<server>_ (e.g., mcp_github_create_issue for the github MCP server). See MCP Integration for configuration.
Navigate back to the previous page in browser history. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.
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browser_click
Click on an element identified by its ref ID from the snapshot (e.g., ‘@e5’). The ref IDs are shown in square brackets in the snapshot output. Requires browser_navigate and browser_snapshot to be called first.
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browser_console
Get browser console output and JavaScript errors from the current page. Returns console.log/warn/error/info messages and uncaught JS exceptions. Use this to detect silent JavaScript errors, failed API calls, and application warnings. Requi…
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browser_get_images
Get a list of all images on the current page with their URLs and alt text. Useful for finding images to analyze with the vision tool. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.
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browser_navigate
Navigate to a URL in the browser. Initializes the session and loads the page. Must be called before other browser tools. For simple information retrieval, prefer web_search or web_extract (faster, cheaper). Use browser tools when you need…
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browser_press
Press a keyboard key. Useful for submitting forms (Enter), navigating (Tab), or keyboard shortcuts. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.
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browser_scroll
Scroll the page in a direction. Use this to reveal more content that may be below or above the current viewport. Requires browser_navigate to be called first.
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browser_snapshot
Get a text-based snapshot of the current page’s accessibility tree. Returns interactive elements with ref IDs (like @e1, @e2) for browser_click and browser_type. full=false (default): compact view with interactive elements. full=true: comp…
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browser_type
Type text into an input field identified by its ref ID. Clears the field first, then types the new text. Requires browser_navigate and browser_snapshot to be called first.
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browser_vision
Take a screenshot of the current page and analyze it with vision AI. Use this when you need to visually understand what’s on the page - especially useful for CAPTCHAs, visual verification challenges, complex layouts, or when the text snaps…
These two tools live in the browser toolset but only register when a Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint is reachable at session start — via /browser connect, browser.cdp_url config, a Browserbase session, or Camofox.
Tool
Description
Requires environment
browser_cdp
Send a raw Chrome DevTools Protocol command. Escape hatch for browser operations not covered by the higher-level browser_* tools. See https://chromedevtools.github.io/devtools-protocol/
CDP endpoint
browser_dialog
Respond to a native JavaScript dialog (alert / confirm / prompt / beforeunload). Call browser_snapshot first — pending dialogs appear in its pending_dialogs field. Then call browser_dialog(action='accept'|'dismiss').
Ask the user a question when you need clarification, feedback, or a decision before proceeding. Supports two modes: 1. Multiple choice — provide up to 4 choices. The user picks one or types their own answer via a 5th ‘Other’ option. 2.…
Run a Python script that can call Hermes tools programmatically. Use this when you need 3+ tool calls with processing logic between them, need to filter/reduce large tool outputs before they enter your context, need conditional branching (…
Unified scheduled-task manager. Use action="create", "list", "update", "pause", "resume", "run", or "remove" to manage jobs. Supports skill-backed jobs with one or more attached skills, and skills=[] on update clears attached skills. Cron runs happen in fresh sessions with no current-chat context.
Spawn one or more subagents to work on tasks in isolated contexts. Each subagent gets its own conversation, terminal session, and toolset. Only the final summary is returned – intermediate tool results never enter your context window. TWO…
Scoped to the Feishu document-comment intelligent-reply handler (gateway/platforms/feishu_comment.py). Not exposed on hermes-cli or the regular Feishu chat adapter.
Tool
Description
Requires environment
feishu_doc_read
Read the full text content of a Feishu/Lark document (Docx, Doc, or Sheet) given its file_type and token.
Targeted find-and-replace edits in files. Use this instead of sed/awk in terminal. Uses fuzzy matching (9 strategies) so minor whitespace/indentation differences won’t break it. Returns a unified diff. Auto-runs syntax checks after editing…
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read_file
Read a text file with line numbers and pagination. Use this instead of cat/head/tail in terminal. Output format: ‘LINE_NUM|CONTENT’. Suggests similar filenames if not found. Use offset and limit for large files. NOTE: Cannot read images o…
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search_files
Search file contents or find files by name. Use this instead of grep/rg/find/ls in terminal. Ripgrep-backed, faster than shell equivalents. Content search (target=‘content’): Regex search inside files. Output modes: full matches with line…
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write_file
Write content to a file, completely replacing existing content. Use this instead of echo/cat heredoc in terminal. Creates parent directories automatically. OVERWRITES the entire file — use ‘patch’ for targeted edits.
