Building & Distributing Custom Hermes AI Agents with Profile Distributions

Learn how to package, version-control, and distribute custom Hermes AI agents using Profile Distributions without leaking private keys or session memories. Stop sending unorganized raw YAML files or copy-pasting massive system prompts into chat boxes. When developing AI workflows locally, iteration often creates a messy mix of prompt tweaks, local tool dependencies, private session logs, and environment credentials. Sharing this raw setup with collaborators is error-prone and poses serious security risks. In this tutorial, we will explore Hermes Profile Distributions-a clean framework for bundling an agent's identity (SOUL.md), bespoke abilities (skills/), and defaults (config.yaml) into a single, version-controlled repository.

What Makes an Agent "Shareable"?

Instead of sharing runtime state or hardcoded keys, a Profile Distribution creates a clean boundary between authored instructions (what you build) and runtime memory (what the end user owns).

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Hermes Profile Package                                          │
│                                                                 │
│ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐         │
│ │               │ │               │ │                 │         │
│ │   SOUL.md     │ │ skills/*.md   │ │distribution.yaml│         │
│ │               │ │               │ │                 │         │
│ │  (Identity)   │ │ (Tools/APIs)  │ │   (Manifest)    │         │
│ │               │ │               │ │                 │         │
│ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └─────────────────┘         │
│                                                                 │
│ └───────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┘ │
│                                 │                                 │
│                    Git Remote Host (GitHub)                       │
│                                 │                                 │
│                    ▼ `hermes profile install <repo>`              │
│                                 │                                 │
│ ┌───────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────