test(hermes): realign suite with the pre_llm_call mechanism; slim docs to the README section

The 20-test suite still exercised the dead on_session_start/inject_message
mechanism (17 failures against the rewritten plugin). Rewritten for the
real contract: pre_llm_call registration + first-turn-only context return,
register_skill receiving pathlib.Path (the conftest mock now raises on str,
mirroring hermes' AttributeError that silently disables a plugin), both
install layouts resolving skills, loud failure when skills are missing,
tool mapping sourced verbatim from hermes-tools.md, and a bootstrap-size
guard against hermes' 10k-char context spill threshold. 19 tests, passing.

Install docs collapse into the README section per maintainer direction:
docs/README.hermes.md and .hermes-plugin/INSTALL.md are gone; the README
carries the two-line install plus the compaction caveat. plugin.yaml
version aligned to 6.1.1.

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     {
       "name": "superpowers",
       "description": "Core skills library for Claude Code: TDD, debugging, collaboration patterns, and proven techniques",
-      "version": "6.2.0",
+      "version": "6.1.1",
       "source": "./",
       "author": {
         "name": "Jesse Vincent",

.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "superpowers",
   "description": "Core skills library for Claude Code: TDD, debugging, collaboration patterns, and proven techniques",
-  "version": "6.2.0",
+  "version": "6.1.1",
   "author": {
     "name": "Jesse Vincent",
     "email": "jesse@fsck.com"

.codex-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "superpowers",
-  "version": "6.2.0",
+  "version": "6.1.1",
   "description": "An agentic skills framework & software development methodology that works: planning, TDD, debugging, and collaboration workflows.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Jesse Vincent",

.cursor-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "superpowers",
   "displayName": "Superpowers",
   "description": "Core skills library: TDD, debugging, collaboration patterns, and proven techniques",
-  "version": "6.2.0",
+  "version": "6.1.1",
   "author": {
     "name": "Jesse Vincent",
     "email": "jesse@fsck.com"

.gitignore

@@ -11,3 +11,9 @@ triage/
 # development (see CLAUDE.md / README.md). It is not part of the published
 # plugin, so the whole directory is ignored here.
 evals/
+
+# Python
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+.pytest_cache/

.hermes-plugin/__init__.py

@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+import os
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+BOOTSTRAP_MARKER = "superpowers:using-superpowers bootstrap for hermes"
+
+
+def _skills_dir() -> str:
+    """Locate the stock skills/ tree for either supported install layout.
+
+    - git-clone install (`hermes plugins install obra/superpowers`): the plugin
+      dir is the repo root, so `.hermes-plugin/` and `skills/` are siblings and
+      this module resolves `../skills`.
+    - flattened install (plugin files copied to the plugin dir root): `skills/`
+      sits next to this module.
+
+    Raises loudly when neither matches — a bootstrap that silently skips is how
+    a broken install masquerades as a working one.
+    """
+    here = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
+    candidates = (
+        os.path.realpath(os.path.join(here, "..", "skills")),
+        os.path.realpath(os.path.join(here, "skills")),
+    )
+    for cand in candidates:
+        if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(cand, "using-superpowers", "SKILL.md")):
+            return cand
+    raise RuntimeError(
+        "superpowers plugin: cannot find the skills/ tree "
+        f"(looked at {candidates}). Reinstall with "
+        "`hermes plugins install obra/superpowers`."
+    )
+
+
+def _strip_frontmatter(content: str) -> str:
+    match = re.match(r"^---\n[\s\S]*?\n---\n([\s\S]*)$", content)
+    return (match.group(1) if match else content).strip()
+
+
+def _build_bootstrap(skills_dir: str) -> str:
+    with open(
+        os.path.join(skills_dir, "using-superpowers", "SKILL.md"),
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    ) as f:
+        body = _strip_frontmatter(f.read())
+
+    tools_path = os.path.join(
+        skills_dir, "using-superpowers", "references", "hermes-tools.md"
+    )
+    with open(tools_path, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        tool_mapping = f.read().strip()
+
+    return (
+        f"<EXTREMELY_IMPORTANT>\n"
+        f"{BOOTSTRAP_MARKER}\n\n"
+        f"You have superpowers.\n\n"
+        f"The using-superpowers skill content is included below and is already "
+        f"loaded for this Hermes session. Follow it now. "
+        f"Do not try to load using-superpowers again.\n\n"
+        f"{body}\n\n"
+        f"## Loading Superpowers Skills on Hermes\n\n"
+        f"Superpowers skills are registered with Hermes' native skill loader: "
+        f'invoke one with `skill_view("superpowers:skill-name")` '
+        f'(for example `skill_view("superpowers:brainstorming")`). '
+        f"If a namespaced lookup returns 'not found', read the skill file "
+        f"directly instead:\n"
+        f'`read_file("{skills_dir}/skill-name/SKILL.md")`\n\n'
+        f"The superpowers skills directory is: `{skills_dir}`\n\n"
+        f"{tool_mapping}\n"
+        f"</EXTREMELY_IMPORTANT>"
+    )
+
+
+def register(ctx):
+    skills_dir = _skills_dir()
+    bootstrap = _build_bootstrap(skills_dir)
+
+    # Register every stock skill with Hermes' native loader so skill_view can
+    # load them on demand. Standard markdown; no conversion (plugin guide).
+    # register_skill requires a pathlib.Path — a str raises AttributeError and
+    # hermes silently disables the whole plugin (verified 2026-07-23).
+    for name in sorted(os.listdir(skills_dir)):
+        skill_md = os.path.join(skills_dir, name, "SKILL.md")
+        if os.path.isfile(skill_md):
+            ctx.register_skill(name, Path(skill_md))
+
+    # pre_llm_call returning {"context": ...} is the documented injection path
+    # (on_session_start return values are ignored, and ctx.inject_message
+    # refuses from that hook — verified empirically 2026-07-23). The context is
+    # appended to the first turn's user message.
+    def pre_llm_call(
+        session_id=None,
+        user_message=None,
+        conversation_history=None,
+        is_first_turn=None,
+        model=None,
+        platform=None,
+        **kwargs,
+    ):
+        if is_first_turn:
+            return {"context": bootstrap}
+        return None
+
+    ctx.register_hook("pre_llm_call", pre_llm_call)

.hermes-plugin/plugin.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+name: superpowers
+version: 6.1.1
+description: Superpowers skills and workflow bootstrap for Hermes Agent
+author: obra
+provides_hooks:
+  - pre_llm_call

.kimi-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "superpowers",
-  "version": "6.2.0",
+  "version": "6.1.1",
   "description": "An agentic skills framework and software development methodology.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Jesse Vincent",

README.md

@@ -3,9 +3,15 @@
 Superpowers is a complete software development methodology for your coding agents, built on top of a set of composable skills and some initial instructions that make sure your agent uses them.
 
