2026 Must-Have Hermes Agent Skills: Most Complete List and Install Priority

1. Why Skills matter more than stacking MCP servers

MCP gives the Agent hands — read Git, query databases, call HTTP. Skills give it SOPs in procedural memory: how to open a PR, debug in stages, or plan before coding. They complement each other, but newcomers often wire many MCP servers while only using random default slash commands.

Hermes Skills have three engineering properties that drive our priority model:

• Progressive disclosure: sessions load ~3k tokens of skill index (skills_list()); full text loads on demand via skill_view(name). You can install many skills without blowing context.
• Slash commands as first-class: every installed skill becomes /skill-name across CLI, Telegram, Discord, and other Gateway surfaces.
• Self-evolving loop: after complex tasks (5+ tool calls), the Agent can skill_manage new SKILL.md files from lessons learned — your catalog grows with use.

Docs: Skills System, Working with Skills. Still choosing between Hermes and OpenClaw? Read Understand Hermes: what OpenClaw does that Hermes cannot — this article assumes Hermes as your personal/team Agent host.

2. Hermes Skills: three sources (builtin / official / community)

All skills ultimately live in ~/.hermes/skills/, but source and trust level differ:

Want zero bundled skills? Install with --no-skills or run hermes skills opt-out to block future seeding. Most teams should not — the bundled catalog is the backbone of this guide.

3. P0–P4 install priority matrix (decision core)

This table is the article core: which skills first, when Hub installs are worth it. Lower P = higher priority; same tier can be validated in parallel.

Recommended bundle: package P0 skills you always use together — one slash command loads all:

hermes bundles create backend-dev \
  --skill github-code-review \
  --skill test-driven-development \
  --skill github-pr-workflow \
  -d "Backend feature dev: test → implement → PR"

# Usage: /backend-dev refactor auth middleware

4. Full bundled catalog (17 top-level categories)

Synced from NousResearch/hermes-agent/skills (main branch, 2026-06). After install, verify with hermes chat --toolsets skills -q "list all skills" or /skills list in session.

4.1 software-development (11)

Highest-frequency category for daily coding. Start with plan, test-driven-development, systematic-debugging, requesting-code-review, simplify-code.

• plan — write an implementation plan instead of jumping in
• test-driven-development — TDD workflow
• systematic-debugging — staged troubleshooting
• requesting-code-review — standard review prompts
• simplify-code — refactor and simplify
• spike — exploratory prototype
• python-debugpy — Python debugger integration
• node-inspect-debugger — Node debugging
• hermes-agent-skill-authoring — teach the Agent to write SKILL.md

4.2 github (6)

• github-pr-workflow, github-code-review, github-issues
• github-repo-management, github-auth, codebase-inspection

4.3 autonomous-ai-agents (4)

• claude-code, codex, opencode, hermes-agent

4.4 devops (2)

• kanban-orchestrator, kanban-worker — multi-task kanban orchestration

4.5 mlops (4)

• evaluation, huggingface-hub, inference, models

4.6 research (5)

• arxiv, research-paper-writing, llm-wiki, polymarket, blogwatcher

4.7 productivity (8)

• notion, google-workspace, obsidian, airtable
• powerpoint, teams-meeting-pipeline, ocr-and-documents, maps, nano-pdf

4.8 creative (16)

Visual and multimedia skills on demand: excalidraw, architecture-diagram, ascii-art, manim-video, comfyui, p5js, claude-design, baoyu-infographic, songwriting-and-ai-music, and more.

4.9 apple (5 · macOS only)

• imessage, apple-reminders, apple-notes, findmy, macos-computer-use

4.10 media (4)

• gif-search, youtube-content, heartmula, songsee

4.11 other categories

• data-science: jupyter-live-kernel
• email: himalaya
• social-media: xurl
• note-taking: obsidian
• smart-home: openhue

Roughly 70 bundled skills across 17 categories. You do not need to memorize each — cover P0–P2 for your main scenarios, then try others via /skill-name when needed.

