Hermes Skins Customization

Hermes Skins Customization

Skill by ara.so — Hermes Skills collection.

Custom visual themes for the Hermes CLI agent. Skins control banner colors, ASCII art, spinner text, response labels, and branding — not behavior or personality.

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/joeynyc/hermes-skins.git
cd hermes-skins

# Copy skins to your Hermes config directory
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skins
cp skins/*.yaml ~/.hermes/skins/

Quick Start

Apply a Skin

# Session-only (via Hermes command)
/skin pirate

# Permanent (edit ~/.hermes/config.yaml)
echo "display:
  skin: pirate" >> ~/.hermes/config.yaml

Browse Available Skins

Check ~/.hermes/skins/ or the repository's skins/ directory:

• pirate — Jolly Roger skull-and-crossbones
• vault-tec — Fallout green CRT terminal
• bubblegum-80s — Neon pastels and radical vibes
• skynet — Cyberdyne red military AI
• lain — Serial Experiments Lain NAVI aesthetic
• neonwave — Synthwave grid horizon
• sakura — Cherry blossom tree
• netrunner — Cyberpunk neural interface
• mythos — Eye of Providence Greek mythology
• nous — Nous Research amber and gold
• mother — Weyland-Yutani MU-TH-UR 6000
• dos — Norton Commander dual-pane
• telemate — DOS BBS terminal
• empire — Death Star targeting console
• catppuccin — Mocha pastels with ASCII cat

Built-in skins: default, ares, mono, slate, poseidon, sisyphus, charizard

Creating a Custom Skin

Minimal Skin Example

Create ~/.hermes/skins/cyberpunk.yaml:

name: cyberpunk
description: Neon terminal theme with magenta and cyan accents

colors:
  # Banner colors
  banner_border: "#FF00FF"
  banner_title: "#00FFFF"
  banner_accent: "#FF1493"
  
  # Text colors
  prompt: "#FF00FF"
  user_input: "#00FFFF"
  
  # Response colors
  response_box_border: "#FF00FF"
  response_label_text: "#000000"
  response_label_bg: "#00FFFF"
  
spinner:
  thinking_verbs: ["jacking in", "decrypting", "uploading", "syncing neural net"]
  
branding:
  agent_name: "CYBERDECK AI"
  response_label: " ⚡ NETRUN "
  prompt_symbol: "▶ "

Note: Undefined keys inherit from the default skin.

Full Skin Example

For production skins, define all 28 color keys to avoid mismatched defaults:

name: neon-city
description: Full cyberpunk theme with neon blues and hot pinks

colors:
  # Banner section
  banner_border: "#FF006E"
  banner_title: "#00F5FF"
  banner_accent: "#FFBE0B"
  banner_subtitle: "#8338EC"
  banner_meta: "#FB5607"
  
  # Prompt section
  prompt: "#FF006E"
  user_input: "#00F5FF"
  
  # Response section
  response_box_border: "#FF006E"
  response_label_text: "#000000"
  response_label_bg: "#00F5FF"
  response_text: "#FFFFFF"
  
  # Tool activity
  tool_prefix: "#FFBE0B"
  tool_name: "#8338EC"
  tool_details: "#FB5607"
  
  # System messages
  info: "#00F5FF"
  warning: "#FFBE0B"
  error: "#FF006E"
  success: "#3A86FF"
  
  # Interactive UI
  status_bar_bg: "#1A1A2E"
  status_bar_text: "#00F5FF"
  status_bar_highlight: "#FF006E"
  
  completion_menu_bg: "#16213E"
  completion_menu_text: "#FFFFFF"
  completion_menu_selected_bg: "#FF006E"
  completion_menu_selected_text: "#000000"
  completion_menu_border: "#00F5FF"

banner:
  art: |
    ⠀⣠⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣄⡀
    ⢸⣿⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⡇
    ⢸⣿⠀⠀⣿⡟⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⡇
    ⢸⣿⠀⠀⣿⡇⢀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⡀⠀⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⡇
    ⢸⣿⠀⠀⣿⡇⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⣿⠀NEON⠀⣿⡇
    ⢸⣿⠀⠀⣿⡇⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⣿⠀CITY⠀⣿⡇
    ⢸⣿⠀⠀⣿⡇⠀⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠀⠀⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⡇
    ⢸⣿⠀⠀⠙⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⡇
    ⠀⠙⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠋⠀

spinner:
  faces: ["◢", "◣", "◤", "◥"]
  thinking_verbs:
    - "interfacing"
    - "decrypting datastream"
    - "compiling neural pathways"
    - "syncing wetware"
    - "routing through ICE"
    - "jacking in"

branding:
  agent_name: "NEON CITY AI"
  welcome_message: "◆ NEURAL LINK ESTABLISHED ◆"
  goodbye_message: "◇ CONNECTION TERMINATED ◇"
  prompt_symbol: "▶ "
  response_label: " ⬢ UPLINK "
  tool_activity_prefix: "◈ SYS:"

