before-anything-else

name	before-anything-else
description	Author a better skill, retry, and compare outputs.
version	0.1.0
author	Chad Keith
license	MIT
platforms	["linux","macos","windows"]
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["skills","routing","quality","authoring"],"related_skills":["hermes-agent-skill-authoring"]}}

Before Anything Else — author, retry, compare

This is the procedure skill. The plugin injects routing automatically via pre_llm_call. Load this skill only when a gap or a quality-retry flag says the existing skills were meh.

Do not turn this into a hub that lists sibling skills. Route from the plugin.

When to Use

• The injected block says GAP or QUALITY RETRY.
• You finished a non-trivial task and the result is below bar.
• A skill exists but is too thin, wrong, or stale for this job.

Don't use for: greetings, one-shot trivia, or tasks a current skill already covers well.

Procedure

1. Name the missing capability in one sentence. Criterion: a stranger could load the new skill from that sentence alone.
2. Survey skills_list and search_files under the Hermes skills tree. If a peer is close, skill_manage(action='patch') it instead of creating a twin.
3. Author with skill_manage(action='create') into the user skills tree. Frontmatter must include name, description (trigger in the first 57 chars), version, author (human first), license, platforms.
4. Put checkable steps in the body. Name Hermes tools (terminal, read_file, web_search), not raw cat/grep.
5. Copy the new skill directory into this repo under authored-skills/<name>/ so it can be published later.
6. Redo the original user task following the new skill. Criterion: every required step in the skill was actually executed.
7. Compare old vs new in 5–10 lines: what changed, what is still weak, whether to keep the skill.
8. If .env in the repo has GITHUB_TOKEN and GITHUB_USERNAME, run python scripts/publish_skill.py authored-skills/<name>. Otherwise stop after the local install and tell the user the publish command.

Pitfalls

• Do not spawn a second hermes chat from a hook. That loops and burns money. Retry happens on the next turn via the pending-retry file.
• Do not publish .env.
• Do not store client PII in a skill.
• In-repo Hermes official skills reject router/hub skills. This procedure skill is user/plugin-local on purpose.

Verification

• skill_view(name='<new-skill>') returns the body.
• The retry produced a concrete artifact or tool-backed result.
• python scripts/publish_skill.py --dry-run authored-skills/<name> passes when a token is present.