Files
hermes-agent/website/docs/reference/tools-reference.md
Teknium 289cc47631 docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738)
Broad drift audit against origin/main (b52b63396).

Reference pages (most user-visible drift):
- slash-commands: add /busy, /curator, /footer, /indicator, /redraw, /steer
  that were missing; drop non-existent /terminal-setup; fix /q footnote
  (resolves to /queue, not /quit); extend CLI-only list with all 24
  CLI-only commands in the registry
- cli-commands: add dedicated sections for hermes curator / fallback /
  hooks (new subcommands not previously documented); remove stale
  hermes honcho standalone section (the plugin registers dynamically
  via hermes memory); list curator/fallback/hooks in top-level table;
  fix completion to include fish
- toolsets-reference: document the real 52-toolset count; split browser
  vs browser-cdp; add discord / discord_admin / spotify / yuanbao;
  correct hermes-cli tool count from 36 to 38; fix misleading claim
  that hermes-homeassistant adds tools (it's identical to hermes-cli)
- tools-reference: bump tool count 55 -> 68; add 7 Spotify, 5 Yuanbao,
  2 Discord toolsets; move browser_cdp/browser_dialog to their own
  browser-cdp toolset section
- environment-variables: add 40+ user-facing HERMES_* vars that were
  undocumented (--yolo, --accept-hooks, --ignore-*, inference model
  override, agent/stream/checkpoint timeouts, OAuth trace, per-platform
  batch tuning for Telegram/Discord/Matrix/Feishu/WeCom, cron knobs,
  gateway restart/connect timeouts); dedupe the Cron Scheduler section;
  replace stale QQ_SANDBOX with QQ_PORTAL_HOST

User-guide (top level):
- cli.md: compression preserves last 20 turns, not 4 (protect_last_n: 20)
- configuration.md: display.platforms is the canonical per-platform
  override key; tool_progress_overrides is deprecated and auto-migrated
- profiles.md: model.default is the config key, not model.model
- sessions.md: CLI/TUI session IDs use 6-char hex, gateway uses 8
- checkpoints-and-rollback.md: destructive-command list now matches
  _DESTRUCTIVE_PATTERNS (adds rmdir, cp, install, dd)
- docker.md: the container runs as non-root hermes (UID 10000) via
  gosu; fix install command (uv pip); add missing --insecure on the
  dashboard compose example (required for non-loopback bind)
- security.md: systemctl danger pattern also matches 'restart'
- index.md: built-in tool count 47 -> 68
- integrations/index.md: 6 STT providers, 8 memory providers
- integrations/providers.md: drop fictional dashscope/qwen aliases

Features:
- overview.md: 9 image models (not 8), 9 TTS providers (not 5),
  8 memory providers (Supermemory was missing)
- tool-gateway.md: 9 image models
- tools.md: extend common-toolsets list with search / messaging /
  spotify / discord / debugging / safe
- fallback-providers.md: add 6 real providers from PROVIDER_REGISTRY
  (lmstudio, kimi-coding-cn, stepfun, alibaba-coding-plan,
  tencent-tokenhub, azure-foundry)
- plugins.md: Available Hooks table now includes on_session_finalize,
  on_session_reset, subagent_stop
- built-in-plugins.md: add the 7 bundled plugins the page didn't
  mention (spotify, google_meet, three image_gen providers, two
  dashboard examples)
- web-dashboard.md: add --insecure and --tui flags
- cron.md: hermes cron create takes positional schedule/prompt, not
  flags

Messaging:
- telegram.md: TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET is now REQUIRED when
  TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_URL is set (gateway refuses to start without it
  per GHSA-3vpc-7q5r-276h). Biggest user-visible drift in the batch.
- discord.md: HERMES_DISCORD_TEXT_BATCH_SPLIT_DELAY_SECONDS default
  is 2.0, not 0.1
- dingtalk.md: document DINGTALK_REQUIRE_MENTION /
  FREE_RESPONSE_CHATS / MENTION_PATTERNS / HOME_CHANNEL /
  ALLOW_ALL_USERS that the adapter supports
- bluebubbles.md: drop fictional BLUEBUBBLES_SEND_READ_RECEIPTS env
  var; the setting lives in platforms.bluebubbles.extra only
- qqbot.md: drop dead QQ_SANDBOX; add real QQ_PORTAL_HOST and
  QQ_GROUP_ALLOWED_USERS
- wecom-callback.md: replace 'hermes gateway start' (service-only)
  with 'hermes gateway' for first-time setup

