Cheat Sheet / Quick Reference

21.5. Cheat Sheet / Quick Reference — Fast Command Lookup

Surface symbols

Not every command appears on every surface — before reporting a “command not working”, first check the correct surface.

01. Session & Context — Managing sessions and context

Corresponding to the CLI commands covered in chapter 19.3:

hermes --continue / --resume <id>     # return to an old session (surface SHELL)

02. Control Active Work — Controlling running work

The “While Hermes is working” box — the four commands to remember most

/queue      = do this next
/steer      = adjust the work in progress
/background = split off and run in the background
/stop       = stop it entirely

This is precisely the practical control set for the busy_input_mode covered in chapter 19.5 (steer vs queue) — the cheat sheet groups all four behaviors in one place for quick reference while the agent is running.

03. Models & Behavior — Models and behavior

04. Skills & Knowledge — Skills and knowledge

05. Automation & Agents — Automation and orchestration

Corresponding to the SHELL command groups covered in chapters 12–13:

hermes cron create "<schedule>" "<prompt>" --deliver <platform> --skill <name>
hermes cron create "<schedule>" "<prompt>" --no-agent --script <file>
delegate_task(goal=..., context=...)
delegate_task(tasks=[...])

06. Recover & Inspect — Recovery and inspection

Messaging / Gateway — Gateway environments only

⚠️ This command group only works in a gateway environment — it is not available on plain CLI or a standalone Desktop. /approve//deny is precisely the practical mechanism behind approvals.mode (chapter 6.3) when operating through Telegram/Discord.

Terminal Essentials — Commands typed in the OS shell

hermes                          # start a Hermes chat session
hermes model                    # configure provider/model (chapter 2.1)
hermes status                   # check Hermes status
hermes doctor                   # diagnose configuration/environment (chapter 2.4)
hermes gateway status           # check messaging gateway status
hermes update                   # update Hermes (chapter 2.5)

⚠️ Clearly distinguish the two easily confused commands: hermes model (SHELL) is used to configure a new provider/model; /model (inside a chat session) is used to switch the model of the current session — the two commands have entirely different scopes and do not replace each other.

Full SHELL command table by chapter

Basic installation and operation (chapters 1–2)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
hermes doctor
hermes update
hermes gateway install / start / status / logs --follow

Sessions and navigation (chapters 15, 19)

hermes -w                             # session in its own git worktree
hermes --continue / --resume <id>     # return to an old session
Ctrl+C (x2 in 2s)                     # force-stop the running operation

Skills (chapter 10)

hermes skills search / inspect / install <name>
hermes skills trust / untrust         # project-local skills

Automation (chapters 12, 18)

hermes cron list / pause / resume / edit / delete
hermes webhook subscribe <source> --event <type>

Delegation (chapter 13)

hermes kanban ...

Security (chapter 6)

hermes config set approvals.mode manual|smart|off
hermes --yolo
hermes pairing list / approve / revoke / clear-pending

Notes

• Before concluding that “this command does not exist”, check the correct surface symbol — most confusion comes from typing an MSG-only command (such as /approve, /pause) on plain CLI, or conversely typing /context (only available on CLI/MSG) and expecting it on Desktop.
• The autocomplete tip from the original cheat sheet is very worth using: type / followed by the first few characters and use autocomplete instead of trying to remember the exact full command name — especially useful for rarely used commands like /subgoal, /heartbeat, /blueprint.
• It is intentional design, not an omission, that not every command appears on every surface — for example /platform and the other MSG commands only make sense in a gateway context; on plain CLI there would be nothing to manage.
• This cheat sheet prioritizes command coverage over explanation depth — for any command whose side effects are unclear, always go back to the corresponding detailed chapter (chapter numbers are noted next to each group) before using it on a production system.