 
+## We're Hiring!
+
+We're hiring someone to help out full time with Superpowers community and code work. 
+You can read about the job at https://primeradiant.com/jobs/superpowers-community-engineer/
+If this sounds like someone you know, definitely send them our way.
+
 ## Quickstart
 
-Give your agent Superpowers: [Claude Code](#claude-code), [Antigravity](#antigravity), [Codex App](#codex-app), [Codex CLI](#codex-cli), [Cursor](#cursor), [Factory Droid](#factory-droid), [Gemini CLI](#gemini-cli), [GitHub Copilot CLI](#github-copilot-cli), [Kimi Code](#kimi-code), [OpenCode](#opencode), [Pi](#pi).
+Give your agent Superpowers: [Claude Code](#claude-code), [Antigravity](#antigravity), [Codex App](#codex-app), [Codex CLI](#codex-cli), [Cursor](#cursor), [Factory Droid](#factory-droid), [Gemini CLI](#gemini-cli), [GitHub Copilot CLI](#github-copilot-cli), [Hermes Agent](#hermes-agent), [Kimi Code](#kimi-code), [OpenCode](#opencode), [Pi](#pi).
 
 ## How it works
 
@@ -193,6 +199,18 @@ pi -e /path/to/superpowers
 
 The Pi package loads the Superpowers skills and a small extension that injects the `using-superpowers` bootstrap at session startup and again after compaction. Pi has native skills, so no compatibility `Skill` tool is required. Subagent and task-list tools remain optional Pi companion packages.
 
+### Hermes Agent
+
+Install Superpowers as a Hermes plugin from this repository:
+
+```bash
+hermes plugins install obra/superpowers --enable
+```
+
+Restart any active Hermes sessions after installing. Note: Hermes has no
+post-compaction hook, so a very long session that compacts over its first
+turn loses the bootstrap — start a fresh session if skills stop triggering.
+
 ## The Basic Workflow
 
 1. **brainstorming** - Activates before writing code. Refines rough ideas through questions, explores alternatives, presents design in sections for validation. Saves design document.

