docs(curator): align 'agent-created' definition with actual provenance semantics

The curator docs stated that any skill not bundled/hub-installed was
'agent-created' and subject to curation — including foreground-created
skills and hand-written ones. Since PR #19621 (May 2026), the curator
requires an explicit  marker in .usage.json, which
only the background self-improvement review fork sets.

Changes:
- Rewrite 'What agent-created means' to document the 3-step eligibility
  check (not bundled + not hub + created_by=agent marker)
- Explain that foreground skill_manage(create) does NOT mark skills as
  agent-created (user-directed by design)
- Warn that hand-written skills are NOT curated
- Add note in Per-run reports explaining the '(not resolved)' display
  when no candidates exist (LLM pass skipped, not a config error)
- Link to skill_provenance.py for the write-origin ContextVar

Ref: PR #19621, tools/skill_provenance.py, tools/skill_manager_tool.py
This commit is contained in:
Twanislas
2026-05-20 03:22:16 +02:00
committed by Teknium
parent 3f0d44af8a
commit 549a69a925

View File

@ -130,30 +130,45 @@ The same subcommands are available as the `/curator` slash command inside a runn
## What "agent-created" means
A skill is considered agent-created if its name is **not** in:
The curator only manages skills explicitly marked as **agent-created** in
`~/.hermes/skills/.usage.json`. A skill qualifies when ALL of the following
are true:
- `~/.hermes/skills/.bundled_manifest` (skills copied from the repo on install), and
- `~/.hermes/skills/.hub/lock.json` (skills installed via `hermes skills install`).
1. Its name is **not** in `~/.hermes/skills/.bundled_manifest` (bundled skills shipped with the repo).
2. Its name is **not** in `~/.hermes/skills/.hub/lock.json` (hub-installed skills).
3. Its `.usage.json` entry has `"created_by": "agent"` or `"agent_created": true`.
Everything else in `~/.hermes/skills/` is fair game for the curator. This includes:
Currently, only the **background self-improvement review fork** sets this marker
— when it creates a new umbrella skill during its periodic review pass (~every 10
agent turns). The background fork runs with a write origin of `"background_review"`
(via `tools/skill_provenance.py`), which is the only path that triggers the
`mark_agent_created()` call in `skill_manage`.
- Skills the agent saved via `skill_manage(action="create")` during a conversation.
- Skills you created manually with a hand-written `SKILL.md`.
- Skills added via external skill directories you've pointed Hermes at.
Skills the foreground agent creates via `skill_manage(action="create")` during a
conversation are **not** marked as agent-created — they are considered
user-directed and the curator intentionally leaves them alone.
:::warning Your hand-written skills look the same as agent-saved ones
Provenance here is **binary** (bundled/hub vs. everything else). The curator cannot tell a hand-authored skill you rely on for private workflows apart from a skill the self-improvement loop saved mid-session. Both land in the "agent-created" bucket.
:::warning Your hand-written skills are NOT curated
If you manually created a `SKILL.md` or pointed Hermes at an external skill
directory, that skill will have a `.usage.json` entry with `created_by: null`
(or the field absent). The curator will not touch it. The same applies to
skills the foreground agent created at your request.
Before the first real pass (7 days after installation by default), take a moment to:
1. Run `hermes curator run --dry-run` to see exactly what the curator would propose.
2. Use `hermes curator pin <name>` to fence off anything you don't want touched.
3. Or set `curator.enabled: false` in `config.yaml` if you'd rather manage the library yourself.
Archives are always recoverable via `hermes curator restore <name>`, but it's easier to pin up-front than to chase down a consolidation after the fact.
**To see which skills the curator actually manages**, run `hermes curator status`.
If the agent-created count is 0, no skills are currently in the curator's
jurisdiction — the LLM review pass is skipped and the report will show
`Model: (not resolved) via (not resolved)` with `Duration: 0s`.
:::
If you want to protect a specific skill from ever being touched — for example a hand-authored skill you rely on — use `hermes curator pin <name>`. See the next section.
Skills that ARE agent-created follow the full lifecycle:
- `active` → (30d unused) `stale` → (90d unused) `archived`
- Pinned skills bypass all auto-transitions
- Archives are recoverable via `hermes curator restore <name>`
If you want to protect a specific skill from ever being touched — for example a
hand-authored skill you rely on — use `hermes curator pin <name>`. See the next
section.
## Pinning a skill
@ -217,6 +232,15 @@ Every curator run writes a timestamped directory under `~/.hermes/logs/curator/`
`REPORT.md` is a quick way to see what a given run did — which skills transitioned, what the LLM reviewer said, which skills it patched. Good for auditing without having to grep `agent.log`.
:::note No candidates? Report shows `(not resolved)`
When the curator has **no agent-created skills** to review, the LLM review pass
is skipped entirely. The report header will show
`Model: (not resolved) via (not resolved)` with `Duration: 0s` — this does **not**
indicate a configuration error or model resolution failure. It simply means there
were no candidates, so no model was ever invoked. The auto-transition phase still
runs and reports its counts normally.
:::
### Rename map in the summary
If a run consolidated multiple skills under an umbrella (or merged near-duplicates), the user-visible summary printed at the end of the run includes an explicit rename map showing every `old-name → new-name` pair the curator applied. This is in addition to per-skill transition lines, so when a wave of renames lands you can spot them at a glance without diffing the JSON report. The hint also surfaces under `hermes curator pin` so you can pin the umbrella name immediately if you want to lock the new label in.