computer-control

name	computer-control
description	How Hermes uses OS-level capabilities — notifications, folder watching, file opening, clipboard, screenshots
tags	["hermes","skills","system","phase-2c"]

SKILL — Computer Control

How Hermes interacts with the operating system. All calls go through scripts/system_tool.py. Hermes NEVER issues destructive OS commands directly.

Desktop Notifications

When Hermes triggers a notification:

Event	Notification	Urgency
Order entry failed after 3 retries	"Hermes — Action Required: Order #X failed"	High
Chargeback dispute window < 48 hours	"Hermes — Chargeback Deadline: PO #X expires in Xh"	High
Warehouse PO print failed	"Hermes — Print Failed: Order #X"	Normal
Manual approval needed (credit hold, unusual PO)	"Hermes — Needs Approval: [detail]"	Normal

When Hermes does NOT send notifications:

• Normal successful order processing (that's what the audit log is for)
• Routine health check pings
• Low-priority informational events

Notifications require HERMES_DESKTOP_NOTIFICATIONS=1 (default). Set to 0 to suppress.

CLI:

python scripts/system_tool.py --notify "Title" "Body"
python scripts/system_tool.py --notify "Critical" "Order failed" --urgent

Folder Watcher

Used when IMAP is blocked or unreliable. Emmanuel drops PO files into a designated folder; Hermes detects them and processes them through the normal pipeline.

Enable by setting:

HERMES_PO_DROP_FOLDER=C:\Users\Emmanuel\Desktop\PO-Inbox

How it works:

1. watchdog.Observer monitors the folder for on_created events
2. New .pdf, .xlsx, or .csv files matching the pattern trigger a pipeline run
3. Event is emitted as a JSON line on stdout: {"event": "file_created", "path": "...", "timestamp": "..."}
4. If --action is set, the command runs with $FILE substituted

CLI (one-shot check):

python scripts/system_tool.py --watch "C:\Users\Emmanuel\Desktop\PO-Inbox" --pattern "*.pdf"

CLI (run forever until Ctrl-C):

python scripts/system_tool.py --watch "C:\Users\Emmanuel\Desktop\PO-Inbox" --pattern "*.pdf" --forever --action "python scripts/po_tool.py --ingest $FILE"

Opening Files

Hermes can open a file in its default application — used on escalation so Emmanuel can inspect a failed PO without navigating the filesystem manually.

python scripts/system_tool.py --open "logs/invoices/42.pdf"

On Windows: uses os.startfile(). Opens PDF in the default viewer, Excel in Excel, etc.

Safety: paths with .. that escape the project or user home are rejected.

Clipboard

Read/write clipboard text — used by Hermes when preparing data for Emmanuel to paste into another system (e.g., A2000 manual entry fallback).

python scripts/system_tool.py --clipboard-read
python scripts/system_tool.py --clipboard-write "PO-2026-04567"

Screenshots

Captures the full screen to a PNG. Used when escalating UI errors in A2000 Playwright mode — Hermes can screenshot the failure state for Emmanuel to review.

python scripts/system_tool.py --screenshot
python scripts/system_tool.py --screenshot --output logs/a2000_error.png

Default output: logs/screenshot_<UTC timestamp>.png

Hard Boundaries — What Hermes NEVER Does

Hermes is permitted to READ and OPEN files, send notifications, and watch folders. It is categorically forbidden from:

• Running del, rm, rmdir, format, shutdown, reboot, taskkill
• Uninstalling or modifying system applications
• Changing printer defaults without explicit confirmation from Emmanuel
• Running arbitrary shell commands via --action unless the command starts with python scripts/ (whitelisted) or HERMES_UNSAFE_ACTIONS=1 is explicitly set
• Writing outside the project directory or user home

Every system call is:

1. Validated against path/action whitelists in system_tool.py
2. Audit-logged to audit_log with timestamp and details
3. Wrapped in try/except — failures are reported, not silently swallowed

Dependencies

Feature	Library	Install
Notifications	plyer	pip install plyer
Notifications (fallback)	win10toast	pip install win10toast
Folder watcher	watchdog	pip install watchdog
Clipboard	pyperclip	pip install pyperclip
Screenshot	Pillow	pip install Pillow

All are optional — each feature degrades independently if its library is missing.

Obsidian Links

• [[brain/CAPABILITIES]] | [[brain/HERMES]] | [[skills/printing/SKILL]]