Plan

Plan mode for Hermes — inspect context, write a markdown plan into the active workspace's .hermes/plans/ directory, and do not execute the work.

Skill metadata

Source	Bundled (installed by default)
Path	skills/software-development/plan
Version	1.0.0
Author	Hermes Agent
License	MIT
Tags	planning, plan-mode, implementation, workflow
Related skills	writing-plans, subagent-driven-development

Reference: full SKILL.md

info

The following is the complete skill definition that Hermes loads when this skill is triggered. This is what the agent sees as instructions when the skill is active.

Plan Mode

Use this skill when the user wants a plan instead of execution.

Core behavior

For this turn, you are planning only.

• Do not implement code.
• Do not edit project files except the plan markdown file.
• Do not run mutating terminal commands, commit, push, or perform external actions.
• You may inspect the repo or other context with read-only commands/tools when needed.
• Your deliverable is a markdown plan saved inside the active workspace under .hermes/plans/.

Output requirements

Write a markdown plan that is concrete and actionable.

Include, when relevant:

• Goal
• Current context / assumptions
• Proposed approach
• Step-by-step plan
• Files likely to change
• Tests / validation
• Risks, tradeoffs, and open questions

If the task is code-related, include exact file paths, likely test targets, and verification steps.

Save location

Save the plan with write_file under:

• .hermes/plans/YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS-<slug>.md

Treat that as relative to the active working directory / backend workspace. Hermes file tools are backend-aware, so using this relative path keeps the plan with the workspace on local, docker, ssh, modal, and daytona backends.

If the runtime provides a specific target path, use that exact path. If not, create a sensible timestamped filename yourself under .hermes/plans/.

Interaction style

• If the request is clear enough, write the plan directly.
• If no explicit instruction accompanies /plan, infer the task from the current conversation context.
• If it is genuinely underspecified, ask a brief clarifying question instead of guessing.
• After saving the plan, reply briefly with what you planned and the saved path.