| name | sending |
| description | Use this spell when you need to dispatch a message — the agent determines the right channel, formats for that medium, and sends with the user's approval. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| author | Wizards of the Ghosts |
| license | CC0-1.0 |
| compatibility | Hermes Agent skills system |
| metadata | {"hermes":{"tags":["spell","shipping-now","literal","messaging-and-coordination","messaging","coordination","handoffs","rhetoric","integration","slack"]}} |
Sending
Deliver a precisely crafted message to a specific recipient through the optimal channel.
What This Skill Does
Use this spell when you need to dispatch a message — the agent determines the right channel, formats for that medium, and sends with the user's approval.
In this grimoire, Sending is treated as a literal spell with a shipping-now delivery profile.
Canonical reference input: Sending (spell).
When To Use
- You need to notify a specific person or system and want the agent to pick the right channel: Slack, email, SMS, webhook, or GitHub.
- A message needs to be brief, high-signal, and formatted for its destination medium.
- You want the agent to draft and route a message but not send until you confirm.
- You need to actually send a Slack message or notification, not just draft one.
Prerequisites
- Environment variables available to Hermes:
SLACK_TOKEN.
- Primary credential or token:
SLACK_TOKEN.
- Binaries on PATH:
curl.
Setup
- Confirm the required environment variables are available inside the active Hermes runtime, not just in a shell profile.
- Verify the required binaries resolve on PATH before you rely on them in a procedure.
- Choose a non-production or low-risk target first if the skill can page, unlock, alert, or touch a live integration.
Procedure
- Restate the target, the success condition, and any no-touch boundaries before taking action.
- Identify the recipient and the core message to deliver.
- Select the optimal delivery channel based on urgency, recipient preferences, and available integrations.
- Draft the message formatted for the target medium — brief, high-signal, and channel-appropriate.
- Present the draft for user approval, then dispatch through the chosen channel and confirm delivery.
- If Slack is available, use the Slack API (chat.postMessage) to send the message to the target channel or user directly.
- Stop for explicit confirmation before taking a live action that changes access, triggers an alert, or touches a real system boundary.
- Package the result as the deliverables below, with confidence, assumptions, and unresolved risk called out explicitly.
Deliverables
- A channel-appropriate draft message for user approval.
- Dispatch confirmation with timestamp and delivery status.
- A record of what was sent, to whom, and through which channel.
Pitfalls / Guardrails
- Treat the live action surface as real operational work, not decorative lore.
- Never send without explicit user approval of both the content and the recipient.
- Never impersonate the user or misrepresent the sender. The message must be honest about its origin.
- Respect channel rate limits and norms — do not spam.
- Do not rely on a live integration until credentials, target scope, and rollback expectations are verified.
Verification
- Check that the result includes every deliverable promised above.
- Check that confirmed facts, assumptions, and inferences are visibly separated.
- Check that the exact live target, confirmation gate, and rollback or recovery path are explicit.
- Check the required environment variables and binaries in the active Hermes runtime before trusting the procedure on a live target.
Example Invocation
/sending draft and deliver this message through the best available channel, but show me the draft before it goes out