Call a Home Assistant service to control a device. Use ha_list_services to discover available services and their parameters for each domain.
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ha_get_state
Get the detailed state of a single Home Assistant entity, including all attributes (brightness, color, temperature setpoint, sensor readings, etc.).
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ha_list_entities
List Home Assistant entities. Optionally filter by domain (light, switch, climate, sensor, binary_sensor, cover, fan, etc.) or by area name (living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc.).
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ha_list_services
List available Home Assistant services (actions) for device control. Shows what actions can be performed on each device type and what parameters they accept. Use this to discover how to control devices found via ha_list_entities.
Background desktop control via cua-driver — screenshots (SOM / vision / AX), click / drag / scroll / type / key / wait, list_apps, focus_app. Does NOT steal the user’s cursor or keyboard focus. Works with any tool-capable model. macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Generate images from text prompts (text-to-image) or edit/transform an existing image (image-to-image) via the user-configured backend (FAL.ai, OpenAI, OpenAI Codex auth, xAI, Krea). Pass image_url to edit an image and reference_image_urls for style references; omit both for text-to-image. The model is user-configured and not selectable by the agent. Returns a single image URL or local path.
Registered when the agent is either (a) spawned by the kanban dispatcher (HERMES_KANBAN_TASK env set) or (b) running in a profile that explicitly enables the kanban toolset. Task-scoped workers use lifecycle tools for their assigned task; orchestrator profiles additionally get board-routing tools like kanban_list and kanban_unblock. See Kanban Multi-Agent for the full workflow.
Tool
Description
Requires environment
kanban_show
Show the active kanban task assigned to this worker (title, description, comments, dependencies).
HERMES_KANBAN_TASK or kanban toolset
kanban_list
List board tasks with filters. Orchestrator-only; hidden from dispatcher-spawned task workers.
profile with kanban toolset
kanban_complete
Mark the current task done with a structured handoff payload (results, artifacts, follow-ups).
HERMES_KANBAN_TASK or kanban toolset
kanban_block
Block the current task on a question for the user — the dispatcher pauses, surfaces the question, and resumes once a human replies.
HERMES_KANBAN_TASK or kanban toolset
kanban_heartbeat
Send a progress heartbeat during a long-running operation so the dispatcher knows the worker is still alive.
HERMES_KANBAN_TASK or kanban toolset
kanban_comment
Add a comment to the task thread without changing its state — useful for surfacing intermediate findings.
HERMES_KANBAN_TASK or kanban toolset
kanban_create
Fan out child tasks from the current task. Used by orchestrators and follow-up-spawning workers.
HERMES_KANBAN_TASK or kanban toolset
kanban_link
Link tasks with a parent → child dependency edge.
HERMES_KANBAN_TASK or kanban toolset
kanban_unblock
Return a blocked task to ready. Orchestrator-only; hidden from dispatcher-spawned task workers.
Tools for driving desktop Projects — named, multi-folder workspaces. Registered when the project toolset is enabled (primarily the desktop app / dashboard surfaces).
Tool
Description
Requires environment
project_create
Create a desktop Project (a named workspace) and switch this chat into it. Pass path to anchor it to a repo/folder.
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project_list
List the desktop Projects and which one is active.
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project_switch
Switch this chat into an existing Project (by name, slug, or id); moves the session workspace to the project’s primary folder.
Save important information to persistent memory that survives across sessions. Your memory appears in your system prompt at session start – it’s how you remember things about the user and your environment between conversations. WHEN TO SA…
Search past sessions stored in the local session DB, or scroll inside one. FTS5-backed retrieval; returns actual messages from the DB (no LLM calls). Three shapes: discovery (pass query), scroll (pass session_id + around_message_id), browse (no args).