Developer-guide:
- architecture.md: refresh tool/toolset counts (61/52), terminal
  backend count (7), line counts for run_agent.py (~13.7k), cli.py
  (~11.5k), main.py (~10.4k), setup.py (~3.5k), gateway/run.py
  (~12.2k), mcp_tool.py (~3.1k); add yuanbao adapter, bump platform
  adapter count 18 -> 20
- agent-loop.md: run_agent.py line count 10.7k -> 13.7k
- tools-runtime.md: add vercel_sandbox backend
- adding-tools.md: remove stale 'Discovery import added to
  model_tools.py' checklist item (registry auto-discovery)
- adding-platform-adapters.md: mark send_typing / get_chat_info as
  concrete base methods; only connect/disconnect/send are abstract
- acp-internals.md: ACP sessions now persist to SessionDB
  (~/.hermes/state.db); acp.run_agent call uses
  use_unstable_protocol=True
- cron-internals.md: gateway runs scheduler in a dedicated background
  thread via _start_cron_ticker, not on a maintenance cycle; locking
  is cross-process via fcntl.flock (Unix) / msvcrt.locking (Windows)
- gateway-internals.md: gateway/run.py ~12k lines
- provider-runtime.md: cron DOES support fallback (run_job reads
  fallback_providers from config)
- session-storage.md: SCHEMA_VERSION = 11 (not 9); add migrations
  10 and 11 (trigram FTS, inline-mode FTS5 re-index); add
  api_call_count column to Sessions DDL; document messages_fts_trigram
  and state_meta in the architecture tree
- context-compression-and-caching.md: remove the obsolete 'context
  pressure warnings' section (warnings were removed for causing
  models to give up early)
- context-engine-plugin.md: compress() signature now includes
  focus_topic param
- extending-the-cli.md: _build_tui_layout_children signature now
  includes model_picker_widget; add to default layout

Also fixed three pre-existing broken links/anchors the build warned
about (docker.md -> api-server.md, yuanbao.md -> cron-jobs.md and
tips#background-tasks, nix-setup.md -> #container-aware-cli).

Regenerated per-skill pages via website/scripts/generate-skill-docs.py
so catalog tables and sidebar are consistent with current SKILL.md
frontmatter.

docusaurus build: clean, no broken links or anchors.
2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00