RELEASE-NOTES.md

@@ -1,38 +1,5 @@
 # Superpowers Release Notes
 
-## v6.2.0 (2026-07-23)
-
-### Subagent-Driven Development
-
-Two structural changes to how SDD tracks progress and closes out review findings, both developed against live eval campaigns.
-
-- **The workspace is now plan-scoped.** `.superpowers/sdd/` had no plan identity and no end-of-life: a follow-up plan in the same working tree could read the previous plan's ledger as its own progress (observed in the wild, with multiple contamination rounds and ad-hoc workarounds). `sdd-workspace` now requires the plan file and resolves a per-plan directory, `.superpowers/sdd/<plan-basename>/`; `task-brief` and `review-package` write into their plan's directory (`review-package` gains the plan file as its first argument); the ledger names its plan on its first line; and the workspace is deleted once the final review is clean — git history is the durable record. Baseline evals showed controllers already refused foreign ledgers, but at a cost of 6–13 tool calls of cross-plan git forensics per resume; plan-scoping makes the answer structural instead. (25/25 baseline and GREEN eval runs documented in `docs/specs/` and `docs/plans/`.)
-- **The review-fix loop resumes the implementer.** The lifecycle restructure gives fix rounds resume-the-implementer semantics instead of fresh dispatches, adds a scoped re-review prompt (`re-review-prompt.md`) so the re-reviewer checks the fixes rather than re-reading the whole task, and installs a five-round circuit breaker with controller adjudication when it trips. SKILL.md reorganizes by lifecycle, and its Red Flags convert to the house rationalization-table form.
-
-### Skills
-
-A branch-wide compression campaign: recap sections, social proof, and benefits-selling prose aimed at a reader who has already invoked the skill are gone, with every load-bearing argument folded into a rationalization-table row or moved to its point of use. Each cut was micro-tested with subagent probes, and the one cut that measurably degraded behavior was reworked rather than shipped.
-
-- **`testing-anti-patterns.md` is now `writing-good-tests.md`.** The TDD reference doc is rebuilt as a positive catalog — six rules that lead with the GOOD example — and absorbs a falsifiability discipline: name the production change that would fail the test, derive expectations independently of the code under test, and a closing mutation check. It closes two holes by name: the string-presence trap (grep-style tests on scripts, skills, and prompts counterfeit falsifiability — the observable is behavior, never text) and the change-detector trap (a constant assertion can fail and still protect nothing), each with a hard stop in the gate function. Trivial code and human prose earn no test; the trigger broadens from "adding mocks" to any test writing.
-- **TDD's "Why Order Matters" rebuttals survive as rationalization rows.** Deleting the section outright measurably degraded test-first behavior under "just write it, tests after" pressure (control 8/10 → treatment 5/10, corroborated on Claude and Codex), so each prose rebuttal now lives in its Common Rationalizations row — the section is gone but the arguments fire where an agent hits them mid-rationalization.
-- **`finishing-a-development-branch` no longer offers to discard your work.** The completion menu dates from when throwing away branches was routine; "Discard this work" next to "Merge" advertised destroying finished, passing work. Discard survives as an explicit-request-only path with the same typed-confirmation ritual. The same pass made PR creation forge-agnostic (your forge's CLI or the URL printed on push, not a blessed list of tools) and fixed a real bug: the worktree path was recomputed after cleanup had already changed directory, so provenance checks never matched and cleanup silently no-oped.
-- **Recap and persuasion prose removed across the library.** `brainstorming`, `systematic-debugging`, `dispatching-parallel-agents`, `verification-before-completion`, `executing-plans`, `subagent-driven-development`, `requesting-code-review`, `receiving-code-review`, `using-git-worktrees`, `writing-plans`, and `writing-skills` all drop their Bottom Line / Key Principles / Real-World Impact / Advantages sections; `using-git-worktrees` and `finishing-a-development-branch` convert their guard sections to the house Excuse/Reality rationalization table.
-
-### Windows
-
-- **The SessionStart hook now dispatches via Git Bash.** The hook's command string starts with a quoted path, which broke both shells Claude Code might hand it to: PowerShell parsed the quoted string as an expression and died with a parser error (#1751), and cmd.exe's quote-stripping rule truncated the command when the profile path contained a metacharacter like `(` (#1918) — either way the bootstrap silently never loaded. The hook now declares `shell: "bash"`, which Claude Code ≥ 2.1.81 resolves to Git for Windows directly, and which surfaces an actionable install prompt when Git Bash is missing. Older Claude Code versions ignore the unknown key and behave as before. Verified end-to-end on Linux, Windows 11 with Git Bash under a hostile path, and Windows 11 without Git Bash.
-
-### Harness Support
-
-- **Gemini CLI support is restored.** The v6.1.0 removal (on the news that Google had EOLed the Gemini CLI) was premature; the install docs and the `gemini-tools.md` tool-mapping reference are back while permanent removal gets a proper evaluation. (#1959)
-
-### Fixes
-
-- **`find-polluter.sh` actually finds test files now.** `find .` emits `./`-prefixed paths, so the documented `-path "src/**/*.test.ts"` pattern matched nothing — and `wc -l` on empty input then reported "Found 1". Fixed the prefix mismatch (#2008, #2011), plus two follow-ups: a caller-supplied `./`-prefixed pattern no longer double-prefixes into a never-matching form, and `**/` is also matched collapsed so tests directly under the base directory (`src/top.test.ts` vs `src/**/*.test.ts`) aren't silently skipped. The script gains a deterministic test suite.
-- **The Codex package script works beyond macOS.** Deterministic-metadata tar flags were bsdtar-only spellings, staged file modes depended on two umasks canceling out, and the test's timestamp assertion parsed bsdtar's column layout in a US timezone. GNU tar now gets equivalent flags producing byte-identical headers, modes are pinned canonical, and the test asserts mtime via `tarfile`.
-- **SDD's skill test no longer flakes.** The file's worst case exceeded the runner's per-file ceiling (raised to 900s), and the assert helpers matched free-form model prose case-sensitively; matching is now case-insensitive and `assert_order` dumps output on failure so the next flake is diagnosable.
-- **Docs and test cleanup after the v6.1.0 reference pruning.** Dead links to the deleted `claude-code-tools.md`/`copilot-tools.md` are replaced with the current architecture (#1969), a dangling `#subagent-support` anchor in the Antigravity reference is dropped (#2010), and the Antigravity/Pi mapping tests assert only the surviving harness-specific mappings — scoped to the table so they fail again if it's deleted.
-
 ## v6.1.1 (2026-07-02)
 
 ### Codex

gemini-extension.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "superpowers",
   "description": "Core skills library: TDD, debugging, collaboration patterns, and proven techniques",
-  "version": "6.2.0",
+  "version": "6.1.1",
   "contextFileName": "GEMINI.md"
 }

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "superpowers",
-  "version": "6.2.0",
+  "version": "6.1.1",
   "description": "Superpowers skills and runtime bootstrap for coding agents",
   "type": "module",
   "main": ".opencode/plugins/superpowers.js",

skills/requesting-code-review/code-reviewer.md

@@ -34,15 +34,6 @@ Subagent (general-purpose):
 
     Your review is read-only on this checkout. Do not mutate the working tree, the index, HEAD, or branch state in any way. Use tools like `git show`, `git diff`, and `git log` to inspect history. If you need a working copy of a different revision, check it out into a separate temporary directory (e.g. `git worktree add /tmp/review-[SHA] [SHA]`) — never move HEAD on this checkout.
 
-    ## You Do Not Dispatch Subagents
-
-    Do all of this review yourself. Never spawn a subagent to review part
-    of the diff, and never spawn another reviewer for a second opinion.
-    This process already provides every review seat the work gets; a
-    reviewer you spawn duplicates one of them at full cost, and its
-    verdict counts for nothing. If the diff feels too large for one
-    pass, review it in passes yourself and say so in your report.
-
     ## What to Check
 
     **Plan alignment:**

skills/subagent-driven-development/SKILL.md

@@ -14,21 +14,7 @@ Execute plan by dispatching a fresh implementer subagent per task, a task review
 **Narration:** between tool calls, narrate at most one short line — the
 ledger and the tool results carry the record.
 
-**Continuous execution:** Do not pause to check in with your human partner between tasks. Execute all tasks from the plan without stopping. The only reasons to stop are the four named below, or all tasks complete. "Should I continue?" prompts and progress summaries waste their time — they asked you to execute the plan, so execute it.
+**Continuous execution:** Do not pause to check in with your human partner between tasks. Execute all tasks from the plan without stopping. The only reasons to stop are: BLOCKED status you cannot resolve, ambiguity that genuinely prevents progress, or all tasks complete. "Should I continue?" prompts and progress summaries waste their time — they asked you to execute the plan, so execute it.
-
-**Rulings, not stalls.** A running plan does not wait on a human. Conflicts,
-ambiguities, plan defects, a cap you would have asked to exceed — decide
-them. The spec is the binding authority, the plan is its argument, and your
-judgment settles what neither answers. Record every decision in the ledger as
-`Ruling: <what you decided> — <why> — <what it costs if wrong>`, and keep
-going. A wrong ruling costs rework your human partner can see and undo; a
-session parked on a question costs their whole day and buys nothing.
-
-Four things stop you, and only these: an irreversible or destructive
-operation; a security-sensitive action; a side effect outside this worktree
-that norms say you ask about first (a merge, a push to a shared branch, a
-publish); and a plan so broken that every path forward is a guess. For those,
-stop and ask.
 
