---
title: "Hermes"
description: "Install the clanka plugin for Hermes Agent, run a companion as a profile, and let Nightshade write a soul for you."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://clanka.jfa.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Hermes

On Hermes Agent a companion is a profile of its own: its persona is the
profile's `SOUL.md`, and clanka's tools are the only toolset it has.

## Install the plugin

You need `hermes` on your `PATH` and a clone of the clanka repository.

```sh
hermes/install.sh
```

The script:

- builds the Python extension and the `clanka` CLI,
- installs the plugin under `~/.hermes/plugins/clanka`,
- installs the soul-writer skill under `~/.agents/skills/clanka-soul-writer`,
  so any agent on the machine can write a soul the same way,
- runs [`clanka hermes refresh`](/cli/hermes/#refresh).

## Make a profile for a companion

```sh
clanka hermes profile nova ~/.config/clanka/souls/<id>.md
hermes -p nova chat
```

The profile is that companion and nothing else. Hermes's own memory, user
profile, coding brief and agent-style guidance are off, so each turn carries
the persona and the conversation instead of Hermes's whole toolbox.

The root's own providers, model aliases and the keys they read are copied
into the profile, so `/model <alias>` works in its chat.

Run the command again after [changing the persona](/concepts/souls/#changing-the-persona)
to refresh the profile's `SOUL.md`. A gateway that already serves the profile
re-reads its config on its own.

To give a companion another toolset on one platform, add it next to clanka.
`clanka hermes profile` keeps it on later runs:

```sh
hermes -p nova config set platform_toolsets.telegram '[clanka, image_gen]'
```

## Let Nightshade write the soul

Nightshade is a Hermes agent that interviews you about the companion you
want, writes its `soul.md`, lints it and makes the profile.

```sh
clanka hermes nightshade --model claude-opus-5-5
hermes -p nightshade chat
```

Without `--model` it runs on the Hermes default. A stronger model interviews
better, and the session is short.

## Update

Pull the repository and run the installer again:

```sh
git pull
hermes/install.sh
```

It ends with `clanka hermes refresh`, which gives every profile clanka made
the new plugin and restarts the gateway.

> **Caution**
>
> Where systemd runs the gateway, the restart interrupts live sessions without
> asking. Use `hermes/install.sh --no-restart` to leave the gateway running the
> old build, and restart it yourself later.

Source: https://clanka.jfa.dev/guides/hermes/index.mdx