# Hermes Agent: Feature Research Summary

**Context:** This research maps Hermes v0.16.0 capabilities so ngn-agent doesn't reimplement what Hermes already provides. All features listed are built-in — ngn-agent should leverage them, not rebuild them.

**Date:** 2026-06-14

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## What Hermes Does Out of the Box (Don't Reinvent)

- Multi-session management with resume (hermes --continue, sessions list)
- Persistent memory (MEMORY.md + USER.md) with auto-learning
- Full-text session search (FTS5 on SQLite)
- 8 external memory providers (Honcho, Mem0, Hindsight, OpenViking, Holographic, RetainDB, ByteRover, Supermemory)
- Skills system with progressive disclosure (3-level loading)
- Skills Hub with 8 search sources (official, skills.sh, well-known, GitHub, ClawHub, LobeHub, browse.sh, direct URL)
- Git worktree isolation (hermes -w)
- Agent-created skills (skill_manage tool) - self-improving by default
- Skill bundles (group skills under one slash command)
- Cron/automation with 30+ delivery targets
- No-agent cron mode (script-only, zero LLM cost)
- Multi-provider fallback (credential pools + cross-provider)
- Docker container backend with security hardening
- Dangerous command approval (manual/smart/off modes)
- Hardline blocklist for catastrophic commands
- 20+ messaging platforms (Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Teams, etc.)
- DM pairing for gateway authorization
- Session isolation with configurable reset policies
- Profiles for multi-agent setups
- Plugin system (tools + hooks + commands)
- MCP server integration
- Context compression with configurable thresholds
- Worktree isolation for git parallel branch work
- SOUL.md for personality/identity
- Subagent delegation (delegate_task)
- Background sessions (/background)
- Kanban multi-agent board
- Docker sandbox with --cap-drop ALL, no-new-privileges, PID limits
- SSRF protection and tirith pre-exec scanning

## What ngn-agent Needs to Build

Based on initial-plan.md, these features are NOT built into Hermes:

1. **Jira integration** — Hermes has no built-in Jira tool. Need custom skill or MCP server
2. **Confluence integration** — Same, need custom skill or MCP server
3. **Infrastructure-specific diagnostics** — Generic skills exist but no AWS/terraform-specific ones by default
4. **Read-only infra safety layer** — Hermes has dangerous command approval but nothing specific to cloud APIs
5. **Auto session cleanup (30d archive)** — Hermes has session reset policies but not our specific archive flow
6. **Telegram gateway** — Hermes supports it, just needs bot token config
7. **SSO session automation** — Need custom startup script (already created scripts/start-session.sh)
8. **Custom reporting pipeline** — Cron + skills can provide this

## Key Limitations to Know

| Area | Limitation |
|------|------------|
| Memory capacity | MEMORY.md: ~800 tokens, USER.md: ~500 tokens. External providers (Honcho, etc.) remove this limit. |
| Docker dangerous commands | Checks are skipped in Docker mode — container is the boundary |
| Cron provider recovery | Inherits fallback_providers; per-job provider override available |
| Gateway user authorization | Allowlists or DM pairing required — denies all by default |
| Skills are per-profile | Each Hermes profile has its own skills directory |
| Plugin discovery | User plugins opt-in via plugins.enabled in config.yaml |

## Recommended Memory Strategy for ngn-agent

Start with built-in memory (MEMORY.md + USER.md) — no external deps needed. If the ~1300 token limit is hit, add Honcho (cross-session user modeling) or Holographic (local SQLite with FTS5 search, no external deps).