Hermes History Ingest — Conversation & Memory Mining
You are extracting knowledge from the user's Hermes agent history and distilling it into the Obsidian wiki. Hermes stores both free-form memories and structured session transcripts — focus on durable knowledge, not operational telemetry.
This skill can be invoked directly or via the
router (
/wiki-history-ingest hermes
).
Before You Start
- Read to get and (default to if unset)
- Read at the vault root to check what has already been ingested
- Read at the vault root to understand what the wiki already contains
Ingest Modes
Append Mode (default)
Check
for each source file. Only process:
- Files not in the manifest (new memory files, new session logs)
- Files whose modification time is newer than in the manifest
Use this mode for regular syncs.
Full Mode
Process everything regardless of manifest. Use after
or if the user explicitly asks for a full re-ingest.
Hermes Data Layout
Hermes stores all local artifacts under
(or
for non-default profiles).
~/.hermes/
├── memories/ # Persistent agent memories (markdown or JSON)
│ └── *.md / *.json
├── skills/ # Installed skills (read-only for ingest purposes)
│ └── <skill-name>/SKILL.md
├── sessions/ # Session transcripts (if session logging is enabled)
│ └── YYYY-MM-DD/
│ └── <session-id>.jsonl
├── config.yaml # User config (model, theme, paths)
└── .hub/ # Skills Hub state (lock.json, audit.log, quarantine/)
Key data sources ranked by value
- / — highest signal; curated persistent knowledge the agent accumulated
- — structured turn-by-turn transcripts; rich but noisy
- — metadata only (model preferences, paths); rarely worth ingesting
Skip
internals (audit/quarantine state) and the
directory (source material, not user knowledge).
Step 1: Survey and Compute Delta
Scan
and compare against
:
Classify each file:
- New — not in manifest
- Modified — in manifest but file is newer than
- Unchanged — already ingested and unchanged
Report a concise delta summary before deep parsing.
Step 2: Parse Memories First
Memories are the highest-value source. Hermes writes them as either:
- Markdown — structured prose with optional frontmatter; ingest directly
- JSON —
{"content": "...", "created_at": "...", "tags": [...]}
records
For each memory:
- Extract the core knowledge claim
- Note any tags Hermes attached (they often map to wiki categories)
- Merge into the appropriate wiki page rather than creating one memory = one page
Step 3: Parse Session JSONL Safely
Each session JSONL line is an event envelope. Common shapes:
json
{"role": "user", "content": "..."}
{"role": "assistant", "content": "..."}
{"type": "tool_use", "name": "...", "input": {...}}
{"type": "tool_result", "content": "..."}
Extraction rules
- Prioritize assistant responses that state conclusions, patterns, or decisions
- Extract user intent from high-signal turns; skip low-information follow-ups
- Treat / pairs as context, not primary content
- Skip token accounting, internal plumbing, and repeated plan echoes
Critical privacy filter
Session logs can include injected instructions, tool payloads, and sensitive text. Do not ingest verbatim.
- Remove API keys, tokens, passwords, credentials
- Redact private identifiers unless relevant and user-approved
- Summarize; do not quote raw transcripts verbatim
Step 4: Cluster by Topic
Do not create one wiki page per memory or session.
- Group memories by stable topic (concept, tool, project, technique)
- Split mixed sessions into separate themes
- Merge recurring patterns across dates and projects
- Use file paths or session metadata to infer project scope when available
Step 5: Distill into Wiki Pages
Route extracted knowledge using existing wiki conventions:
- Project-specific architecture/process →
- General concepts →
- Recurring techniques/debug playbooks →
- Tools/services/frameworks →
- Cross-session patterns →
For each impacted project, create/update
projects/<name>/<name>.md
.
Writing rules
- Distill knowledge, not chronology
- Avoid "on date X we discussed..." unless date context is essential
- Add frontmatter on each new/updated page (1–2 sentences, ≤ 200 chars)
- Add provenance markers:
- when directly grounded in explicit memory/session content
- when synthesizing patterns across multiple memories
- when memories conflict
- Add/update frontmatter mix for each changed page
Step 6: Update Manifest, Log, and Index
Update
For each processed source file:
- , ,
- : |
- : inferred project name (when applicable)
- ,
Add/update a top-level summary block:
json
{
"hermes": {
"source_path": "~/.hermes/",
"last_ingested": "TIMESTAMP",
"memories_ingested": 42,
"sessions_ingested": 7,
"pages_created": 5,
"pages_updated": 12
}
}
Update special files
- [TIMESTAMP] HERMES_HISTORY_INGEST memories=N sessions=M pages_updated=X pages_created=Y mode=append|full
Privacy and Compliance
- Distill and synthesize; avoid raw memory or transcript dumps
- Default to redaction for anything that looks sensitive
- Ask the user before storing personal or sensitive details
- Keep references to other people minimal and purpose-bound
Reference
See
references/hermes-data-format.md
for field-level notes and extraction guidance.