Hermes — Wednesday’s executor runtime + command plane
Category: hermes
Where it works: powers Telegram + IRC (chat channels) · commandable from Claude Code
Source: ~/.hermes/ (gateway), _infra/scripts/hermes_run_dispatch.py, _infra/mcp/servers/hermes/
What it is
Hermes is one of Wednesday’s bodies — the Grok-powered runtime that runs the Telegram + IRC channels and has its own toolset (web/X search, image/video gen, computer-use, honcho memory, the wednesday-* skills). Wednesday is the brain; Hermes is the executor she summons. (Rework 2026-05-29: “Wednesday possesses Hermes”.)
How to trigger / use it
You mostly use Hermes by just chatting on Telegram (or IRC) — that’s Wednesday-on-Hermes. Memory + skills are live there.
Wednesday (from Claude Code) commands Hermes via the command plane:
hermes_run(task, skill?, profile?)— full-toolset Hermes agent; returns a STRUCTURED result with thetool_callsit made.hermes_skill_invoke,hermes_mcp_call(proxy a Hermes MCP tool),hermes_send(deliver a message as Wednesday to a channel),hermes_status.- Or from a shell:
python3 _infra/scripts/hermes_run_dispatch.py --task "…" --json. - Doctrine: skill command-hermes (sk-265).
Key controls (ops — Wednesday uses these)
| command | what it does |
|---|---|
hermes gateway status | is the gateway up + health |
hermes status / hermes dump | full stack snapshot |
hermes send --to telegram '…' | push a message as Wednesday |
hermes curator status/run | the native skill-curator (creates/prunes Hermes skills) |
hermes kanban swarm "<goal>" --worker … --verifier … --synthesizer … | multi-agent fan-out (Grok workers → verifier → synthesizer) |
hermes proxy status | the OpenAI-compat Grok proxy (:8645) |
hermes profile list | specialist profiles (researcher / coder / gemini-batch) |
Practical examples
- Heavy task off your desktop — Wednesday:
hermes_run("search the vault for X and summarize")→ a Hermes Grok agent runs it with full tools, returns the result + which tools it used. - Notify you — Wednesday:
hermes_send("telegram", "backup done")→ you get a WhatsApp/Telegram ping (no agent loop). - Swarm —
hermes kanban swarm "research 3 options"→ parallel Grok workers → verifier → synthesizer (see the swarm verb above).
Notes / limits
Hermes runs on Grok (cheap), not Claude. MCP set trimmed to honcho + obsidian
(Grok 200-tool cap). The hermes MCP server is Claude-Code-only (Hermes commanding
itself = circular). Session commands (boot/close/handoff) → see
Wednesday-Session-Lifecycle.md. WhatsApp lane retired 2026-05-29.