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
wiki-history-ingest
router (
/wiki-history-ingest hermes
).
Before You Start
Read
.env
to get
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH
and
HERMES_HISTORY_PATH
(default to
~/.hermes
if unset)
Read
.manifest.json
at the vault root to check what has already been ingested
Read
index.md
at the vault root to understand what the wiki already contains
Ingest Modes
Append Mode (default)
Check
.manifest.json
for each source file. Only process:
Files not in the manifest (new memory files, new session logs)
Files whose modification time is newer than
ingested_at
in the manifest
Use this mode for regular syncs.
Full Mode
Process everything regardless of manifest. Use after
wiki-rebuild
or if the user explicitly asks for a full re-ingest.
Hermes Data Layout
Hermes stores all local artifacts under
~/.hermes/
(or
$HERMES_HOME
for non-default profiles).
~/.hermes/
├── memories/ # Persistent agent memories (markdown or JSON)
│ └── .md / .json
├── skills/ # Installed skills (read-only for ingest purposes)
│ └── /SKILL.md
├── sessions/ # Session transcripts (if session logging is enabled)
│ └── YYYY-MM-DD/
│ └── .jsonl
├── config.yaml # User config (model, theme, paths)
└── .hub/ # Skills Hub state (lock.json, audit.log, quarantine/)
Key data sources ranked by value
memories/*.md
/
memories/*.json
— highest signal; curated persistent knowledge the agent accumulated
sessions/*/.jsonl
— structured turn-by-turn transcripts; rich but noisy
config.yaml
— metadata only (model preferences, paths); rarely worth ingesting
Skip
.hub/
internals (audit/quarantine state) and the
skills/
directory (source material, not user knowledge).
Step 1: Survey and Compute Delta
Scan
HERMES_HISTORY_PATH
and compare against
.manifest.json
:
~/.hermes/memories/
~/.hermes/sessions/**/
(if present)
Classify each file:
New
— not in manifest
Modified
— in manifest but file is newer than
ingested_at
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
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:
{
"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
tool_use
/
tool_result
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
cwd
metadata to infer project scope when available
Step 5: Distill into Wiki Pages
Route extracted knowledge using existing wiki conventions:
Project-specific architecture/process →
projects//...
General concepts →
concepts/
Recurring techniques/debug playbooks →
skills/
Tools/services/frameworks →
entities/
Cross-session patterns →
synthesis/
For each impacted project, create/update
projects//.md
.
Writing rules
Distill knowledge, not chronology
Avoid "on date X we discussed..." unless date context is essential
Add
summary:
frontmatter on each new/updated page (1–2 sentences, ≤ 200 chars)
Add provenance markers:
^[extracted]
when directly grounded in explicit memory/session content
^[inferred]
when synthesizing patterns across multiple memories
^[ambiguous]
when memories conflict
Add/update
provenance:
frontmatter mix for each changed page
Step 6: Update Manifest, Log, and Index
Update
.manifest.json
For each processed source file:
ingested_at
,
size_bytes
,
modified_at
source_type
:
hermes_memory
|
hermes_session
project
inferred project name (when applicable)
pages_created
,
pages_updated
Add/update a top-level summary block:
{
"hermes"
:
{
"source_path"
:
"~/.hermes/"
,
"last_ingested"
:
"TIMESTAMP"
,
"memories_ingested"
:
42
,
"sessions_ingested"
:
7
,
"pages_created"
:
5
,
"pages_updated"
:
12
}
}
Update special files
Update
index.md
and
log.md
:
- [TIMESTAMP] HERMES_HISTORY_INGEST memories=N sessions=M pages_updated=X pages_created=Y mode=append|full
hot.md
— Read
$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/hot.md
(create from the template in
wiki-ingest
if missing). Update
Recent Activity
with a one-line summary — e.g. "Ingested 42 Hermes memories and 7 sessions; dominant themes: reasoning strategies, tool use patterns." Keep the last 3 operations. Update
updated
timestamp.
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.