Hermes cannot see any of these Skills (HERMES_HOME not recognized) - CC Switch
Quick fix
CC Switch writes Symlinks to ~/.hermes/skills/; copy them to $HERMES_HOME/skills/ so Hermes sees them. The CN-version session issue has no user-side fix.
Symptom
Section titled “Symptom”Hermes Skill 同步路径未检测 HERMES_HOME 环境变量，导致 Symlink 写入错误目录The Hermes Skill sync path does not check the HERMES_HOME environment variable, causing the Symlink to be written to the wrong directory.
When syncing Hermes Skills, CC Switch hardcodes ~/.hermes/skills/ as the target path, but Hermes actually loads Skills from $HERMES_HOME/skills/. On Windows, the official Desktop installer sets HERMES_HOME to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\hermes, so the Symlink lands in the wrong directory and Hermes cannot see any of these Skills. This problem has a second variant (#4648): the Hermes Agent CN version uses a completely different data directory, with its state.db located at %APPDATA%\cn.org.hermesagent.desktop\runtime\hermes-home\state.db, and on that machine HERMES_HOME points to the install directory (D:\CodeSoftWare\Hermes) rather than the data directory, leaving the Session Manager session list empty. Another user on that issue reported that even after changing the path to AppData\Local\hermes there were "still bugs", and noted that CLI and Desktop configurations behave inconsistently, so fixing the environment variable is not fully effective for every install method.
First confirm Hermes' actual data directory: run hermes config path or echo $HERMES_HOME to find where Hermes really reads skills and state.db.
For Skills not taking effect (#3811, verified working): manually copy the Symlink CC Switch created under ~/.hermes/skills/ into $HERMES_HOME/skills/ (e.g. C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\hermes\skills\). After copying, Hermes immediately recognizes these Skills.
Note: a user reported that even after changing the path to C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\hermes there were still bugs (CLI and Desktop versions behave differently). If manual copying does not work, check whether you installed the CLI via npm or used the official Desktop installer.
For Session Manager showing no CN-version sessions (#4648, still open): CC Switch settings currently have no UI entry to customize hermesConfigDir, so users cannot manually point it to %APPDATA%\cn.org.hermesagent.desktop\runtime\hermes-home. You can only wait for the official team to add fixed-path detection for the CN version or expose a custom data directory option.
Affected Versions
Section titled “Affected Versions”Source Issues
Section titled “Source Issues”This page is distilled from 2 real issues
- I already changed HERMES_HOME to C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\hermes, why is it still buggy?
- Users have reported that the CLI and Desktop versions behave differently in configuration, and CC Switch currently fits the npm-installed CLI scenario better. Cases where problems persist after changing to that path have been reported in the issue, and no confirmed universal fix exists yet.
- Can I manually specify Hermes' data directory (hermesConfigDir) in CC Switch settings?
- No. The reporter of #4648 confirmed there is no UI entry to customize hermesConfigDir in the settings, so CN-version users cannot manually point to the ...\runtime\hermes-home directory for now.
- How do I confirm the path Hermes actually uses?
- Run hermes config path to see the actual path. Hermes' path logic is: the HERMES_HOME environment variable takes priority; if it is not set, the default is ~/.hermes/.
Related problems
Section titled “Related problems”This is an unofficial community wiki with no affiliation to the cc-switch authors or the project itself. Its content is compiled from the project's public GitHub issues. This site distributes no software.