// Delegate coding tasks to Blackbox AI CLI agent. Multi-model agent with built-in judge that runs tasks through multiple LLMs and picks the best result. Requires the blackbox CLI and a Blackbox AI API key.
[HINT] Download the complete skill directory including SKILL.md and all related files
| name | blackbox |
| description | Delegate coding tasks to Blackbox AI CLI agent. Multi-model agent with built-in judge that runs tasks through multiple LLMs and picks the best result. Requires the blackbox CLI and a Blackbox AI API key. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| author | Hermes Agent (Nous Research) |
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"hermes":{"tags":["Coding-Agent","Blackbox","Multi-Agent","Judge","Multi-Model"],"related_skills":["claude-code","codex","hermes-agent"]}} |
Delegate coding tasks to Blackbox AI via the Hermes terminal. Blackbox is a multi-model coding agent CLI that dispatches tasks to multiple LLMs (Claude, Codex, Gemini, Blackbox Pro) and uses a judge to select the best implementation.
The CLI is open-source (GPL-3.0, TypeScript, forked from Gemini CLI) and supports interactive sessions, non-interactive one-shots, checkpointing, MCP, and vision model switching.
npm install -g @blackboxai/cligit clone https://github.com/blackboxaicode/cli.git
cd cli && npm install && npm install -g .
blackbox configure and enter your API keypty=true in terminal calls — Blackbox CLI is an interactive terminal appterminal(command="blackbox --prompt 'Add JWT authentication with refresh tokens to the Express API'", workdir="/path/to/project", pty=true)
For quick scratch work:
terminal(command="cd $(mktemp -d) && git init && blackbox --prompt 'Build a REST API for todos with SQLite'", pty=true)
For tasks that take minutes, use background mode so you can monitor progress:
# Start in background with PTY
terminal(command="blackbox --prompt 'Refactor the auth module to use OAuth 2.0'", workdir="~/project", background=true, pty=true)
# Returns session_id
# Monitor progress
process(action="poll", session_id="<id>")
process(action="log", session_id="<id>")
# Send input if Blackbox asks a question
process(action="submit", session_id="<id>", data="yes")
# Kill if needed
process(action="kill", session_id="<id>")
Blackbox CLI has built-in checkpoint support for pausing and resuming tasks:
# After a task completes, Blackbox shows a checkpoint tag
# Resume with a follow-up task:
terminal(command="blackbox --resume-checkpoint 'task-abc123-2026-03-06' --prompt 'Now add rate limiting to the endpoints'", workdir="~/project", pty=true)
During an interactive session, use these commands:
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
/compress | Shrink conversation history to save tokens |
/clear | Wipe history and start fresh |
/stats | View current token usage |
Ctrl+C | Cancel current operation |
Clone to a temp directory to avoid modifying the working tree:
terminal(command="REVIEW=$(mktemp -d) && git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git $REVIEW && cd $REVIEW && gh pr checkout 42 && blackbox --prompt 'Review this PR against main. Check for bugs, security issues, and code quality.'", pty=true)
Spawn multiple Blackbox instances for independent tasks:
terminal(command="blackbox --prompt 'Fix the login bug'", workdir="/tmp/issue-1", background=true, pty=true)
terminal(command="blackbox --prompt 'Add unit tests for auth'", workdir="/tmp/issue-2", background=true, pty=true)
# Monitor all
process(action="list")
Blackbox's unique feature is running the same task through multiple models and judging the results. Configure which models to use via blackbox configure — select multiple providers to enable the Chairman/judge workflow where the CLI evaluates outputs from different models and picks the best one.
| Flag | Effect |
|---|---|
--prompt "task" | Non-interactive one-shot execution |
--resume-checkpoint "tag" | Resume from a saved checkpoint |
--yolo | Auto-approve all actions and model switches |
blackbox session | Start interactive chat session |
blackbox configure | Change settings, providers, models |
blackbox info | Display system information |
Blackbox automatically detects images in input and can switch to multimodal analysis. VLM modes:
"once" — Switch model for current query only"session" — Switch for entire session"persist" — Stay on current model (no switch)Control token usage via .blackboxcli/settings.json:
{
"sessionTokenLimit": 32000
}
pty=true — Blackbox CLI is an interactive terminal app and will hang without a PTYworkdir — keep the agent focused on the right directorybackground=true and monitor with process toolpoll/log, don't kill sessions because they're slowblackbox CLI is installed before attempting delegation