5. Official optional skills list

These live in repo optional-skills/ and are not copied on default install. Install explicitly:

# Browse official optional
hermes skills browse --source official

# Install examples
hermes skills install official/security/1password
hermes skills install official/migration/openclaw-migration
hermes skills install official/mcp/fastmcp

6. Skills Hub and community sources

Hermes integrates multiple discovery sources (see Skills Hub docs):

• skills.sh (Vercel catalog): hermes skills search react --source skills-sh
• GitHub direct: hermes skills install openai/skills/k8s
• well-known: sites publish /.well-known/skills/index.json (e.g. Mintlify doc skills)
• browse.sh: 200+ site automation SKILLs (Airbnb, arXiv, etc.), identifiers like browse-sh/...
• Direct URL: hermes skills install https://example.com/SKILL.md --name my-skill

Security workflow (required):

1. hermes skills inspect <identifier> — preview content and upstream metadata
2. Install runs automatic security scan; caution/warn may use --force after review; dangerous cannot be forced
3. hermes skills check + hermes skills update — sync upstream changes regularly

Trust tiers: openai/skills, anthropics/skills, NVIDIA/skills are trusted; most marketplaces are community. Read SKILL.md before install — the 2026 Agent Skills security model is still evolving (agentskills.io).

7. Skill Bundles: package skills you use together

Bundles are small YAML files in ~/.hermes/skill-bundles/. One slash command loads multiple skills — great for team conventions:

# List existing bundles
hermes bundles list

# Release prep: review + PR + plan
hermes bundles create release-prep \
  --skill github-code-review \
  --skill github-pr-workflow \
  --skill plan \
  -d "Pre-release checks and PR flow"

Bundles do not install missing skills; they only load aliases. Missing skills are skipped with a session warning.

8. Agent-authored skills and approval gates

Hermes can skill_manage: after successful tasks (especially 5+ tool calls) or recovery from errors, the Agent may create / patch skills. Powerful for individuals; risky in production.

For human approval on every skill write, enable in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

skills:
  write_approval: true   # default false

In session: /skills pending → /skills diff <id> → /skills approve <id>. Similar to memory.write_approval — good for compliance or smaller models.

If you edit a bundled copy, hermes update will not overwrite it. Restore upstream: hermes skills reset google-workspace --restore.

9. Scenario matrix: which skills for your role

10. Five common myths

1. "More Skills = better" — index is only ~3k tokens, but routing confusion still picks wrong skills. Solidify a P0 bundle first, then expand.
2. "Installing Hub skills = knowing how to use them" — many need hermes setup or required_environment_variables; messaging clients will not let you paste secrets in chat.
3. "Bundled skills auto-update" — user-modified copies are marked in manifest and skip sync; use hermes skills reset to restore.
4. "Skills replace MCP" — Skills teach process; MCP provides live tool calls. Coding needs both — see where to run your MCP Server.
5. "Closing a laptop does not affect Skills" — Gateway long sessions, cron, and slash commands need the host online; use Cloud Mac or a server for 24/7.

11. 48-hour acceptance and Cloud Mac rollout

1. Rent a Cloud Mac (or local Mac PoC): curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
2. Verify bundled skills: ls ~/.hermes/skills/software-development/plan
3. Run four P0 commands: /plan, /github-pr-workflow, /test-driven-development, /systematic-debugging — confirm skill_view in logs
4. Create a backend-dev bundle and walk a real small task
5. If team shared host: hermes skills install official/security/1password
6. Close laptop 8 hours, reconnect from Telegram/CLI — slash commands should still work
7. Lock monthly rent; Runner / launchd reference: Mac mini GitHub Actions Runner guide

Multi-Agent layout (Hermes + Claude Code + worktree): remote Mac worktree short lease; personal AI trio context:AI Coding + Personal AI + Agent architecture.

12. FAQ

Q: How many bundled skills are there?

A: ~70 on 2026-06 main, across 17 top-level directories. Trust hermes skills list or /skills list locally.

Q: Are they compatible with Cursor Skills?

A: Both converge on SKILL.md + agentskills.io direction, but paths, loaders, and slash naming differ. Hermes skills live in ~/.hermes/skills/; use skills.external_dirs for shared directories.

Q: When should I use --force?

A: Only after manually reviewing SKILL.md and when scan returns caution/warn. dangerous verdicts cannot be bypassed.

Q: I want zero bundled skills?

A: curl ... install.sh | bash -s -- --no-skills or hermes skills opt-out --remove (confirms before deleting unmodified bundled copies).

Conclusion

In 2026, Hermes time is better spent on priority than hoarding skills: P0 plan + GitHub + TDD/debug covers delivery; P3 official skills when scenarios are clear; P4 Hub skills only after inspect + review. ~70 bundled skills are already one of the richest out-of-box catalogs — master them first, then let skill_manage extend your list.