 ## When to Use
 
@@ -71,14 +57,14 @@ digraph process {
         "Generate review package, dispatch task reviewer (./task-reviewer-prompt.md)" [shape=box];
         "Spec ✅ and quality approved?" [shape=diamond];
         "Finding conflicts with plan text?" [shape=diamond];
-        "Rule on the conflict, ledger the ruling" [shape=box];
+        "Ask human partner which governs" [shape=box];
         "Fix round R of 5: R≤3 resume implementer; R≥4 fresh implementer, more capable model" [shape=box];
         "Dispatch scoped re-review (./re-review-prompt.md)" [shape=box];
         "All findings addressed?" [shape=diamond];
         "R = 5?" [shape=diamond];
         "Adjudicate each open finding" [shape=box];
         "Any load-bearing finding?" [shape=diamond];
-        "Rule and continue; stop only if every path forward is a guess" [shape=box];
+        "STOP: report BLOCKED to human partner" [shape=box];
         "Park findings in ledger with rulings" [shape=box];
         "Append completion to ledger, mark todo complete" [shape=box];
     }
@@ -99,8 +85,8 @@ digraph process {
     "Generate review package, dispatch task reviewer (./task-reviewer-prompt.md)" -> "Spec ✅ and quality approved?";
     "Spec ✅ and quality approved?" -> "Append completion to ledger, mark todo complete" [label="yes"];
     "Spec ✅ and quality approved?" -> "Finding conflicts with plan text?" [label="no"];
-    "Finding conflicts with plan text?" -> "Rule on the conflict, ledger the ruling" [label="yes"];
+    "Finding conflicts with plan text?" -> "Ask human partner which governs" [label="yes"];
-    "Rule on the conflict, ledger the ruling" -> "Fix round R of 5: R≤3 resume implementer; R≥4 fresh implementer, more capable model";
+    "Ask human partner which governs" -> "Fix round R of 5: R≤3 resume implementer; R≥4 fresh implementer, more capable model";
     "Finding conflicts with plan text?" -> "Fix round R of 5: R≤3 resume implementer; R≥4 fresh implementer, more capable model" [label="no"];
     "Fix round R of 5: R≤3 resume implementer; R≥4 fresh implementer, more capable model" -> "Dispatch scoped re-review (./re-review-prompt.md)";
     "Dispatch scoped re-review (./re-review-prompt.md)" -> "All findings addressed?";
@@ -109,7 +95,7 @@ digraph process {
     "R = 5?" -> "Fix round R of 5: R≤3 resume implementer; R≥4 fresh implementer, more capable model" [label="no - next round"];
     "R = 5?" -> "Adjudicate each open finding" [label="yes - breaker trips"];
     "Adjudicate each open finding" -> "Any load-bearing finding?";
-    "Any load-bearing finding?" -> "Rule and continue; stop only if every path forward is a guess" [label="yes"];
+    "Any load-bearing finding?" -> "STOP: report BLOCKED to human partner" [label="yes"];
     "Any load-bearing finding?" -> "Park findings in ledger with rulings" [label="no"];
     "Park findings in ledger with rulings" -> "Append completion to ledger, mark todo complete";
     "Append completion to ledger, mark todo complete" -> "More tasks remain?";
@@ -156,27 +142,17 @@ a ledger file, not only in todos.
 Read the plan once, note its context and Global Constraints, and create a
 todo per task.
 
-Before dispatching Task 1, scan the plan once for conflicts, writing down
+Before dispatching Task 1, scan the plan once for conflicts:
-what you checked as you check it:
 
 - tasks that contradict each other or the plan's Global Constraints
 - anything the plan explicitly mandates that the review rubric treats as a
   defect (a test that asserts nothing, verbatim duplication of a logic block)
 
-The scan's output is a table, not a verdict. One row for every pair of tasks
+Present everything you find to your human partner as one batched question —
-that share a file or an interface: the two tasks, what one produces against
+each finding beside the plan text that mandates it, asking which governs —
-what the other consumes, and what you found. One row for every task: whether
+before execution begins, not one interrupt per discovery mid-plan. If the
-its own text agrees with itself — the tests it specifies against the code it
+scan is clean, proceed without comment. The review loop remains the net for
-specifies, the files it creates against the files it later touches. "The scan
+conflicts that only emerge from implementation.
-is clean" without those rows is not a scan you ran.
-
-Write the table to the ledger. Rule on everything you find before execution
-begins — each finding against the plan text that mandates it — and record
-each ruling in the ledger. If the scan is clean, proceed without comment.
-Rule on each conflict it surfaces — the spec is the binding authority, the
-plan is its argument — record the ruling beside its row, and dispatch
-Task 1. The review loop remains the net for conflicts that only emerge from
-implementation.
 
 ## Model Selection
 
@@ -221,17 +197,6 @@ Everything you paste into a dispatch prompt — and everything a subagent
 prints back — stays resident in your context for the rest of the session
 and is re-read on every later turn. Hand artifacts over as files.
 
