hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix `rtk init --agent hermes` is a required post-install step not mentioned in Hermes documentation; causes persistent "rtk binary not found" warning

Environment

• Hermes Agent: v0.14.0 (2026.5.16)
• • RTK: v0.41.0
• • • OS: Debian 13 (Trixie)

Description

After installing RTK on a system running Hermes, Hermes emits the following warning on every startup even when the RTK binary is present, executable, and on PATH:

hermes plugin warning: rtk binary not found in PATH; Hermes hook not registered

The fix is to run rtk init -g --agent hermes after installing RTK. This step installs the Hermes-specific RTK plugin at ~/.hermes/plugins/rtk-rewrite/ and registers it in config.yaml. Without this step, Hermes cannot locate or activate RTK regardless of whether the binary is on PATH.

This step is not mentioned anywhere in the Hermes quickstart, setup guide, or integration documentation.

Steps to Reproduce

# 1. Install RTK
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rtk-ai/rtk/master/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# 2. Verify RTK works
rtk --version   # ✅ works
rtk gain        # ✅ works

# 3. Start Hermes
hermes

Actual Result

hermes plugin warning: rtk binary not found in PATH; Hermes hook not registered

This appears on every startup. RTK does not intercept any commands.

Expected Result

No warning. RTK integrates transparently.

Fix

Run this after installing RTK:

rtk init -g --agent hermes

Confirmed output on a working system:

RTK configured for Hermes.
  Plugin: /home/hermes/.hermes/plugins/rtk-rewrite
  Config: /home/hermes/.hermes/config.yaml
  Hermes will now rewrite terminal commands through rtk.
  Restart Hermes. Test with: git status

After this, hermes hooks list shows the RTK hook registered and Hermes starts without the warning.

Suggested Documentation Addition

Add to the Hermes setup documentation (quickstart or integrations section), immediately after any mention of RTK:

# After installing RTK, register the Hermes plugin:
rtk init -g --agent hermes

# Restart Hermes — RTK will now intercept terminal commands automatically
# Verify: hermes starts without "rtk binary not found" warning