Hermes's skill loader (agent/skill_utils.skill_matches_platform) already honors
the 'platforms:' frontmatter field and skip-loads skills whose declared
platform list doesn't include sys.platform. Seven bundled skills are in fact
Linux/macOS-only but never declared it, so they leak into Windows skill
listings and sometimes load with broken instructions.
Audited all 160 SKILL.md files (skills/ + optional-skills/) for Windows-
hostile signals: apt-get/brew/systemd/chmod+x install flows, ptrace/proc
runtime dependencies, bash-only launcher scripts, and package dependencies
with no Windows build. The 7 below fail one or more of those tests in a way
that fundamentally can't be papered over by docs edits:
minecraft-modpack-server bash start.sh + chmod +x + apt openjdk
evaluating-llms-harness lm-eval-harness bash launcher scripts
distributed-llm-pretraining-
torchtitan bash multi-node torchrun launcher
python-debugpy remote attach relies on /proc ptrace_scope
pytorch-fsdp NCCL backend; Windows path is WSL only
tensorrt-llm NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM has no Windows build
searxng-search Docker volume flow assumes POSIX $(pwd)
All seven get 'platforms: [linux, macos]'. On Windows the loader now skips
them silently — no more phantom skill listings, no more mid-task failures
because an Apple-only path was surfaced as a suggestion.
Cross-platform skills that merely CONTAIN signals in examples or
install-instructions (brew install as one of several paths, /tmp/ in a code
snippet, etc.) are NOT touched by this commit. A broader audit that
declares the ~140 cross-platform skills as 'platforms: [linux, macos,
windows]' can follow as a separate change once each has been verified
working on Windows.
The installed user copies under ~/AppData/Local/hermes/skills/ (when they
exist) are also patched so the running session reflects the gating
immediately, but only the in-repo files are committed here.
Target: every skill's description fits in a one-line gateway menu and
leads with trigger keywords an agent would match on. Drops filler like
'Use this skill to', 'A skill for', 'This skill provides'.
Before: max description length was 791 chars (architecture-diagram),
74 of 81 built-in skills were >60 chars.
After: max 60, mean 54, all 81 built-in skills <=60.
Rewritten with double-quoted YAML scalars to preserve Chinese/arrow
glyphs (baoyu-comic, yuanbao, youtube-content).
Was user-local in ~/.hermes/skills/. Ported into skills/software-development/
so other Hermes users get it and so the related_skills links from
node-inspect-debugger and python-debugpy resolve in-repo.
Frontmatter upgraded to match repo convention (version/author/license/
metadata.hermes.{tags,related_skills}, description rewritten as "Use when ...").
Body expanded with debugging-tactics section pointing at the two new
debugger skills, and additional common-issues / pitfalls entries.
Two new skills under skills/software-development/ for real breakpoint-driven
debugging from the terminal:
- node-inspect-debugger: node --inspect / --inspect-brk, node inspect REPL,
CDP scripting via chrome-remote-interface, attaching to running Node
processes (SIGUSR1), ui-tui-specific recipes, Vitest under debugger,
CPU profiles + heap snapshots.
- python-debugpy: pdb quick reference, breakpoint() workflow, pytest --pdb
(with xdist caveat for scripts/run_tests.sh), post-mortem, debugpy for
remote/attach, remote-pdb as the agent-friendly alternative to DAP,
recipes for tui_gateway/_SlashWorker/subprocess debugging.
Improvements to all 5 skills adapted from obra/superpowers:
- Restored anti-rationalization tables and red flags from originals
(key behavioral guardrails that prevent LLMs from taking shortcuts)
- Restored 'Rule of Three' for debugging (3+ failed fixes = question
architecture, not keep fixing)
- Restored Pattern Analysis and Hypothesis Testing phases in debugging
- Restored 'Why Order Matters' rebuttals and verification checklist in TDD
- Added proper Hermes delegate_task integration with real parameter examples
and toolset specifications throughout
- Added Hermes tool usage (search_files, read_file, terminal) for
investigation and verification steps
- Removed references to non-existent skills (brainstorming,
finishing-a-development-branch, executing-plans, using-git-worktrees)
- Removed generic language-specific sections (Go, Rust, Jest) that
added bulk without agent value
- Tightened prose — cut ~430 lines while adding more actionable content
- Added execution handoff section to writing-plans
- Consistent cross-references between the 5 skills
Add 5 new skills for professional software development workflows,
adapted from the Superpowers project ( obra/superpowers ):
- test-driven-development: RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle enforcement
- systematic-debugging: 4-phase root cause investigation
- subagent-driven-development: Structured delegation with two-stage review
- writing-plans: Comprehensive implementation planning
- requesting-code-review: Systematic code review process
These skills provide structured development workflows that transform
Hermes from a general assistant into a professional software engineer
with defined processes for quality assurance.
Skills are organized under software-development category and follow
Hermes skill format with proper frontmatter, examples, and integration
guidance with existing skills.