234 lines
19 KiB
Markdown

---
sidebar_position: 3
title: "Built-in Tools Reference"
description: "Authoritative reference for Hermes built-in tools, grouped by toolset"
---
# Built-in Tools Reference
This page documents all 68 built-in tools in the Hermes tool registry, grouped by toolset. Availability varies by platform, credentials, and enabled toolsets.
**Quick counts:** 10 browser tools (core) + 2 browser-cdp tools, 4 file tools, 10 RL tools, 4 Home Assistant tools, 2 terminal tools, 2 web tools, 5 Feishu tools, 7 Spotify tools, 5 Yuanbao tools, 2 Discord tools, and 15 standalone tools across other toolsets.
:::tip MCP Tools
In addition to built-in tools, Hermes can load tools dynamically from MCP servers. MCP tools appear with a server-name prefix (e.g., `github_create_issue` for the `github` MCP server). See [MCP Integration](/docs/user-guide/features/mcp) for configuration.
:::
## `browser` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `browser_back` | Navigate back to the previous page in browser history. Requires browser_navigate to be called first. | — |
| `browser_click` | Click on an element identified by its ref ID from the snapshot (e.g., '@e5'). The ref IDs are shown in square brackets in the snapshot output. Requires browser_navigate and browser_snapshot to be called first. | — |
| `browser_console` | Get browser console output and JavaScript errors from the current page. Returns console.log/warn/error/info messages and uncaught JS exceptions. Use this to detect silent JavaScript errors, failed API calls, and application warnings. Requi… | — |
| `browser_get_images` | Get a list of all images on the current page with their URLs and alt text. Useful for finding images to analyze with the vision tool. Requires browser_navigate to be called first. | — |
| `browser_navigate` | Navigate to a URL in the browser. Initializes the session and loads the page. Must be called before other browser tools. For simple information retrieval, prefer web_search or web_extract (faster, cheaper). Use browser tools when you need… | — |
| `browser_press` | Press a keyboard key. Useful for submitting forms (Enter), navigating (Tab), or keyboard shortcuts. Requires browser_navigate to be called first. | — |
| `browser_scroll` | Scroll the page in a direction. Use this to reveal more content that may be below or above the current viewport. Requires browser_navigate to be called first. | — |
| `browser_snapshot` | Get a text-based snapshot of the current page's accessibility tree. Returns interactive elements with ref IDs (like @e1, @e2) for browser_click and browser_type. full=false (default): compact view with interactive elements. full=true: comp… | — |
| `browser_type` | Type text into an input field identified by its ref ID. Clears the field first, then types the new text. Requires browser_navigate and browser_snapshot to be called first. | — |
| `browser_vision` | Take a screenshot of the current page and analyze it with vision AI. Use this when you need to visually understand what's on the page - especially useful for CAPTCHAs, visual verification challenges, complex layouts, or when the text snaps… | — |
## `browser-cdp` toolset
Registered only when a Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint is reachable at session start — via `/browser connect`, `browser.cdp_url` config, a Browserbase session, or Camofox.
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `browser_cdp` | Send a raw Chrome DevTools Protocol command. Escape hatch for browser operations not covered by the higher-level `browser_*` tools. See https://chromedevtools.github.io/devtools-protocol/ | CDP endpoint |
| `browser_dialog` | Respond to a native JavaScript dialog (alert / confirm / prompt / beforeunload). Call `browser_snapshot` first — pending dialogs appear in its `pending_dialogs` field. Then call `browser_dialog(action='accept'\|'dismiss')`. | CDP endpoint |
## `clarify` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `clarify` | Ask the user a question when you need clarification, feedback, or a decision before proceeding. Supports two modes: 1. **Multiple choice** — provide up to 4 choices. The user picks one or types their own answer via a 5th 'Other' option. 2.… | — |
## `code_execution` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `execute_code` | Run a Python script that can call Hermes tools programmatically. Use this when you need 3+ tool calls with processing logic between them, need to filter/reduce large tool outputs before they enter your context, need conditional branching (… | — |
## `cronjob` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `cronjob` | Unified scheduled-task manager. Use `action="create"`, `"list"`, `"update"`, `"pause"`, `"resume"`, `"run"`, or `"remove"` to manage jobs. Supports skill-backed jobs with one or more attached skills, and `skills=[]` on update clears attached skills. Cron runs happen in fresh sessions with no current-chat context. | — |
## `delegation` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `delegate_task` | Spawn one or more subagents to work on tasks in isolated contexts. Each subagent gets its own conversation, terminal session, and toolset. Only the final summary is returned -- intermediate tool results never enter your context window. TWO… | — |
## `feishu_doc` toolset
Scoped to the Feishu document-comment intelligent-reply handler (`gateway/platforms/feishu_comment.py`). Not exposed on `hermes-cli` or the regular Feishu chat adapter.
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `feishu_doc_read` | Read the full text content of a Feishu/Lark document (Docx, Doc, or Sheet) given its file_type and token. | Feishu app credentials |
## `feishu_drive` toolset
Scoped to the Feishu document-comment handler. Drives comment read/write operations on drive files.
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `feishu_drive_add_comment` | Add a top-level comment on a Feishu/Lark document or file. | Feishu app credentials |
| `feishu_drive_list_comments` | List whole-document comments on a Feishu/Lark file, most recent first. | Feishu app credentials |
| `feishu_drive_list_comment_replies` | List replies on a specific Feishu comment thread (whole-doc or local-selection). | Feishu app credentials |
