> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://smithers.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Hermes & Eliza

> First-class Smithers support for the Hermes agent (as a native Hermes plugin) and the Eliza (elizaOS) agent. Make Smithers the durable control plane for both.

Smithers ships **first-class support for two agent runtimes you can drop it into
today**: [Hermes](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) (Nous Research)
as a native Hermes plugin, and [Eliza (elizaOS)](https://github.com/elizaOS/eliza)
as a plugin that auto-injects live run status into the agent. In both, Smithers
becomes the durable control plane: the agent launches crash-safe, multi-step
workflows, clears human approval gates, and stays aware of every in-flight run.

The relationship is bidirectional:

* **Hermes / Eliza drive Smithers**: they run and operate durable workflows.
* **Smithers drives Hermes**: `HermesCliAgent` lets a workflow `<Task>` delegate
  to the Hermes agent itself (see [CLI agents](/integrations/cli-agents)).

## Hermes: a native plugin (not just MCP)

Smithers installs a **native Hermes plugin**, which is far richer than a bare MCP
entry. MCP can only expose tools. The plugin adds:

* **Slash commands** (`/smithers run|ps|inspect|approve|deny|watch`) usable in the
  Hermes CLI and every gateway (Discord, Telegram, Slack).
* **A live-run status injector** (`pre_llm_call` hook) so Hermes is aware of
  active and paused runs, and any pending approval gates, on every turn.
* **Tools**: `smithers_run`, `smithers_ps`, `smithers_inspect`, `smithers_approve`,
  `smithers_deny`, `smithers_output`, `smithers_human_answer`.
* **A bundled skill** (`smithers:orchestrate`) that teaches Hermes to prefer a
  durable workflow over a one-off skill.
* **Gateway push-back**: a detached run launched from a chat session reports its
  result back into that same session.
* **Slack approval buttons**: an approval gate becomes Approve / Deny buttons that
  map straight to `bunx smithers-orchestrator approve` / `bunx smithers-orchestrator deny`.

### Distribution is one command

The plugin ships inside the Smithers CLI, so installing it is automatic:

```bash theme={null}
# Auto-installs the plugin whenever Hermes is detected on this machine:
bunx smithers-orchestrator init

# Or target Hermes explicitly:
bunx smithers-orchestrator mcp add --agent hermes
```

Either command writes the plugin into `~/.hermes/plugins/smithers/`, installs the
gateway hook into `~/.hermes/hooks/smithers/`, enables it in
`~/.hermes/config.yaml`, and also registers the MCP server as a floor (so tools
work even if user plugins are disabled). It is idempotent: rerun it any time to
upgrade.

Verify it loaded:

```bash theme={null}
hermes plugins list        # shows `smithers`
hermes -z "/smithers ps"   # lists your runs from inside Hermes
```

## Eliza (elizaOS): a drop-in plugin

For [Eliza](https://github.com/elizaOS/eliza), Smithers ships
[`@smithers-orchestrator/eliza-plugin`](https://github.com/smithersai/smithers/tree/main/integrations/eliza).
Add it to your character and the Smithers capability is **automatically included**
in the agent: a provider injects live Smithers run status into the agent's context
on every turn, and actions let it launch and operate runs.

```ts theme={null}
import { smithersPlugin } from "@smithers-orchestrator/eliza-plugin";

export const character = {
  name: "Ada",
  plugins: [smithersPlugin],
  // ...
};
```

What the agent gains:

* `RUN_SMITHERS_WORKFLOW`: start a durable workflow for any multi-step or
  background task (falls back to `create-workflow` to author one from the
  request).
* `SMITHERS_APPROVE` / `SMITHERS_DENY`: clear approval gates.
* `SMITHERS_RUNS` provider: every turn, the agent automatically sees what is
  running and what needs a human.

The plugin is dependency-light and duck-types the Eliza runtime, so it works
across elizaOS versions. It reaches Smithers through the `smithers` CLI (override
the binary with `$SMITHERS_BIN`).

## Why a workflow, not a skill

In both runtimes the guidance is the same: a Smithers workflow is a **superset of
a skill**. A skill is static instructions; a workflow is executable, durable,
typed, inspectable, composable, and optimizable. Capture reusable procedures as
workflows (even small one-task ones), and optimize them like skills with
`bunx smithers-orchestrator eval`, scorers, and `bunx smithers-orchestrator optimize`. See the
[smithers skill](https://github.com/smithersai/smithers/blob/main/skills/smithers/SKILL.md).

## Links

* Hermes agent: [github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent)
* Eliza (elizaOS): [github.com/elizaOS/eliza](https://github.com/elizaOS/eliza)
* Smithers Eliza plugin source: [integrations/eliza](https://github.com/smithersai/smithers/tree/main/integrations/eliza)
* Hermes plugin source: [apps/cli/src/hermes-plugin](https://github.com/smithersai/smithers/tree/main/apps/cli/src/hermes-plugin)