-**Waiting on dispatched subagents:** never poll a wait interface with
-short timeouts, and never sit in one silent, open-ended wait either.
-While you have local work — ledger updates, packaging the next review,
-reading reports — keep working; child results arrive on their own.
-When you are genuinely idle, wait in bounded stretches (five to ten
-minutes, where your platform allows), and between stretches post one
-line of status and reconcile your live children: list them, and chase
-any that finished without reporting. A bounded stretch keeps nearly
-all of a long wait's efficiency while guaranteeing a stuck or lost
-child is noticed within minutes, not at the end of the session.
-
 ### 1. Dispatch the implementer
 
 Record BASE (`git rev-parse HEAD`) before dispatching — the review package
@@ -258,12 +223,6 @@ and fix-round diffs need it.
   later dispatches — a real session's dispatch hit 42k chars of which 99%
   was pasted history. A fresh subagent needs its task, the interfaces it
   touches, and the global constraints. Nothing else.
-- The dispatch carries the no-subagents contract (it is in the
-  implementer template): the implementer never dispatches subagents —
-  not helpers, and never a reviewer. Review arrives from you, after the
-  report. In real sessions, every reviewer a worker spawned duplicated
-  the task review the controller dispatched anyway — a full extra
-  review seat per task.
 - If an earlier task parked a finding in the area this task touches, carry
   a pointer to that ledger entry in the dispatch.
 - Record the implementer's agent identity from the dispatch result —
@@ -286,7 +245,7 @@ Implementer subagents report one of four statuses. Handle each appropriately:
 1. If it's a context problem, provide more context and re-dispatch with the same model
 2. If the task requires more reasoning, re-dispatch with a more capable model
 3. If the task is too large, break it into smaller pieces
-4. If the plan itself is wrong, rule on the correction, ledger it, and re-dispatch with the ruling carried in the dispatch
+4. If the plan itself is wrong, escalate to the human
 
 **Never** ignore an escalation or force the same model to retry without changes. If the implementer said it's stuck, something needs to change.
 
@@ -353,11 +312,10 @@ Before the loop starts, two routes leave it immediately:
   before merge. A roll-up nobody reads is a silent discard. Minor findings
   never enter the loop.
 - A finding labeled plan-mandated — or any finding that conflicts with
-  what the plan's text requires — is yours to rule on: weigh the finding
+  what the plan's text requires — is the human's decision, like any plan
-  against the plan text, decide with the spec as the binding authority, and
+  contradiction: present the finding and the plan text, ask which governs.
-  ledger the ruling before you act on it. Do not dismiss the finding because
+  Do not dismiss the finding because the plan mandates it, and do not
-  the plan mandates it, and do not dispatch a fix that contradicts the plan
+  dispatch a fix that contradicts the plan without asking.
-  without a recorded ruling.
 Everything else enters the loop. A fix round is one fix dispatch plus one
 scoped re-review. Five rounds maximum per task:
 
@@ -402,16 +360,15 @@ dispatching. Adjudicate each open finding yourself — you hold the plan and
 the cross-task context the reviewer lacks:
 
 - **The reviewer is wrong, or the point is contestable:** park it —
-  `Task <N>: parked — <finding> — Ruling: <why the code stands>`. The final
+  `Task <N>: parked — <finding> — ruling: <why the code stands>`. The final
   review sees both sides.
 - **Real, but nothing downstream builds on it:** park it the same way, with
   a ruling that says it's real and deferred.
 - **Real and load-bearing** — a later task builds on it, or it reveals a
-  plan defect: rule on the smallest change that unblocks the dependent work,
+  plan defect: STOP. Append `Task <N>: BLOCKED — <reason>` and report to
-  ledger it as `Task <N>: Ruling: <finding> — <what you decided and why>`,
+  your human partner with the finding, the plan text it collides with, and
-  and carry it into the next task's dispatch. Parking a structural failure
+  the fix history. Parking a structural failure lets every dependent task
-  silently lets every dependent task build on it. Stop only when the defect
+  build on it and hands the final review a problem it cannot fix either.
-  leaves every path forward a guess.
 
 Adjudicate only at the cap. Adjudicating earlier to end a loop is
 pre-judging with a different name. Every adjudication is a ledger entry —
@@ -452,22 +409,12 @@ Then run exactly one scoped re-review of the fix wave
 (`scripts/review-package PLAN_FILE FIX_BASE HEAD` over the fix range,
 [re-review-prompt.md](re-review-prompt.md)).
 Adjudicate any residual findings as in the task loop's breaker: park with
-rulings, or rule on the load-bearing ones and ledger what you decided. Only
+rulings, or stop on load-bearing ones. There is no second fix wave —
-the four classes above stop you here. There is no second fix wave —
 residual load-bearing findings surface to your human partner when
 finishing-a-development-branch presents the options.
 
 ## Finish
 
-Before you delete anything, collect every ledger line containing `Ruling:` —
-preflight rulings, parked findings, breaker adjudications, all of them — into
-your final message under "Rulings I made", in the order you made them, each
-with what it costs if wrong. The list is exhaustive: if the ledger holds a
-ruling, the list holds it. That list is the only place the decisions you
-took on your human partner's behalf reach them — they read it and rework
-whatever you got wrong. A ruling that dies with the workspace was a decision
-made in secret.
-
 When the final whole-branch review is clean and its fixes are merged,
 delete this plan's workspace (`rm -rf <workspace>`) — the git history is
 the record now. Sibling directories belong to other plans; leave them
@@ -487,7 +434,6 @@ Use superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch.
 | "The fix was small, skip the re-review" | Unreviewed fixes are how regressions land. Every round ends with a scoped re-review. |
 | "Reviews slow the loop down" | The loop without reviews is just unverified churn. Reviews are the loop's brakes and steering. |
 | "Ledger bookkeeping is overhead" | The ledger is what survives compaction. Controllers without one have re-dispatched entire completed task sequences. |
-| "The implementer spawned its own reviewer — free extra assurance" | It's a duplicate seat reviewing the same diff; the task review is the gate. A worker-spawned reviewer is a defect to flag, not rigor. |
 
 ## Example Workflow
 

skills/subagent-driven-development/implementer-prompt.md

@@ -47,18 +47,6 @@ Subagent (general-purpose):
     While iterating, run the focused test for what you're changing; run the
     full suite once before committing, not after every edit.
 
