hermes-skins

Custom skins (visual themes) for the Hermes CLI agent

★ 170 Python MIT Updated 4/9/2026

Hermes Skins

Custom skins (visual themes) for the Hermes CLI agent.

Skins control the visual presentation of Hermes: banner colors, spinner faces/verbs, response-box labels, branding text, tool activity prefix, and ASCII art banners. They don't affect personality or behavior — just how things look.

Quick Start

Browse the skins/ directory and pick one you like
Copy the .yaml file to ~/.hermes/skins/
Activate it:

# Session-only
/skin pirate

# Permanent (add to ~/.hermes/config.yaml)
display:
  skin: pirate

That's it. Missing values inherit from the default skin, so you only need to define what you want to change.

Available Skins

Custom

Pirate

Black & white pirate flag theme with skull-and-crossbones braille art. Monochrome, nautical.

→ pirate.yaml

pirate

Vault-Tec

Fallout Vault-Tec terminal — green phosphor CRT on black. Retro computing.

→ vault-tec.yaml

vault-tec

Bubblegum 80s

Totally radical 1980s bubblegum theme with bright pastels and neon accents.

→ bubblegum-80s.yaml

bubblegum-80s

Skynet

Skynet defense network — Cyberdyne Systems military AI with glowing-eye pyramid, red-to-white gradient text.

→ skynet.yaml

skynet

Lain

Serial Experiments Lain — NAVI computer braille art, Wired protocol aesthetic, pink-to-white gradient text.

→ lain.yaml

lain

Neonwave

Synthwave/retrowave neon aesthetic — perspective grid horizon braille art, retro future vibes, pink-to-cyan gradient text.

→ neonwave.yaml

neonwave

Sakura

Cherry blossom theme — sakura tree braille art with falling petals, soft pinks and blossom whites, serene spring aesthetic.

→ sakura.yaml

sakura

Netrunner

Cyberpunk netrunner — neural interface hacker aesthetic with skull and neural connection braille art, cyan ICE-breaking colors on black, cyberdeck protocol branding.

→ netrunner.yaml

netrunner

Mythos

AGI awakening meets Greek mythology — Eye of Providence braille art with radiating divine light, Prometheus Labs branding, Greek blue and gold palette.

→ mythos.yaml

mythos

Nous

Nous Research — open-source AI lab tribute with anime mascot braille art, warm amber and gold palette matching Nous brand color (#DD8E35).

→ nous.yaml

nous

Mother

Weyland-Yutani MU-TH-UR 6000 — amber CRT phosphor terminal fused with HAL 9000's red eye. Terse corporate AI aesthetic, HAL lens braille art, "Building Better Worlds."

→ mother.yaml

mother

Built-in (ship with Hermes)

These are included for reference. They're already available in every Hermes install.

Skin	Description
default	Classic gold and kawaii
ares	Crimson and bronze war-god
mono	Clean grayscale monochrome
slate	Cool blue developer-focused
poseidon	Deep blue and seafoam ocean-god
sisyphus	Austere grayscale with persistence
charizard	Burnt orange and ember volcanic

Creating Your Own

Drop a YAML file in ~/.hermes/skins/<name>.yaml. The name: field inside must match the filename.

Minimal Example

name: cyberpunk
description: Neon terminal theme

colors:
  banner_border: "#FF00FF"
  banner_title: "#00FFFF"
  banner_accent: "#FF1493"

spinner:
  thinking_verbs: ["jacking in", "decrypting", "uploading"]

branding:
  agent_name: "Cyber Agent"
  response_label: " ⚡ Cyber "

Everything you don't specify inherits from the default skin.

Full Schema

See SCHEMA.md for the complete list of configurable keys.

Contributing

Made a skin you're proud of? PRs welcome.

Add your .yaml to skins/
Include a brief description at the top
Make sure it has a name: key matching the filename
Update the table in this README

How Skins Work

Hermes loads skins from two locations (user skins take priority):

~/.hermes/skins/<name>.yaml (user custom)
Built-in skins hardcoded in skin_engine.py

The engine merges your skin on top of default, so partial skins work fine. Unknown skin names silently fall back to default.

License

MIT