| `feishu_drive_reply_comment` | Post a reply on a Feishu comment thread, with optional `@`-mention. | Feishu app credentials |
## `file` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `patch` | Targeted find-and-replace edits in files. Use this instead of sed/awk in terminal. Uses fuzzy matching (9 strategies) so minor whitespace/indentation differences won't break it. Returns a unified diff. Auto-runs syntax checks after editing… | — |
| `read_file` | Read a text file with line numbers and pagination. Use this instead of cat/head/tail in terminal. Output format: 'LINE_NUM\|CONTENT'. Suggests similar filenames if not found. Use offset and limit for large files. NOTE: Cannot read images o… | — |
| `search_files` | Search file contents or find files by name. Use this instead of grep/rg/find/ls in terminal. Ripgrep-backed, faster than shell equivalents. Content search (target='content'): Regex search inside files. Output modes: full matches with line… | — |
| `write_file` | Write content to a file, completely replacing existing content. Use this instead of echo/cat heredoc in terminal. Creates parent directories automatically. OVERWRITES the entire file — use 'patch' for targeted edits. | — |
## `homeassistant` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `ha_call_service` | Call a Home Assistant service to control a device. Use ha_list_services to discover available services and their parameters for each domain. | — |
| `ha_get_state` | Get the detailed state of a single Home Assistant entity, including all attributes (brightness, color, temperature setpoint, sensor readings, etc.). | — |
| `ha_list_entities` | List Home Assistant entities. Optionally filter by domain (light, switch, climate, sensor, binary_sensor, cover, fan, etc.) or by area name (living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc.). | — |
| `ha_list_services` | List available Home Assistant services (actions) for device control. Shows what actions can be performed on each device type and what parameters they accept. Use this to discover how to control devices found via ha_list_entities. | — |
:::note
**Honcho tools** (`honcho_profile`, `honcho_search`, `honcho_context`, `honcho_reasoning`, `honcho_conclude`) are no longer built-in. They are available via the Honcho memory provider plugin at `plugins/memory/honcho/`. See [Memory Providers](../user-guide/features/memory-providers.md) for installation and usage.
:::
## `image_gen` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `image_generate` | Generate high-quality images from text prompts using FAL.ai. The underlying model is user-configured (default: FLUX 2 Klein 9B, sub-1s generation) and is not selectable by the agent. Returns a single image URL. Display it using… | FAL_KEY |
## `memory` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `memory` | Save important information to persistent memory that survives across sessions. Your memory appears in your system prompt at session start -- it's how you remember things about the user and your environment between conversations. WHEN TO SA… | — |
## `messaging` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `send_message` | Send a message to a connected messaging platform, or list available targets. IMPORTANT: When the user asks to send to a specific channel or person (not just a bare platform name), call send_message(action='list') FIRST to see available tar… | — |
## `moa` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `mixture_of_agents` | Route a hard problem through multiple frontier LLMs collaboratively. Makes 5 API calls (4 reference models + 1 aggregator) with maximum reasoning effort — use sparingly for genuinely difficult problems. Best for: complex math, advanced alg… | OPENROUTER_API_KEY |
## `rl` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `rl_check_status` | Get status and metrics for a training run. RATE LIMITED: enforces 30-minute minimum between checks for the same run. Returns WandB metrics: step, state, reward_mean, loss, percent_correct. | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_edit_config` | Update a configuration field. Use rl_get_current_config() first to see all available fields for the selected environment. Each environment has different configurable options. Infrastructure settings (tokenizer, URLs, lora_rank, learning_ra… | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_get_current_config` | Get the current environment configuration. Returns only fields that can be modified: group_size, max_token_length, total_steps, steps_per_eval, use_wandb, wandb_name, max_num_workers. | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_get_results` | Get final results and metrics for a completed training run. Returns final metrics and path to trained weights. | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_list_environments` | List all available RL environments. Returns environment names, paths, and descriptions. TIP: Read the file_path with file tools to understand how each environment works (verifiers, data loading, rewards). | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_list_runs` | List all training runs (active and completed) with their status. | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_select_environment` | Select an RL environment for training. Loads the environment's default configuration. After selecting, use rl_get_current_config() to see settings and rl_edit_config() to modify them. | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_start_training` | Start a new RL training run with the current environment and config. Most training parameters (lora_rank, learning_rate, etc.) are fixed. Use rl_edit_config() to set group_size, batch_size, wandb_project before starting. WARNING: Training… | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_stop_training` | Stop a running training job. Use if metrics look bad, training is stagnant, or you want to try different settings. | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
| `rl_test_inference` | Quick inference test for any environment. Runs a few steps of inference + scoring using OpenRouter. Default: 3 steps x 16 completions = 48 rollouts per model, testing 3 models = 144 total. Tests environment loading, prompt construction, in… | TINKER_API_KEY, WANDB_API_KEY |
