Hermes integration brief

Bespoke Compound Engineering for Hermes

A practical adaptation of EveryInc's Compound Engineering loop into Connor's agent operating system: skills, GBrain, durable artifacts, delegated agents, review gates, and learning capture.

“Each unit of engineering work should make subsequent units easier -- not harder.”

Integration stance

Do not blindly import every upstream command. Port the compounding loop first, then add high-leverage specialist reviewers and product/QA utilities.

7Core stages
6First ports
3Memory sinks
7Skills live

The operating loop

Compound Engineering works because each stage leaves structure behind for the next run. Hermes should treat those structures as first-class context, not as chat exhaust.

StrategyAnchor target problem, persona, metrics, tracks.
IdeateGenerate and rank grounded options.
BrainstormClarify requirements one question at a time.
PlanTrace implementation units to requirements.
WorkExecute with goal contracts and proof.
ReviewRun targeted lenses before declaring done.
LearnCapture reusable patterns into durable memory.

Hermes-native mapping

Skills
Role

Semantic workflow triggers, not just slash commands.

Examples

compound-engineering-workflow, grill-me, writing-plans, requesting-code-review

GBrain
Role

Cold memory, entity truth, project timelines, strategic context.

Use

Store durable meaning about EveryInc, CE, Hermes ports, Connor-specific decisions.

Artifacts
Role

Source of truth outside chat.

Use

STRATEGY.md, docs/brainstorms/, docs/plans/, docs/solutions/, status/proof logs.

Delegation
Role

Bounded subagents for implementation, research, and reviewer lenses.

Rule

Every delegated task needs done criteria, edit boundaries, validation, and independently verified proof.

Gateway
Role

SMS/Telegram-native interface for approvals, updates, and quick routing.

Use

Natural phrases should route to the right stage; not everything needs a slash command.

Port order

Implemented now

compound-engineering-workflow is installed as the meta-router skill. It preserves the upstream thesis and maps the CE loop onto Hermes primitives.

routerphilosophyimport rules

First six stage skills

  • compound-strategy: maintain the strategy anchor.
  • compound-brainstorm: one-question requirements.
  • compound-plan: traceable plans.
  • compound-work: execution with proof gates.
  • compound-review: multi-lens review.
  • compound-learn: solved-problem capture.

Durable artifact system

The integration only compounds if future agents can find the outputs. Chat summaries are secondary; source-of-truth files are primary.

S

Strategy

STRATEGY.md captures target problem, approach, persona, metrics, tracks, non-goals.

R

Requirements

docs/brainstorms/ holds clarified scope, actors, flows, acceptance examples.

P

Plans

docs/plans/ records implementation units, tests, boundaries, stop conditions.

L

Learning

docs/solutions/, Hermes skills, and GBrain preserve reusable fixes and patterns.

Safety doctrine

Automation should be powerful, but side effects need gates. The workflow should prefer verified action over confident narrative.

No blind imports

Copying every upstream skill creates noise. Port the loop, then the useful lenses.

No chat-only done

Non-trivial work must leave proof files, tests, diffs, URLs, or logs.

No unverified subagents

Subagent reports are hypotheses until the parent verifies artifacts.

Recommended next move

Use the first concrete stage

Start new product or direction-shaping work with compound-strategy, then flow into compound-brainstorm, compound-plan, and compound-work.

Keep the import bespoke

Use EveryInc as the pattern library, but make the Connor/Hermes version opinionated: GBrain-first, artifact-first, gateway-native, delegated where useful, verified before done.