hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Newly created kanban profiles default to toolsets: [hermes-cli] only — missing web/browser/terminal/file causes silent failure

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When creating a new kanban worker profile (via hermes profile create or the dashboard), the default config.yaml includes only toolsets: [hermes-cli]. This means the worker can use kanban tools but has no access to web, browser, terminal, or file — the tools most research and implementation tasks need.

The worker starts, picks up a task, and then silently degrades: it cannot search the web, browse pages, write files, or run scripts. It often produces a superficial "I couldn't access the required tools" summary and marks the task done, or crashes trying to call tools that don't exist.

Root Cause

When creating a new kanban worker profile (via hermes profile create or the dashboard), the default config.yaml includes only toolsets: [hermes-cli]. This means the worker can use kanban tools but has no access to web, browser, terminal, or file — the tools most research and implementation tasks need.

The worker starts, picks up a task, and then silently degrades: it cannot search the web, browse pages, write files, or run scripts. It often produces a superficial "I couldn't access the required tools" summary and marks the task done, or crashes trying to call tools that don't exist.

Code Example

toolsets:
  - hermes-cli
  - web
  - browser
  - terminal
  - file

---

hermes profile create researcher --toolsets hermes-cli,web,browser,terminal,file
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Summary

When creating a new kanban worker profile (via hermes profile create or the dashboard), the default config.yaml includes only toolsets: [hermes-cli]. This means the worker can use kanban tools but has no access to web, browser, terminal, or file — the tools most research and implementation tasks need.

The worker starts, picks up a task, and then silently degrades: it cannot search the web, browse pages, write files, or run scripts. It often produces a superficial "I couldn't access the required tools" summary and marks the task done, or crashes trying to call tools that don't exist.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. hermes profile create researcher
  2. Check ~/.hermes/profiles/researcher/config.yaml — it has toolsets: [hermes-cli]
  3. Assign a kanban task to researcher
  4. Worker spawns, has no web/browser/terminal/file access
  5. Task either fails silently or produces trivial output

Expected Behavior

New profiles should default to a reasonable minimum toolset for kanban workers:

toolsets:
  - hermes-cli
  - web
  - browser
  - terminal
  - file

Or, the profile creation command should accept a --toolsets flag:

hermes profile create researcher --toolsets hermes-cli,web,browser,terminal,file

Suggested Fix

  1. Change the default config.yaml template to include the 5 core toolsets
  2. Add a --toolsets flag to hermes profile create
  3. In the dashboard, show a warning when a profile is assigned to kanban tasks but lacks key toolsets

Environment

  • Hermes Agent v2.x
  • Affects every new profile created for kanban use
  • The kanban-orchestrator skill documents this: "Profile toolsets must be pre-configured. Newly created profiles often default to only hermes-cli."

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hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Newly created kanban profiles default to toolsets: [hermes-cli] only — missing web/browser/terminal/file causes silent failure