Configuration Reference

Color Keys (All 28)

Banner Section

• banner_border — Border characters
• banner_title — Main title text
• banner_accent — Accent elements
• banner_subtitle — Subtitle text
• banner_meta — Version/meta info

Prompt Section

• prompt — Prompt symbol color
• user_input — User-typed text

Response Section

• response_box_border — Response box border
• response_label_text — Label text color
• response_label_bg — Label background
• response_text — Response content

Tool Activity

• tool_prefix — Tool prefix icon
• tool_name — Tool name
• tool_details — Tool details/args

System Messages

• info — Info messages
• warning — Warning messages
• error — Error messages
• success — Success messages

Interactive UI

• status_bar_bg — Status bar background
• status_bar_text — Status bar text
• status_bar_highlight — Status bar highlights
• completion_menu_bg — Autocomplete menu background
• completion_menu_text — Menu text
• completion_menu_selected_bg — Selected item background
• completion_menu_selected_text — Selected item text
• completion_menu_border — Menu border

Banner Art

Use multiline strings with braille Unicode (⠀⠁⠂...⣿) or ASCII art:

banner:
  art: |
    ╔════════════════════════════════╗
    ║   █████╗ ██╗                  ║
    ║  ██╔══██╗██║                  ║
    ║  ███████║██║                  ║
    ║  ██╔══██║██║                  ║
    ║  ██║  ██║██║                  ║
    ║  ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚═╝                  ║
    ╚════════════════════════════════╝

Spinner Configuration

spinner:
  faces: ["⠋", "⠙", "⠹", "⠸", "⠼", "⠴", "⠦", "⠧", "⠇", "⠏"]
  thinking_verbs:
    - "processing"
    - "analyzing"
    - "computing"
    - "calculating"
    - "synthesizing"

Branding Text

branding:
  agent_name: "MY AI ASSISTANT"
  welcome_message: "System initialized. Ready for input."
  goodbye_message: "Shutting down. Goodbye."
  prompt_symbol: "➜ "
  response_label: " RESPONSE "
  tool_activity_prefix: "→ Tool:"

Common Patterns

Dark Theme Template

name: my-dark-theme
description: High-contrast dark theme

colors:
  banner_border: "#00FF00"
  banner_title: "#FFFFFF"
  banner_accent: "#00FF00"
  banner_subtitle: "#AAAAAA"
  banner_meta: "#666666"
  
  prompt: "#00FF00"
  user_input: "#FFFFFF"
  
  response_box_border: "#00FF00"
  response_label_text: "#000000"
  response_label_bg: "#00FF00"
  response_text: "#E0E0E0"
  
  tool_prefix: "#00FF00"
  tool_name: "#FFFF00"
  tool_details: "#CCCCCC"
  
  info: "#00AAFF"
  warning: "#FFAA00"
  error: "#FF0000"
  success: "#00FF00"
  
  status_bar_bg: "#1A1A1A"
  status_bar_text: "#00FF00"
  status_bar_highlight: "#FFFFFF"
  
  completion_menu_bg: "#2A2A2A"
  completion_menu_text: "#E0E0E0"
  completion_menu_selected_bg: "#00FF00"
  completion_menu_selected_text: "#000000"
  completion_menu_border: "#00FF00"

