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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/techjarves/Hermes-USB-Portable/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Because Hermes Portable overrides HERMES_HOME to point at the local data/ directory, every session transcript, memory database, custom skill, and configuration file is stored inside the portable folder — never in ~/.hermes/ on the host machine. This means your entire conversation history and agent context travels with the drive and is fully self-contained.

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Sessions

Completed and in-progress conversations are saved as individual session files under data/sessions/.

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Listing and Resuming Sessions

hermes sessions

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Example: Listing Sessions

$ hermes sessions

  ID   Name                  Created              Messages
  ──   ────────────────────  ───────────────────  ────────
  1    refactor-api-client   2025-07-10 14:22     38
  2    debug-webhook-issue   2025-07-11 09:05     17
  3    onboarding-draft      2025-07-12 16:47     52
Use hermes --continue to jump straight back into your last conversation without browsing the session list — handy when you are mid-task and just closed the terminal.

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Persistent Memory

Hermes stores long-term facts and context in data/memories/. Memory persists across sessions — if Hermes learned your preferred coding style or noted a project detail in a previous conversation, it can recall and apply that knowledge in a new one. 
# Open the memory management interface
hermes memory
Memory is written automatically during conversations as Hermes identifies information worth retaining. You do not need to trigger it manually — it happens in the background.

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Custom Skills

Skills are reusable behaviors that Hermes learns and stores in data/skills/. Once created, a skill can be invoked in any future conversation, giving Hermes a consistent, repeatable way to perform complex or multi-step tasks. 
# List all saved skills
hermes skills

# Create a new skill
hermes skills create

# Edit an existing skill
hermes skills edit
A skill is a saved sequence of steps or instructions that Hermes can execute on demand. For example, you might create a skill called deploy-preview that runs your staging pipeline, checks the logs, and reports a summary — all triggered by a single prompt in any session.

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SOUL.md — Custom System Prompt

If you create a file at data/SOUL.md, Hermes loads it as the system prompt on every launch. This is the primary way to give Hermes a persistent persona, working style, or set of standing instructions that apply across all conversations. 
# Create or edit SOUL.md in your default editor
hermes config edit
Or create it directly: 
# macOS / Linux
nano data/SOUL.md

# Windows — open in Notepad
notepad data\SOUL.md
Example data/SOUL.md: 
You are a senior software engineer assistant. Always prefer
concise, idiomatic code. Ask clarifying questions before
making large changes. Reference existing project conventions
when suggesting new patterns.
data/SOUL.md is loaded on every Hermes launch — including gateway sessions and one-shot prompts via hermes -z "…". Keep it focused on persistent preferences rather than session-specific instructions.

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Backing Up Your Data

The entire data/ directory contains all your personal data:
PathContents
data/.envAPI keys and credentials
data/config.yamlLLM provider and model configuration
data/sessions/Conversation histories
data/memories/Persistent memory databases
data/skills/Custom learned skills
data/SOUL.mdCustom system prompt (if created)
data/logs/Agent and gateway log files
Back up the data/ folder before resetting or reinstalling Hermes. Deleting .cache/runtimes/ or src/hermes-agent is safe — those are rebuilt on next launch. Deleting data/ removes all your sessions, memories, API keys, and skills permanently.

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