## `session_search` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `session_search` | Search your long-term memory of past conversations. This is your recall -- every past session is searchable, and this tool summarizes what happened. USE THIS PROACTIVELY when: - The user says 'we did this before', 'remember when', 'last ti… | — |
## `skills` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `skill_manage` | Manage skills (create, update, delete). Skills are your procedural memory — reusable approaches for recurring task types. New skills go to ~/.hermes/skills/; existing skills can be modified wherever they live. Actions: create (full SKILL.m… | — |
| `skill_view` | Skills allow for loading information about specific tasks and workflows, as well as scripts and templates. Load a skill's full content or access its linked files (references, templates, scripts). First call returns SKILL.md content plus a… | — |
| `skills_list` | List available skills (name + description). Use skill_view(name) to load full content. | — |
## `terminal` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `process` | Manage background processes started with terminal(background=true). Actions: 'list' (show all), 'poll' (check status + new output), 'log' (full output with pagination), 'wait' (block until done or timeout), 'kill' (terminate), 'write' (sen… | — |
| `terminal` | Execute shell commands on a Linux environment. Filesystem persists between calls. Set `background=true` for long-running servers. Set `notify_on_complete=true` (with `background=true`) to get an automatic notification when the process finishes — no polling needed. Do NOT use cat/head/tail — use read_file. Do NOT use grep/rg/find — use search_files. | — |
## `todo` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `todo` | Manage your task list for the current session. Use for complex tasks with 3+ steps or when the user provides multiple tasks. Call with no parameters to read the current list. Writing: - Provide 'todos' array to create/update items - merge=… | — |
## `vision` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `vision_analyze` | Analyze images using AI vision. Provides a comprehensive description and answers a specific question about the image content. | — |
## `web` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `web_search` | Search the web for information. Returns up to 5 results by default with titles, URLs, and descriptions. Accepts an optional `limit` (1-100, default 5). The query is passed through to the configured backend, so operators such as `site:domain`, `filetype:pdf`, `intitle:word`, `-term`, and `"exact phrase"` may work when the backend supports them. | EXA_API_KEY or PARALLEL_API_KEY or FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or TAVILY_API_KEY |
| `web_extract` | Extract content from web page URLs. Returns page content in markdown format. Also works with PDF URLs — pass the PDF link directly and it converts to markdown text. Pages under 5000 chars return full markdown; larger pages are LLM-summarized. | EXA_API_KEY or PARALLEL_API_KEY or FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or TAVILY_API_KEY |
## `tts` toolset
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `text_to_speech` | Convert text to speech audio. Returns a MEDIA: path that the platform delivers as a voice message. On Telegram it plays as a voice bubble, on Discord/WhatsApp as an audio attachment. In CLI mode, saves to ~/voice-memos/. Voice and provider… | — |
## `discord` toolset
Registered on the `hermes-discord` platform toolset (gateway only). Uses the same bot token as the messaging adapter.
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `discord` | Read and participate in a Discord server. Actions include `search_members`, `fetch_messages`, `send_message`, `react`, `fetch_channel`, `list_channels`, and more. | `DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN` |
## `discord_admin` toolset
Registered on the `hermes-discord` platform toolset. Moderation actions require the bot to hold the matching Discord permissions.
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `discord_admin` | Manage a Discord server via the REST API: list guilds/channels/roles, create/edit/delete channels, manage role grants, timeouts, kicks, and bans. | `DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN` + bot permissions |
## `spotify` toolset
Registered by the bundled `spotify` plugin. Requires an OAuth token — run `hermes spotify setup` once to authorize.
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `spotify_playback` | Control Spotify playback, inspect the active playback state, or fetch recently played tracks. | Spotify OAuth |
| `spotify_devices` | List Spotify Connect devices or transfer playback to a different device. | Spotify OAuth |
| `spotify_queue` | Inspect the user's Spotify queue or add an item to it. | Spotify OAuth |
| `spotify_search` | Search the Spotify catalog for tracks, albums, artists, playlists, shows, or episodes. | Spotify OAuth |
| `spotify_playlists` | List, inspect, create, update, and modify Spotify playlists. | Spotify OAuth |
| `spotify_albums` | Fetch Spotify album metadata or album tracks. | Spotify OAuth |
| `spotify_library` | List, save, or remove the user's saved Spotify tracks or albums. | Spotify OAuth |
## `hermes-yuanbao` toolset
Registered only on the `hermes-yuanbao` platform toolset. Yuanbao is Tencent's chat app; these tools drive its DM/group/sticker APIs.
| Tool | Description | Requires environment |
|------|-------------|----------------------|
| `yb_query_group_info` | Query basic info about a group (called "派/Pai" in the app): name, owner, member count. | Yuanbao credentials |
| `yb_query_group_members` | Query members of a group (for `@`-mentions, finding a user by name, listing bots). | Yuanbao credentials |
| `yb_send_dm` | Send a private/direct message to a user in a group, with optional media files. | Yuanbao credentials |
| `yb_search_sticker` | Search the built-in Yuanbao sticker (TIM face) catalogue by keyword. | Yuanbao credentials |
| `yb_send_sticker` | Send a built-in sticker to the current Yuanbao chat. | Yuanbao credentials |