# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Global user-level instruction file for agents

## Open now

- 2 issues, 1 PR open on GitHub.
- #31762: feat(prompt_builder): scan HERMES_HOME for global context files (HERMES.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md)
- #32395: Feat: Load global agent instructions from ~/.agents/AGENTS.md
- PR #3972: feat(context): add GUIDELINES.md global prompt layer

Multiple proposals and implementations for loading a global markdown rules or instructions file from a user home directory location, to provide persistent context across agent sessions. The members share this theme but differ on the exact filename and directory conventions.

## TL;DR

- 5 member(s): 2 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 1 open PR(s), 0 merged PR(s), 1 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_PARTIAL`): some members are connected by structural evidence (shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference); the rest are joined by an automated relevance judgement over their text.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 `0.31`: 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

- #31762: feat(prompt_builder): scan HERMES_HOME for global context files (HERMES.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md)
- #32395: Feat: Load global agent instructions from ~/.agents/AGENTS.md

## Closed / duplicate issues

- #33143: \[Feature Request\] Global rules file (similar to ~/.claude/claude.md)

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#51490: feat(agent): add global RULES.md support**. closed without merge · fix tier `suggested`
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `e4a3ffa9c1d9698be9cf2b2a0094c1e7596779e8`, `#33143`
- **#3972: feat(context): add GUIDELINES.md global prompt layer**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `#1812`, `#1812`, `#51490`, `#33143`, `#51490`, `#33143`, `#32395`, `#23331`, `#1812`, `#11885`, `#11763`, `#66155`, `#65800`, `#52580`, `#48809`, `#53766`, `#48809`, `#12255`, `#1812`, `#72105`, `#11885`, `#66155`, `#1812`, `#1812`, `#32395`
  - files: `agent/prompt_builder.py`, `run_agent.py`, `tests/agent/test_prompt_builder.py`, `tests/test_run_agent.py`

## Fix status

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