# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Hermes agent help guidance hardcoding and control issues

## Open now

- 2 issues, 2 PRs open on GitHub.
- #20721: \[Bug\]: Hermes-agent skill prompting is too strict and causes excessive re-reads of the skill
- #24438: HERMES_AGENT_HELP_GUIDANCE is unconditionally hardcoded into system prompt with no way to disable it
- PR #39784: fix(agent): relax repeated hermes-agent skill loading guidance (#20721)
- PR #106923: fix(agent): honor documented HERMES_AGENT_HELP_GUIDANCE env append

These issues and fixes concern HERMES_AGENT_HELP_GUIDANCE being unconditionally injected into the system prompt, causing excessive skill re-reads and lacking a proper way to disable or configure it via environment variable. The work involves relaxing the guidance strictness and honoring documented override mechanisms.

## TL;DR

- 6 member(s): 2 open issue(s), 0 closed issue(s), 2 open PR(s), 0 merged PR(s), 2 PR(s) closed without merging.
- No fix has been merged to main; one or more PRs were attempted (see below).
- **Recommended:** review the prior/competing PR(s) below. A fix was attempted but not merged; your case may extend or revive that work.

## Maintainer resolution verdict

- Internal-tracker verdict over this cluster's issue members: `unresolved`. This is distinct from the fix status above. Weigh it yourself.

## How this cluster was grouped

- Link evidence (`STRUCTURAL_PARTIAL`): some members are connected by structural evidence (shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference); the rest are joined by an automated relevance judgement over their text.
- Members outside that structural core may belong to a different underlying problem.
- Pairwise link density `0.29`: the share of member pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36. `1.00` means every pair is linked.

## Open related issues

- #20721: \[Bug\]: Hermes-agent skill prompting is too strict and causes excessive re-reads of the skill
- #24438: HERMES_AGENT_HELP_GUIDANCE is unconditionally hardcoded into system prompt with no way to disable it

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#24550: fix(prompt_builder): make HERMES_AGENT_HELP_GUIDANCE respect env var override**. closed without merge · fix tier `suggested`
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#24442`, `#24438`
  - _suggested-tier fix detail withheld; re-request with `?tier=all` to include it._
- **#24442: fix(prompt): gate skill_view help guidance on tool + honor documented env var (#24438)**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `stale_abandoned`; implication `active`
- **#39784: fix(agent): relax repeated hermes-agent skill loading guidance (#20721)**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `partial_fix`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `a1220977d35dea8e6f28cbe051dc1601cfd831ef`, `#20721`
  - files: `agent/prompt_builder.py`, `tests/agent/test_prompt_builder.py`, `tests/agent/test_system_prompt.py`
- **#106923: fix(agent): honor documented HERMES_AGENT_HELP_GUIDANCE env append**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `uncategorized`; implication `needs_llm`
  - files: `agent/system_prompt.py`, `tests/agent/test_system_prompt.py`

## Fix status

- No merged fix on record.
- Subsystem: `agent`