| name | hermes-self-improvement |
| metadata | {"author":"rhoai3-coding-demo","version":"1.1.0","platform-family":"hermes","platform-baseline":"repo","ocp-baseline":"repo","skill-group":"Hermes Agent"} |
| description | Use when designing or governing Hermes' self-improvement loop for stage 080: dest-init honest-off vs the official governed-on fleet recipe, the post-turn background review that writes memory and skills, the product off-switch (auxiliary.background_review.enabled), the consent gates (memory.write_approval, skills.write_approval), the curator, /journey, and routing the review to a cheaper model. Do NOT use for skill authoring mechanics (use hermes-skills) or curator command depth (also hermes-skills).
|
Hermes Self-Improvement Loop
Use this skill for the loop that makes Hermes "the self-improving AI
agent": what it writes autonomously, where the consent gates are, and how
stage 080 governs it.
Source Grounding
Official pages (Memory re-fetched 2026-08-27; Skills/Curator captured
2026-08-12; see references/source-capture.md): Persistent Memory
(background review, write approval, journey, enabled: false), Skills
System (agent-managed skills, background writes), Curator (lifecycle).
There is no single "self-improvement" page — this skill is the
cross-cutting synthesis, every fact quoted from its owning page.
Key Concepts
The loop
"After a turn, the background self-improvement review may quietly save a
memory or update a skill." The division of labor is documented: "memory
stores small durable facts that should always be in context, while skills
store longer procedures that should load only when relevant" — "repeated
corrections and durable workflow lessons become compact memory entries or
procedural skills". Skill writes go through skill_manage (the agent's
procedural memory); every agent-created skill lands in
~/.hermes/skills/ under curator jurisdiction.
The consent gates (both default OFF — a stage 080 governance decision)
memory.write_approval: true stages ALL memory saves including
background-review ones: /memory pending → /memory approve|reject <id> (CLI foreground writes prompt inline).skills.write_approval: true stages every skill_manage write —
"staging applies regardless of whether the write came from a foreground
turn or the background review" — reviewed via /skills pending|diff|approve|reject.- Both default to write-freely;
skills.guard_agent_created (content
scanner) is a third, independent mechanism. Memory writes are also
injection/exfiltration-scanned before acceptance regardless of gates.
The product off-switch (live Memory page, 2026-08-27)
auxiliary.background_review.enabled: false skips automatic post-turn
forks. Manual /refine still works. display.memory_notifications: off
only hides the chat line — the review still runs and still writes.
Setting both memory.memory_enabled and memory.user_profile_enabled
false drops the built-in memory tool and its prompt block. Only the first
false leaves USER.md on and the tool in schema.
Cost and routing
By default the review "runs on your main chat model" with full warm-cache
replay (cheap cache reads). Route it to a cheaper model via
auxiliary.background_review — which switches it to replaying "a compact
digest" instead of the full transcript to avoid cold cache writes. Dest
does not author fallback_providers (AD-008); do not silently point this
slot at MiniMax.
Dest campaign postures
Live pins are Managed Scope dest-init
(maas-api-key-provisioning.yaml), not the seat
config.yaml.template. Seat templates stay silent.
- A — Honest off (dest default, AD-H): both memory stores false,
auxiliary.background_review.enabled: false, curator.enabled: false,
skill gates stay true. Typed Kanban cards are the durable lesson
channel. Assert the review pin next to W1 title_generation.enabled: false.
- B — Governed on (official fleet recipe): both stores on with
memory.write_approval: true, keep skill gates, give implementer the
memory toolset (or accept a split loop), put learned skills in a
gitignored writable dir — not golden .hermes/skills/ — Operator
drains /skills pending on dest dashboard :9119. Needs an Operator GO.
Do not dest-apply unpublished dest-init onto a running dest.
Downstream lifecycle
What the loop writes, the curator later maintains: agent-created
skills (3-condition jurisdiction test) age through stale (30d) → archive
(90d, recoverable, "never auto-deletes"); pin what must persist;
cron-referenced skills are auto-protected. /journey (aliases
/learning, /memory-graph) is the audit surface: a timeline of every
saved skill and memory entry, with list/delete/edit.
Workflow
- Dest default is posture A unless Operator GO for posture B. Do not treat
memory_enabled: false alone as off — pin user_profile_enabled: false and auxiliary.background_review.enabled: false.
- Official fleet recipe (posture B) is both write-approval gates on —
product defaults are write-freely. That is a dest GO, not the campaign
default.
- Do not route
auxiliary.background_review at MiniMax without a named
AD-008 GO. Leave the slot at auto / main, or keep the fork disabled.
- If posture B is granted: audit via
/journey and hermes curator status; pin load-bearing learned skills; drain pending on dest
dashboard, not a TTY. Learned skills must not land on writable golden
.hermes/skills/ external_dirs.
- Cite the official section in the PR (stage 080 official-first rule).
Campaign "persist HARD off" is the overlay gateway persist helper —
not this loop.
Validation
/memory pending # staged memory writes (gate on)
/skills pending # staged skill writes (gate on)
/journey list # what the loop has learned
hermes curator status # lifecycle state of learned skills
hermes config get auxiliary.background_review --json # review routing
Pitfalls
- Assuming the loop is off by default — it isn't; only the GATES default
off. An ungoverned worker quietly accumulates memory and skills.
- Pinning
memory_enabled: false without user_profile_enabled: false
— USER.md stays on and the memory tool is not dropped.
- Using
display.memory_notifications: off as a disable — it is not.
- Gating skills but not memory (or vice versa) — two separate keys, one
loop. Dest implementer has skills not memory; orchestrator has memory
not skills. Official loop needs both on one seat.
- Headless
approvals.mode: off is terminal consent, not the skill gate.
Nobody on dest is seated to drain /skills pending.
- K2 script denies
skill_manage but dest-init matcher omits it —
product skills.write_approval is the live gate.
- Routing the review to a cheap model and expecting full-transcript
fidelity — digest replay is the documented trade-off.
Related Skills
hermes-skills — skill_manage actions, write-approval mechanics,
curator depth.hermes-configuration — auxiliary.background_review wiring.hermes-managed-scope — fleet-pinning the gates at the admin tier.
References
references/source-capture.md