-    ## You Do Not Dispatch Subagents
-
-    Do all of this task's work yourself. Never spawn a subagent to
-    implement part of the task, and above all never spawn a reviewer to
-    check your work. Self-review (below) means reading your own diff.
-    Review is the controller's job: after you report, it dispatches a
-    fresh reviewer against your diff. A reviewer you spawn duplicates
-    that review at full cost, and its approval counts for nothing in
-    the process. If you catch yourself thinking "an independent review
-    would strengthen my report" — that review is already scheduled.
-    Report instead.
-
     ## Code Organization
 
     You reason best about code you can hold in context at once, and your edits are more

skills/subagent-driven-development/re-review-prompt.md

@@ -43,15 +43,6 @@ Subagent (general-purpose):
     Your review is read-only on this checkout. Do not mutate the working
     tree, the index, HEAD, or branch state in any way.
 
-    ## You Do Not Dispatch Subagents
-
-    Do all of this review yourself. Never spawn a subagent to review part
-    of the diff, and never spawn another reviewer for a second opinion.
-    This process already provides every review seat the work gets; a
-    reviewer you spawn duplicates one of them at full cost, and its
-    verdict counts for nothing. If the diff feels too large for one
-    pass, review it in passes yourself and say so in your report.
-
     ## Scope
 
     Your scope is the findings list and the fix diff. Verdict every finding.

skills/subagent-driven-development/task-reviewer-prompt.md

@@ -52,15 +52,6 @@ Subagent (general-purpose):
     Your review is read-only on this checkout. Do not mutate the working
     tree, the index, HEAD, or branch state in any way.
 
-    ## You Do Not Dispatch Subagents
-
-    Do all of this review yourself. Never spawn a subagent to review part
-    of the diff, and never spawn another reviewer for a second opinion.
-    This process already provides every review seat the work gets; a
-    reviewer you spawn duplicates one of them at full cost, and its
-    verdict counts for nothing. If the diff feels too large for one
-    pass, review it in passes yourself and say so in your report.
-
     ## Do Not Trust the Report
 
     Treat the implementer's report as unverified claims about the code. It

skills/using-superpowers/SKILL.md

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ If your harness appears here, read its reference file for special instructions:
 - Codex: `references/codex-tools.md`
 - Pi: `references/pi-tools.md`
 - Antigravity: `references/antigravity-tools.md`
+- Hermes Agent: `references/hermes-tools.md`
 