Manage skills (create, update, delete). Skills are your procedural memory — reusable approaches for recurring task types. New skills go to ~/.hermes/skills/; existing skills can be modified wherever they live. Actions: create (full SKILL.m…
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skill_view
Skills allow for loading information about specific tasks and workflows, as well as scripts and templates. Load a skill’s full content or access its linked files (references, templates, scripts). First call returns SKILL.md content plus a…
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skills_list
List available skills (name + description). Use skill_view(name) to load full content.
Manage background processes started with terminal(background=true). Actions: ‘list’ (show all), ‘poll’ (check status + new output), ‘log’ (full output with pagination), ‘wait’ (block until done or timeout), ‘kill’ (terminate), ‘write’ (sen…
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terminal
Execute shell commands on a Linux environment. Filesystem persists between calls. Set background=true for long-running servers. Set notify_on_complete=true (with background=true) to get an automatic notification when the process finishes — no polling needed. Do NOT use cat/head/tail — use read_file. Do NOT use grep/rg/find — use search_files.
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read_terminal
Read what’s currently shown in the in-app terminal pane of the Hermes desktop GUI (the embedded shell beside this chat). Desktop-app only.
Manage your task list for the current session. Use for complex tasks with 3+ steps or when the user provides multiple tasks. Call with no parameters to read the current list. Writing: - Provide ‘todos’ array to create/update items - merge=…
Analyze images using AI vision. On vision-capable main models, returns the raw image pixels as a multimodal tool result so the model sees them natively on its next turn. On text-only main models, falls back to an auxiliary vision model that describes the image and returns the description as text. Tool signature is identical either way.
Opt-in toolset (not loaded in the default hermes-cli set). Add via --toolsets video_gen or enable it in hermes tools → Video Generation, which also walks you through picking a backend.
Backends ship as plugins under plugins/video_gen/<name>/:
xAI Grok-Imagine — text-to-video and image-to-video (SuperGrok OAuth or XAI_API_KEY).
The single video_generate tool covers both modalities — pass image_url to animate a still, omit it to generate from text alone. The active backend auto-routes to the right endpoint. The tool’s description is rebuilt at session start to reflect the active backend’s actual capabilities (modalities, aspect ratios, resolutions, duration range, max reference images, audio support). See Video Generation Provider Plugins for backend authoring.
Tool
Description
Requires environment
video_generate
Generate a video from a text prompt (text-to-video) or animate a still image (image-to-video) using the user’s configured video generation backend. Pass image_url to animate that image; omit it to generate from text alone. The backend auto-routes to the right endpoint. Returns either an HTTP URL or an absolute file path in the video field.
Active video_gen plugin + its credential (e.g. XAI_API_KEY, FAL_KEY)
Search the web for information. Returns up to 5 results by default with titles, URLs, and descriptions. Accepts an optional limit (1-100, default 5). The query is passed through to the configured backend, so operators such as site:domain, filetype:pdf, intitle:word, -term, and "exact phrase" may work when the backend supports them.
EXA_API_KEY or PARALLEL_API_KEY or FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or TAVILY_API_KEY
web_extract
Extract content from web page URLs. Returns page content in markdown format. Also works with PDF URLs — pass the PDF link directly and it converts to markdown text. Pages under 5000 chars return full markdown; larger pages are LLM-summarized.
EXA_API_KEY or PARALLEL_API_KEY or FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or TAVILY_API_KEY
Search X (Twitter) posts, profiles, and threads using xAI’s built-in x_search Responses tool. Use this for current discussion, reactions, or claims on X rather than general web pages. Off by default — opt in via hermes tools → 🐦 X (Twitter) Search. Schema is only registered when xAI credentials are configured (check_fn-gated).
XAI_API_KEY or xAI Grok OAuth (SuperGrok / Premium+) login
Convert text to speech audio. Returns a MEDIA: path that the platform delivers as a voice message. On Telegram it plays as a voice bubble, on Discord/WhatsApp as an audio attachment. In CLI mode, saves to ~/voice-memos/. Voice and provider…