How do I install the Petdex skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add samin12/petdex in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Petdex skill do?

Install and select animated petdex mascots for Hermes. It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.

Is Petdex safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Petdex?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Petdex free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under MIT.

Who published Petdex?

Samin12 (@samin12) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Petdex by samin12 — Agent Skill

Name: Petdex
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: Samin12

File contents

Petdex Skill

Browse, install, and select animated "pet" mascots from the public petdex gallery. An installed pet reacts to agent activity (idle, running a tool, reviewing, error, done) across the Hermes CLI, TUI, and desktop app. This skill drives the hermes pets CLI and the display.pet config — it does not generate sprites.

When to Use

The user wants a desktop/terminal mascot or asks about "pets" / petdex.
The user wants to change, preview, or disable the active pet.
Diagnosing why a pet isn't showing (terminal graphics support, config).

Prerequisites

Network access to petdex.dev for the gallery/manifest (read-only, no auth).
Pillow (a core Hermes dependency) for sprite decoding — already installed.
For full-fidelity terminal rendering: a graphics-capable terminal (kitty, Ghostty, WezTerm, iTerm2, or sixel). Otherwise a truecolor Unicode half-block fallback is used automatically.

How to Run

Use the terminal tool to run hermes pets <subcommand>.

Quick Reference

Goal	Command
Browse the gallery	`hermes pets list` (add a substring to filter: `hermes pets list cat`)
List installed pets	`hermes pets list --installed`
Install a pet	`hermes pets install <slug>` (add `--select` to make it active)
Set the active pet	`hermes pets select <slug>` (omit slug for a picker)
Resize the pet everywhere	`hermes pets scale <factor>` (e.g. `0.5`, clamped 0.1–3.0)
Preview/animate in terminal	`hermes pets show [slug] [--cycle] [--state run]`
Disable the pet	`hermes pets off`
Remove a pet	`hermes pets remove <slug>`
Diagnose setup	`hermes pets doctor`

Procedure

Find a pet: hermes pets list <query> and note its slug.
Install + activate: hermes pets install <slug> --select.
Preview it: hermes pets show (Ctrl+C to stop).
Confirm setup: hermes pets doctor — shows the resolved pet, configured render mode, detected terminal graphics protocol, and effective mode.

Pets install into <HERMES_HOME>/pets/<slug>/ (profile-aware). Selecting a pet writes display.pet.slug + display.pet.enabled to config.yaml.

Configuration

Under display.pet in config.yaml:

enabled (bool) — master on/off.
slug (str) — active pet; empty = first installed.
render_mode — auto (detect) | kitty | iterm | sixel | unicode | off.
scale (float) — on-screen size of the native 192×208 frames (default 0.33, clamped 0.1–3.0). One knob resizes every surface; set it with hermes pets scale <factor>, the /pet scale slash command, or the desktop Appearance slider.
unicode_cols (int) — width in columns for the Unicode fallback.

Pitfalls

A pet only shows once one is installed AND selected (enabled: true).
Inside a pipe/redirect (no TTY) terminal rendering is disabled by design.
The petdex npm CLI installs to ~/.codex/pets; Hermes uses its own profile-scoped <HERMES_HOME>/pets/ instead — install through hermes pets.

Verification

hermes pets doctor reports ✓ ready when a pet is installed, selected, enabled, and Pillow is importable.

---name: petdexdescription: Install and select animated petdex mascots for Hermes.license: MIT---# Petdex SkillBrowse, install, and select animated "pet" mascots from the public[petdex](https://github.com/crafter-station/petdex) gallery. An installed petreacts to agent activity (idle, running a tool, reviewing, error, done) acrossthe Hermes CLI, TUI, and desktop app. This skill drives the `hermes pets` CLIand the `display.pet` config — it does not generate sprites.## When to Use- The user wants a desktop/terminal mascot or asks about "pets" / petdex.- The user wants to change, preview, or disable the active pet.- Diagnosing why a pet isn't showing (terminal graphics support, config).## Prerequisites- Network access to `petdex.dev` for the gallery/manifest (read-only, no auth).- Pillow (a core Hermes dependency) for sprite decoding — already installed.- For full-fidelity terminal rendering: a graphics-capable terminal (kitty, Ghostty, WezTerm, iTerm2, or sixel). Otherwise a truecolor Unicode half-block fallback is used automatically.## How to RunUse the `terminal` tool to run `hermes pets <subcommand>`.## Quick Reference| Goal | Command || --- | --- || Browse the gallery | `hermes pets list` (add a substring to filter: `hermes pets list cat`) || List installed pets | `hermes pets list --installed` || Install a pet | `hermes pets install <slug>` (add `--select` to make it active) || Set the active pet | `hermes pets select <slug>` (omit slug for a picker) || Resize the pet everywhere | `hermes pets scale <factor>` (e.g. `0.5`, clamped 0.1–3.0) || Preview/animate in terminal | `hermes pets show [slug] [--cycle] [--state run]` || Disable the pet | `hermes pets off` || Remove a pet | `hermes pets remove <slug>` || Diagnose setup | `hermes pets doctor` |## Procedure1. Find a pet: `hermes pets list <query>` and note its `slug`.2. Install + activate: `hermes pets install <slug> --select`.3. Preview it: `hermes pets show` (Ctrl+C to stop).4. Confirm setup: `hermes pets doctor` — shows the resolved pet, configured render mode, detected terminal graphics protocol, and effective mode.Pets install into `<HERMES_HOME>/pets/<slug>/` (profile-aware). Selecting a petwrites `display.pet.slug` + `display.pet.enabled` to `config.yaml`.## ConfigurationUnder `display.pet` in `config.yaml`:- `enabled` (bool) — master on/off.- `slug` (str) — active pet; empty = first installed.- `render_mode` — `auto` (detect) | `kitty` | `iterm` | `sixel` | `unicode` | `off`.- `scale` (float) — on-screen size of the native 192×208 frames (default 0.33, clamped 0.1–3.0). One knob resizes every surface; set it with `hermes pets scale <factor>`, the `/pet scale` slash command, or the desktop Appearance slider.- `unicode_cols` (int) — width in columns for the Unicode fallback.## Pitfalls- A pet only shows once one is installed AND selected (`enabled: true`).- Inside a pipe/redirect (no TTY) terminal rendering is disabled by design.- The petdex npm CLI installs to `~/.codex/pets`; Hermes uses its own profile-scoped `<HERMES_HOME>/pets/` instead — install through `hermes pets`.## Verification- `hermes pets doctor` reports `✓ ready` when a pet is installed, selected, enabled, and Pillow is importable.

Frequently asked questions

Petdex