Retro CRT Terminal

name: retro-crt
description: Amber phosphor CRT terminal

colors:
  banner_border: "#FFAA00"
  banner_title: "#FFCC44"
  banner_accent: "#FFAA00"
  banner_subtitle: "#CC8800"
  banner_meta: "#AA6600"
  
  prompt: "#FFAA00"
  user_input: "#FFCC44"
  
  response_box_border: "#FFAA00"
  response_label_text: "#000000"
  response_label_bg: "#FFAA00"
  response_text: "#FFCC44"
  
  tool_prefix: "#FFAA00"
  tool_name: "#FFCC44"
  tool_details: "#CC8800"
  
  info: "#FFCC44"
  warning: "#FFAA00"
  error: "#FF6600"
  success: "#FFDD66"
  
  status_bar_bg: "#000000"
  status_bar_text: "#FFAA00"
  status_bar_highlight: "#FFCC44"
  
  completion_menu_bg: "#1A0A00"
  completion_menu_text: "#FFCC44"
  completion_menu_selected_bg: "#FFAA00"
  completion_menu_selected_text: "#000000"
  completion_menu_border: "#FFAA00"

spinner:
  faces: ["▖", "▘", "▝", "▗"]
  thinking_verbs: ["PROCESSING", "COMPUTING", "ANALYZING"]

branding:
  agent_name: "TERMINAL-6000"
  prompt_symbol: "C:\\> "
  response_label: " OUTPUT "

Minimal Monochrome

name: minimal-mono
description: Clean grayscale aesthetic

colors:
  banner_border: "#FFFFFF"
  banner_title: "#FFFFFF"
  banner_accent: "#CCCCCC"
  banner_subtitle: "#AAAAAA"
  banner_meta: "#888888"
  
  prompt: "#FFFFFF"
  user_input: "#EEEEEE"
  
  response_box_border: "#CCCCCC"
  response_label_text: "#000000"
  response_label_bg: "#FFFFFF"
  response_text: "#DDDDDD"
  
  tool_prefix: "#CCCCCC"
  tool_name: "#FFFFFF"
  tool_details: "#AAAAAA"
  
  info: "#BBBBBB"
  warning: "#CCCCCC"
  error: "#FFFFFF"
  success: "#AAAAAA"
  
  status_bar_bg: "#1A1A1A"
  status_bar_text: "#CCCCCC"
  status_bar_highlight: "#FFFFFF"
  
  completion_menu_bg: "#2A2A2A"
  completion_menu_text: "#CCCCCC"
  completion_menu_selected_bg: "#FFFFFF"
  completion_menu_selected_text: "#000000"
  completion_menu_border: "#888888"

spinner:
  faces: ["—", "\\", "|", "/"]
  thinking_verbs: ["thinking", "working", "processing"]

branding:
  agent_name: "Assistant"
  prompt_symbol: "> "
  response_label: " Reply "

Skin Loading Order

Hermes loads skins with this priority:

1. ~/.hermes/skins/<name>.yaml (user custom)
2. Built-in skins in skin_engine.py
3. default skin (fallback)

Missing values inherit from default. Unknown skin names silently fall back to default.

Troubleshooting

Skin Not Loading

# Check file exists
ls -la ~/.hermes/skins/

# Verify filename matches name field
cat ~/.hermes/skins/myskin.yaml | grep "^name:"
# Should output: name: myskin

# Check for YAML syntax errors
python3 -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('~/.hermes/skins/myskin.yaml'))"

Colors Not Applying

• Define all 28 color keys — partial definitions inherit mismatched defaults
• Use hex format #RRGGBB (6 digits)
• Test in a terminal with true color support

ASCII Art Rendering Issues

# Use multiline string with | or >
banner:
  art: |
    Line 1
    Line 2
    Line 3

# NOT this:
banner:
  art: "Line 1\nLine 2"  # May not render correctly

Spinner Not Changing

# Restart Hermes after editing skins
# Session-only skin changes require:
/skin reload  # If supported
# Or restart the agent

Testing Your Skin

# Apply temporarily
hermes --skin myskin

# Or use the /skin command during session
/skin myskin

# Test all elements by triggering:
# - Banner (startup)
# - Prompt (type a message)
# - Response (get a reply)
# - Tool activity (trigger a tool call)
# - Errors (type invalid command)
# - Spinner (long-running task)

Generate Screenshots

If contributing to the repository:

cd hermes-skins
python3 generate_screenshots.py
# Creates screenshots/<skinname>.png for each skin

Best Practices

1. Always define all 28 colors for production skins
2. Test ASCII art with different terminal widths
3. Use descriptive thinking verbs that match the theme
4. Keep branding text concise — long labels break layouts
5. Validate YAML syntax before submitting PRs
6. Include a description in the YAML and README

Resources

• Full Schema Documentation
• Hermes Agent Repository
• Braille Unicode Patterns — U+2800 to U+28FF
• True Color Terminal Test