| name | hermes-one-three-one-rule |
| metadata | {"author":"rhoai3-coding-demo","version":"1.0.0","platform-family":"hermes","platform-baseline":"repo","ocp-baseline":"repo","skill-group":"Hermes Agent"} |
| description | Use when presenting a decision, proposal, or escalation in stage 080 work — kanban block escalations, review findings, ADR proposals, design choices with trade-offs: structure it as One-Three-One (1 problem, 3 options, 1 recommendation) per the official Hermes communication skill. Do NOT use for simple questions with obvious answers, debugging, or when the decision is already made.
|
One-Three-One Rule
Use this skill to structure decisions and escalations. It mirrors the
official Hermes optional skill (official/communication/one-three-one-rule
v1.0.0, by Willard Moore, MIT) — the same artifact the stage 080
scaffold's skill-authoring law uses as its worked example.
Source Grounding
Official page:
https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/skills/optional/communication/communication-one-three-one-rule
(captured 2026-08-12; see references/source-capture.md).
The Structure
- Problem — "State the core decision or desired outcome in a single
concise sentence."
- Options — three distinct approaches (A, B, C), each with pros and
cons; genuinely different, not one option and two strawmen.
- Recommendation — pick ONE, with professional reasoning.
- Definition of Done — concrete, verifiable success criteria.
- Implementation Plan — the specific steps to execute the
recommendation.
When to Use
- Explicit requests for a "1-3-1" response.
- Technical decisions where the asker wants to see their choices.
- Tasks with multiple viable approaches and meaningful trade-offs.
- Proposals needing team or stakeholder review — in stage 080 terms:
ADR proposals, harness design choices, kanban
blocked → needs_input
escalations, review-doc fix designs, and operator-backlog decide items.
When NOT to Use
Simple questions with obvious answers, debugging sessions, or when the
decision has already been made — restating settled decisions as options
re-litigates them.
For Hermes worker seats (stage 080)
The official skill installs at official trust tier (no third-party
warning):
hermes skills install official/communication/one-three-one-rule
Pin it to escalation-prone tasks with --skill one-three-one-rule at
kanban create time (skill must be installed on the assignee's profile —
no runtime install; see hermes-kanban).
Verification
- The proposal names exactly one problem sentence, exactly three options
with pros AND cons each, and exactly one recommendation.
- Definition of Done is checkable (a command, a gate, a measurable state
— not "works well").
- The recommendation's reasoning references the trade-offs stated in the
options, not new facts introduced afterward.
Related Skills
hermes-skills — install mechanics and trust tiers.hermes-kanban — task-pinning and block/escalation flows the structure
slots into.
References
references/source-capture.md