 ## User Instructions
 

skills/using-superpowers/references/codex-tools.md

@@ -7,76 +7,7 @@ Add to your Codex config (`~/.codex/config.toml`):
 multi_agent = true
 ```
 
-This enables the multi-agent tools that skills like
+This enables `spawn_agent`, `wait_agent`, and `close_agent` for skills like `dispatching-parallel-agents` and `subagent-driven-development`. When using subagent-driven-development, close reviewer subagents when their review returns. Keep each implementer subagent open until its task's review passes — the fix loop resumes the implementer — then close it. If your harness cannot send another message to a spawned agent, dispatch each fix round as a fresh implementer carrying the brief, the report file, and the findings.
-`dispatching-parallel-agents` and `subagent-driven-development` use.
-Which tools you get depends on the multi-agent version your model
-preset selects (current presets run V2; older ones run V1). Trust your
-actual tool list over any table — including this one — when they
-disagree.
-
-- **Spawning:** give children a clean context with
-  `spawn_agent {fork_turns: "none"}`; the default `"all"` copies your
-  entire transcript into the child. On Codex 0.145+, role files under
-  `~/.codex/agents/` attach to isolated forks via `agent_type`.
-  Full-history forks accept `model` and `reasoning_effort` overrides
-  (only `agent_type` is refused there) — isolated forks are the SDD
-  default for context hygiene, not because overrides require them.
-- **Fix rounds:** resume the implementer with `followup_task` — it
-  delivers your message, triggers a turn, and transparently reloads a
-  child the harness evicted. Never dispatch a fresh implementer on the
-  theory that a spawned agent cannot be messaged again; on V2 it
-  always can.
-- **Lifecycle:** V2 has no `close_agent`. Finished children are
-  evicted automatically when slots are needed; leaving them unclosed
-  costs nothing. Only V1 sessions have `close_agent` — there, close
-  reviewers when their review returns, and close each implementer
-  after its task's review passes.
-- **Model names:** never copy a model name from a skill, table, or old
-  session into `spawn_agent` without checking it against your current
-  spawn allowlist — V2 accepts only V2-capable presets and hard-errors
-  on the rest.
-
-## Waiting on children
-
-`wait_agent` is an event subscription, not a poll: a long wait wakes
-the moment a child produces mailbox activity, with the same latency as
-a short one. Short-timeout polling buys nothing and costs a tool call —
-and a context rebill — per poll. In measured sessions, roughly
-two-thirds of all wait calls were short polls that timed out.
-
-- While you still have local work, do not wait at all. A completed
-  child's final answer is pushed into your mailbox and arrives with
-  your next turn.
-- When you are genuinely idle with children outstanding, wait in
-  bounded stretches: `wait_agent` with `timeout_ms` 300000-600000
-  (5-10 minutes). After each stretch — wake or timeout — post one
-  status line, run `list_agents`, and chase any child that finished
-  without reporting. Never stack polls shorter than five minutes; the
-  event subscription wakes a bounded stretch just as fast as a short
-  one.
-- Completion mail cannot wake an idle controller (it is delivered
-  without triggering a turn); covering that idle window is
-  `wait_agent`'s only job. A stretch that times out with no activity
-  is your cue to reconcile, not to shorten the next stretch.
-
-## Model routing on spawns
-
-Every `spawn_agent` you issue — including when you are yourself a
-spawned child running a fan-out — sets `model` AND `reasoning_effort`
-explicitly, per the Model Selection rules of the skill you are
-executing. Setting `model` alone is a trap: the child's effort
-silently resets to that model's default, not to yours.
-
-Ask your human partner to add a machine-level backstop to
-`~/.codex/config.toml` so any spawn that slips through still routes to
-a deliberate tier instead of silently inheriting the session's most
-expensive model:
-
-```toml
-[agents]
-default_subagent_model = "<a mid-tier model from your spawn allowlist>"
-default_subagent_reasoning_effort = "medium"
-```
 
 ## Environment Detection
 

skills/using-superpowers/references/hermes-tools.md

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# Hermes Agent Tool Mapping
+
+Skills speak in actions ("dispatch a subagent", "create a todo", "read a file"). On Hermes Agent these resolve to the tools below.
+
+## Tools
+
+| Action skills request | Hermes tool |
+|---|---|
+| Read a file | `read_file` |
+| Create a new file | `write_file` |
+| Edit a file (targeted patch) | `patch` |
+| Run a shell command | `terminal` |
+| Search file contents | `search_files` |
+| Find files by name | `terminal` with `find` |
+| Fetch a URL / read a webpage | `web_extract(urls=[...])` |
+| Search the web | `web_search(query=...)` |
+| Dispatch a subagent | `delegate_task(goal=..., context=..., toolsets=[...], role="leaf")` |
+| Task tracking | `todo` tool |
+| Invoke a skill | `skill_view("skill-name")` |
+
+## Instructions file
+
+When a skill mentions "your instructions file," on Hermes Agent this is **`AGENTS.md`** in the project directory, or **`SOUL.md`** globally at `~/.hermes/SOUL.md`.
+
+## Invoking a skill
+
+Hermes Agent has a `skills` toolset with `skill_view` and `skills_list` tools.
+To invoke a superpowers skill, use:
+
+```
+skill_view("brainstorming")
+skill_view("test-driven-development")
+```
+
+If `skill_view` cannot find a superpowers skill (it may not appear in the catalog
+until the plugin fully registers it), fall back to reading the SKILL.md directly:
+
+```
+read_file(path="~/.hermes/plugins/superpowers/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md")
+```
+
+This fallback is the same mechanism used by other harnesses without native skill loading.
+
+## Subagent dispatch
+
+Use `delegate_task` to spawn isolated subagents for parallel or sequential workstreams:
+
+```
+delegate_task(goal="...", context="...", toolsets=[...], role="leaf")
+```
+
+If `delegate_task` is unavailable, do the work inline rather than inventing tool calls.
+
+## Task tracking
+
+Use the `todo` tool for task tracking within a session. For multi-agent task boards, use `hermes kanban` CLI if available. Treat older `TodoWrite` references as the task-tracking action.

tests/hermes/conftest.py

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_ctx():
+    ctx = MagicMock()
+    ctx._hooks = {}
+    ctx._skills = {}
+
+    def register_hook(event, fn):
+        ctx._hooks[event] = fn
+
+    def register_skill(name, path):
+        # Mimic hermes' real register_skill, which calls path.exists() and
+        # therefore breaks on a str (the bug that silently disabled the whole
+        # plugin, found 2026-07-23). Keeping that fidelity here means a
+        # regression to str paths fails these tests instead of failing
+        # silently inside hermes.
+        if not isinstance(path, Path):
+            raise AttributeError(
+                f"register_skill requires a pathlib.Path, got {type(path).__name__}"
+            )
+        ctx._skills[name] = path
+
+    ctx.register_hook.side_effect = register_hook
+    ctx.register_skill.side_effect = register_skill
+    return ctx

tests/hermes/test_bootstrap.py

@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+import importlib
+import os
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(
+    os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../../.hermes-plugin")
+))
+
+BOOTSTRAP_MARKER = "superpowers:using-superpowers bootstrap for hermes"
+
+# Hermes spills injected context over 10,000 chars to a file, which breaks
+# inline injection semantics. The bootstrap must stay under it with margin.
+HERMES_CONTEXT_SPILL_LIMIT = 10_000
+
+
+def _load():
+    if "__init__" in sys.modules:
+        del sys.modules["__init__"]
+    return importlib.import_module("__init__")
+
+
+def _bootstrap():
+    m = _load()
+    return m._build_bootstrap(m._skills_dir())
+
+
+class TestStripFrontmatter:
+    def test_strips_yaml_block(self):
+        m = _load()
+        content = "---\nname: foo\ndescription: bar\n---\n# Body\nContent here"
