Claude writes and thinks well. Codex edits, verifies, and deploys well. Gemini is useful for Google-shaped research and ecosystem coverage. Hermes is the harness around them: sessions, tools, skills, providers, dashboards, messages, and repeatable workflows.
Maintained by the WholeTech network · based on the local Hermes CLI installed on this workstation · corrections welcome.
The useful mental model is boring: Hermes is the wrapper that decides what should happen next, which agent or tool should do it, what context is allowed in, and what result gets recorded. The assistants do the work. Hermes keeps the work from becoming a pile of untraceable one-off chats.
Pick the right model, provider, profile, toolset, or session for the job instead of treating every task like a fresh blank chat.
Keep session history, checkpoints, skills, memory, and project context tied to the work instead of scattered across separate apps.
Run tools, scripts, webhooks, cron jobs, dashboards, message gateways, and MCP servers from one command surface.
On this Mac, Hermes is installed as a command. The web dashboard exists, but the CLI is the natural harness for repeatable work: scripts, deploys, provider selection, session resume, one-shot prompts, and tool-gated workflows.
| Surface | Command | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Classic chat | hermes or hermes chat | Interactive planning and agent work from the terminal. |
| One-shot | hermes -z "prompt" | Scripts, cron jobs, pipes, and repeatable checks where only the final answer should print. |
| Resume | hermes --resume SESSION | Pick up an existing line of work without rebuilding context from memory. |
| TUI | hermes --tui | A more app-like terminal interface when long sessions need structure. |
| Dashboard | hermes dashboard | Web UI on port 9119 for visibility, sessions, status, and management. |
For the WholeTech network, Hermes should behave like an assignment desk. It should know the domain, the intended outcome, which assistant should handle the next step, and what verification closes the loop.
Choose a site from ~/websites/<domain>/, read the current page, and write a short acceptance test before asking any model to create prose.
Use Claude for positioning, critique, structure, copy, and whether the page has a point of view.
Use Codex for file edits, HTML hygiene, no-script cleanup, SSH deployment, backups, ownership fixes, and live HTTP verification.
Store the URL, backup path, changed files, verification output, and next recommended site so tomorrow starts cleanly.
| Tool | Best role | Failure mode | Hermes should do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude | Writing, critique, concepts, careful long-form thinking. | Can produce polished pages that still need operational verification. | Use for direction, then hand off to Codex for implementation. |
| Codex | Workspace edits, shell commands, tests, deploys, code review, repeatable ops. | Can over-focus on implementation before the editorial point is sharp. | Give it concrete files, constraints, and verification steps. |
| Gemini | Google ecosystem coverage, broad research, search/product context. | Event-driven pages age fast and need source review. | Use it for source gathering, then freeze facts with citations and dates. |
| Hermes | Harness, router, session manager, tool gateway, dashboard, workflow memory. | Becomes noise if treated like another general chat app. | Stay boring: route, log, resume, verify, repeat. |
$ hermes # interactive chat $ hermes --tui # terminal UI $ hermes -z "audit this site" # scriptable one-shot $ hermes --resume SESSION_ID # continue prior work $ hermes dashboard # web UI, port 9119 $ hermes doctor # check setup $ hermes sessions list # inspect history $ hermes mcp # MCP server management
Claude for concept, Codex for implementation, Gemini for Google facts, Hermes for orchestration. No mushy shared responsibility.
Live URL, HTTP status, backup path, changed file, and the command or agent session that made the change.
AI product pages age quickly. If a claim depends on a launch, model name, price, or feature status, stamp it or cite it.