# NousResearch/hermes-agent · skill discovery, write directory, and proposal queue concerns

## Open now

- 1 issue, 3 PRs open on GitHub.
- #75130: Pending skill-proposal queue grows unbounded and self-invalidates when skills.write_approval is enabled (357 in 8 days, 21% dead)
- PR #8177: feat: support configurable default write directory for skills
- PR #35244: fix(skill_manager): follow symlinks when discovering skills (#35184)
- PR #75225: fix(skills): use symlink-following traversal in _find_skill

These items cover symlink-following fixes for skill discovery, a configurable default write directory for skills, and an observed issue where the pending skill-proposal queue grows unbounded with a notable proportion of stale entries when write approval is enabled.

## TL;DR

- 5 member(s): 1 open issue(s), 0 closed issue(s), 3 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evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
- Pairwise link density `0.40`: 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

- #75130: Pending skill-proposal queue grows unbounded and self-invalidates when skills.write_approval is enabled (357 in 8 days, 21% dead)

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#12624: fix(skills): follow symlinks when discovering SKILL.md**. closed without merge · fix tier `suggested`
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`
  - _suggested-tier fix detail withheld; re-request with `?tier=all` to include it._
- **#8177: feat: support configurable default write directory for skills**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `merged_via`; implication `superseded`
  - files: `agent/prompt_builder.py`, `agent/skill_commands.py`, `agent/skill_utils.py`, `hermes_cli/commands.py`, `hermes_cli/config.py`, `tests/agent/test_external_skills.py`, `tests/agent/test_skill_commands.py`, `tests/hermes_cli/test_commands.py`, `tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py`, `tests/tools/test_skill_usage.py`, `tools/skill_manager_tool.py`, `tools/skill_usage.py`, `tools/skills_tool.py`, `website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md`, `website/docs/user-guide/features/curator.md`, `website/docs/user-guide/features/skills.md`
- **#35244: fix(skill_manager): follow symlinks when discovering skills (#35184)**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `#35184`, `#35213`, `#35244`, `#35299`
  - files: `scripts/release.py`, `tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py`, `tools/skill_manager_tool.py`
- **#75225: fix(skills): use symlink-following traversal in _find_skill**. open
  - maintainer direction: category `partial_fix`; implication `needs_llm`; refs `ad4feeaf0`, `ad4feeaf0`, `e683c9db9`, `02aba4a72`, `a884f6d5d`, `02aba4a72`, `a884f6d5d`, `02aba4a72`, `a884f6d5d`, `f4d766da8e7a`, `#75130`, `#75225`, `#4868`, `#5255`, `#5284`, `#5407`, `#7634`, `#8177`, `#4381`, `#21810`, `#8357`, `#8769`, `#9253`, `#11847`, `#14230`, `#12624`, `#14230`, `#14476`, `#14668`, `#14740`, `#14740`, `#8293`, `#17512`, `#4759`, `#21812`, `#22236`, `#21810`, `#8177`, `#23484`, `#12624`, `#23562`, `#8177`, `#29411`, `#29444`, `#29444`, `#17512`, `#35213`, `#67748`, `#35244`, `#67748`, `#35299`, `#67748`, `#44129`, `#44210`, `#67748`, `#52433`, `#75130`, `#54200`, `#35244`, `#67748`, `#56420`, `#56423`, `#56423`, `#67748`, `#60960`, `#67748`, `#67748`, `#4759`, `#35184`, `#44609`, `#54195`, `#75225`, `#75130`, `#8357`, `#8769`, `#9253`, `#11847`, `#12624`, `#14476`, `#14668`, `#14230`, `#14740`, `#35213`, `#35244`, `#35299`, `#44210`, `#54200`, `#56420`, `#56423`, `#60960`, `#75225`, `#67748`, `#21812`, `#22236`, `#23562`, `#8177`, `#75225`, `#75130`, `#67748`, `#8177`, `#374151`, `#35184`, `#75130`, `#35213`, `#35244`, `#44210`, `#54200`, `#56420`, `#56423`, `#60960`, `#67748`, `#75225`
  - files: `tools/skill_manager_tool.py`

## Fix status

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