01Direction
Human Captain
Agree on the goal and written plan, then delegate authority.
IdentityYour account
Hermes HelmetOpen-source software factory
Give Hermes the wings to carry your plan through, under its own identity
Controlled autonomy with agent identity
Hermes Helmet carries an accepted GitHub plan through implementation, review, repair, and authorized merge, with controlled autonomy and Hermes working under its own identity.
WorkerSeparate identity
The delivery path
One plan. Connected work. Explicit authority.
GitHub keeps the issues, pull requests, reviews, repairs, and acceptance visible from start to finish.
- 01PlanCaptain + first officer
- 02ImplementHermes crew
- 03ReviewFirst officer
- 04RepairHermes crew
- 05MergeWhen authorized
Who acts
You set the direction. Your first officer sees it through.
Put together a written plan with your coding agent and record the work as linked GitHub issues. Then authorize that agent to carry it through with Hermes.
02Coordination
Coding-agent first officer
Assign work, review it, direct repairs, and merge when authorized.
IdentityUses the Captain's OS account and credentials
03Implementation
Hermes crew
Implement, test, open pull requests, and repair the same change.
IdentityIts own worker account and credentials
Identity and authority
A worker identity inside Docker Compose
The first officer stays on your workstation, using your credentials to assign and accept work. Hermes runs in the Compose stack with its own GitHub account, token, and checkout.
Captain identity on the workstation, GitHub in the middle, and the Hermes worker identity inside Docker Compose.
You, the Captain, give a written plan and delegated authority to the first officer, who uses your OS account and GitHub credentials. The first officer assigns work, reviews, and handles authorized merges on GitHub. GitHub issues and review feedback reach the issue and review poller in the Hermes container. Hermes Kanban assigns the Hermes worker, which uses its own GitHub account and token to commit, open pull requests, and repair them. Worker checkouts, credentials, and task history stay on a persistent volume at /opt/data.
Captain identity · your workstation
You · Captain
Written plan + delegated authority
First officerYour OS account + GitHub credentials
GitHub
Issues · pull requests · reviews · checks
Docker Compose · deploy/compose.yaml
Hermes container · worker identity
Issue and review poller
to
Hermes Kanban
to
Hermes workerOwn GitHub account + token
Persistent worker volume · /opt/dataCheckouts · credentials · task history
Delivered work
Review found a defect. Hermes repaired the same pull request.
Younes used Hermes Helmet to deliver installation and local-memory improvements in FAVA Trails 0.7.0. The implementation, review, repair, and acceptance remain visible in the public GitHub record.
- PlanRequirements issue 107
- ImplementationPull request 111
- ReviewRepair requested
- RepairHermes updated the same branch
- ResultPublished in FAVA Trails 0.7.0
yia-mw-agent authored the implementation. Review and merging used the Captain account, timeleft--, through the first officer.
Model choice
Keep the workflow as models change
The coding agent acting as first officer, the model used by Hermes, and each actor's authority remain separate choices.
What you retain
- Source you can inspect and adapt
- Task records and review history
- Explicit authority choices
- Freedom to change providers
Take the helm
Give Hermes a written plan and the room to carry it through.
Start with one GitHub issue, inspect the work and its identity, then delegate a larger plan when you are ready.
Open the Hermes Helmet quickstart