+        assert m._strip_frontmatter(content) == "# Body\nContent here"
+
+    def test_no_frontmatter_returns_trimmed_content(self):
+        m = _load()
+        content = "# No frontmatter\nJust content"
+        assert m._strip_frontmatter(content) == "# No frontmatter\nJust content"
+
+    def test_strips_surrounding_whitespace_from_body(self):
+        m = _load()
+        content = "---\nname: foo\n---\n\n\n# Body\n\n"
+        assert m._strip_frontmatter(content) == "# Body"
+
+
+class TestSkillsDirResolution:
+    def test_repo_layout_resolves(self):
+        # The repo checkout IS the git-clone layout: .hermes-plugin/ and
+        # skills/ are siblings, so resolution must succeed from here.
+        m = _load()
+        skills = m._skills_dir()
+        assert os.path.isfile(
+            os.path.join(skills, "using-superpowers", "SKILL.md")
+        )
+
+
+class TestBootstrapContent:
+    def test_marker_and_wrapper(self):
+        content = _bootstrap()
+        assert BOOTSTRAP_MARKER in content
+        assert content.startswith("<EXTREMELY_IMPORTANT>")
+        assert content.rstrip().endswith("</EXTREMELY_IMPORTANT>")
+
+    def test_contains_using_superpowers_body(self):
+        content = _bootstrap()
+        # A distinctive line from the skill body proves the real SKILL.md was
+        # embedded, not a stub.
+        assert "You have superpowers" in content
+        assert "## The Rule" in content
+
+    def test_frontmatter_stripped(self):
+        content = _bootstrap()
+        assert "---\nname:" not in content
+
+    def test_tool_mapping_sourced_from_reference_file(self):
+        m = _load()
+        content = _bootstrap()
+        ref = os.path.join(
+            m._skills_dir(), "using-superpowers", "references", "hermes-tools.md"
+        )
+        with open(ref, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            ref_text = f.read().strip()
+        # The mapping is included verbatim from the reference file — the
+        # single source, not a drift-prone inline copy.
+        assert ref_text in content
+        assert "read_file" in content
+
+    def test_skill_view_guidance_present(self):
+        content = _bootstrap()
+        assert 'skill_view("superpowers:brainstorming")' in content
+
+    def test_under_hermes_context_spill_limit(self):
+        content = _bootstrap()
+        assert len(content) < HERMES_CONTEXT_SPILL_LIMIT, (
+            f"bootstrap is {len(content)} chars; hermes spills injected "
+            f"context over {HERMES_CONTEXT_SPILL_LIMIT} to a file, which "
+            "breaks inline injection"
+        )

tests/hermes/test_plugin.py

@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+import importlib
+import importlib.util
+import os
+import shutil
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+# Point at the plugin directory
+_PLUGIN_DIR = os.path.abspath(
+    os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../../.hermes-plugin")
+)
+sys.path.insert(0, _PLUGIN_DIR)
+
+BOOTSTRAP_MARKER = "superpowers:using-superpowers bootstrap for hermes"
+
+
+def _load_plugin():
+    """Re-import plugin module fresh."""
+    if "__init__" in sys.modules:
+        del sys.modules["__init__"]
+    return importlib.import_module("__init__")
+
+
+def _fire_pre_llm(ctx, **kwargs):
+    hook = ctx._hooks["pre_llm_call"]
+    defaults = {
+        "session_id": "s1",
+        "user_message": "hi",
+        "conversation_history": [],
+        "is_first_turn": False,
+        "model": "test-model",
+        "platform": "cli",
+    }
+    defaults.update(kwargs)
+    return hook(**defaults)
+
+
+class TestPluginRegistration:
+    def test_register_attaches_only_pre_llm_call_hook(self, mock_ctx):
+        plugin = _load_plugin()
+        plugin.register(mock_ctx)
+        assert list(mock_ctx._hooks.keys()) == ["pre_llm_call"]
+
+    def test_register_registers_every_stock_skill_as_path(self, mock_ctx):
+        plugin = _load_plugin()
+        plugin.register(mock_ctx)
+        # The conftest mock raises on non-Path (mirroring hermes' real
+        # register_skill), so reaching these asserts proves every
+        # registration passed a pathlib.Path.
+        assert "using-superpowers" in mock_ctx._skills
+        assert "brainstorming" in mock_ctx._skills
+        for name, path in mock_ctx._skills.items():
+            assert isinstance(path, Path)
+            assert path.name == "SKILL.md"
+            assert path.parent.name == name
+            assert path.is_file()
+
+    def test_registered_skills_match_skill_directories(self, mock_ctx):
+        plugin = _load_plugin()
+        plugin.register(mock_ctx)
+        skills_root = plugin._skills_dir()
+        expected = {
+            entry
+            for entry in os.listdir(skills_root)
+            if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(skills_root, entry, "SKILL.md"))
+        }
+        assert set(mock_ctx._skills.keys()) == expected
+
+
+class TestBootstrapInjection:
+    def test_first_turn_returns_bootstrap_context(self, mock_ctx):
+        plugin = _load_plugin()
+        plugin.register(mock_ctx)
+        result = _fire_pre_llm(mock_ctx, is_first_turn=True)
+        assert isinstance(result, dict)
+        content = result["context"]
+        assert BOOTSTRAP_MARKER in content
+        assert content.startswith("<EXTREMELY_IMPORTANT>")
+        assert content.rstrip().endswith("</EXTREMELY_IMPORTANT>")
+
+    def test_later_turns_return_none(self, mock_ctx):
+        plugin = _load_plugin()
+        plugin.register(mock_ctx)
+        assert _fire_pre_llm(mock_ctx, is_first_turn=False) is None
+        assert _fire_pre_llm(mock_ctx, is_first_turn=None) is None
+
+    def test_hook_tolerates_future_kwargs(self, mock_ctx):
+        plugin = _load_plugin()
+        plugin.register(mock_ctx)
+        result = _fire_pre_llm(
+            mock_ctx, is_first_turn=True, telemetry_schema_version=3
+        )
+        assert BOOTSTRAP_MARKER in result["context"]
+
+
+class TestLayoutResolution:
+    def _stage(self, tmp_path, layout):
+        """Copy the plugin module + a minimal skills tree in the given layout."""
+        src_skills = Path(_PLUGIN_DIR).parent / "skills"
+        if layout == "clone":
+            plugdir = tmp_path / "superpowers" / ".hermes-plugin"
+        else:  # flat: module at the plugin dir root, skills nested inside it
+            plugdir = tmp_path / "superpowers"
+        skills = tmp_path / "superpowers" / "skills"
+        plugdir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        shutil.copy(Path(_PLUGIN_DIR) / "__init__.py", plugdir / "__init__.py")
+        for skill in ("using-superpowers", "brainstorming"):
+            shutil.copytree(src_skills / skill, skills / skill)
+        return plugdir
+
+    def _load_from(self, plugdir):
+        spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(
+            f"hermes_plugin_test_{plugdir.parent.name}_{plugdir.name}",
+            plugdir / "__init__.py",
+        )
+        mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+        spec.loader.exec_module(mod)
+        return mod
+
+    def test_clone_layout_resolves_sibling_skills(self, tmp_path, mock_ctx):
+        # git-clone install: .hermes-plugin/ and skills/ are siblings.
+        plugdir = self._stage(tmp_path, "clone")
+        mod = self._load_from(plugdir)
+        mod.register(mock_ctx)
+        assert "using-superpowers" in mock_ctx._skills
+
+    def test_flat_layout_resolves_nested_skills(self, tmp_path, mock_ctx):
+        # flattened install: module at the plugin dir root, skills/ inside it.
+        plugdir = self._stage(tmp_path, "flat")
+        mod = self._load_from(plugdir)
+        mod.register(mock_ctx)
+        assert "using-superpowers" in mock_ctx._skills
+
+    def test_missing_skills_raises_loudly(self, tmp_path, mock_ctx):
+        plugdir = tmp_path / "superpowers"
+        plugdir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        shutil.copy(Path(_PLUGIN_DIR) / "__init__.py", plugdir / "__init__.py")
+        mod = self._load_from(plugdir)
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="cannot find the skills"):
+            mod.register(mock_ctx)