From efe73ed333b4eb3a3f0f50975eee0c12360164cc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "claude-bot-maiixu[bot]"
 <275422726+claude-bot-maiixu[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:02:23 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] feat(skills): add skills.create_dir config to separate
 creation from sync

By default both skills_sync (upstream bundled) and skill_manager (agent-
created) write to the same ~/.hermes/skills/. This makes it impossible
to keep upstream bundled skills and agent/user-created skills in separate
directories without inspecting .bundled_manifest.

Add skills.create_dir config key (default: empty = ~/.hermes/skills/).
When set, new skills created via skill_manage() go there instead.

This lets users configure:
  skills:
    create_dir: ~/personal-intelligence/hermes/skills    # agent-created here
    external_dirs:
      - ~/personal-intelligence/hermes/bundled-skills    # upstream bundled here

Also update get_all_skills_dirs() to include create_dir in the read path
so created skills are discoverable alongside bundled and external ones.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 agent/skill_utils.py        | 19 +++++++++++++++++--
 hermes_cli/config.py        |  3 ++-
 tools/skill_manager_tool.py | 23 +++++++++++++++++++++--
 3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/agent/skill_utils.py b/agent/skill_utils.py
index 97ba92b735a8..bb5c46957e87 100644
--- a/agent/skill_utils.py
+++ b/agent/skill_utils.py
@@ -228,9 +228,24 @@ def get_all_skills_dirs() -> List[Path]:
     """Return all skill directories: local ``~/.hermes/skills/`` first, then external.
 
     The local dir is always first (and always included even if it doesn't exist
-    yet — callers handle that).  External dirs follow in config order.
+    yet — callers handle that).  If ``skills.create_dir`` is configured and
+    differs from the default, it is inserted second so created skills are found.
+    External dirs follow in config order.
     """
-    dirs = [get_skills_dir()]
+    default = get_skills_dir()
+    dirs: List[Path] = [default]
+
+    # Include create_dir in the read path if it differs from the default
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.config import load_config
+        raw = load_config().get("skills", {}).get("create_dir", "")
+        if raw:
+            create_dir = Path(raw).expanduser().resolve()
+            if create_dir != default.resolve() and create_dir not in dirs:
+                dirs.insert(1, create_dir)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
     dirs.extend(get_external_skills_dirs())
     return dirs
 
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index f4064ad5e741..5548e5c9fbd3 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -560,9 +560,10 @@ def _ensure_hermes_home_managed(home: Path):
     
     # Skills — external skill directories for sharing skills across tools/agents.
     # Each path is expanded (~, ${VAR}) and resolved.  Read-only — skill creation
-    # always goes to ~/.hermes/skills/.
+    # goes to ``skills.create_dir`` (default: ``~/.hermes/skills/``).
     "skills": {
         "external_dirs": [],   # e.g. ["~/.agents/skills", "/shared/team-skills"]
+        "create_dir": "",      # where new skills are written; empty = ~/.hermes/skills/
     },
 
     # Honcho AI-native memory -- reads ~/.honcho/config.json as single source of truth.
diff --git a/tools/skill_manager_tool.py b/tools/skill_manager_tool.py
index 2b2625fa0d4c..25a547e1bc4a 100644
--- a/tools/skill_manager_tool.py
+++ b/tools/skill_manager_tool.py
@@ -76,9 +76,28 @@ def _security_scan_skill(skill_dir: Path) -> Optional[str]:
 import yaml
 
 
-# All skills live in ~/.hermes/skills/ (single source of truth)
+# Default write location for new skills.  Override via skills.create_dir in config.yaml.
 HERMES_HOME = get_hermes_home()
-SKILLS_DIR = HERMES_HOME / "skills"
+_DEFAULT_SKILLS_DIR = HERMES_HOME / "skills"
+
+
+def _get_skills_create_dir() -> Path:
+    """Return the directory where new skills are written.
+
+    Reads ``skills.create_dir`` from config.yaml.  Falls back to the default
+    ``~/.hermes/skills/`` when unset, so existing setups are unaffected.
+    """
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.config import load_config
+        raw = load_config().get("skills", {}).get("create_dir", "")
+        if raw:
+            return Path(raw).expanduser().resolve()
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+    return _DEFAULT_SKILLS_DIR
+
+
+SKILLS_DIR = _get_skills_create_dir()
 
 MAX_NAME_LENGTH = 64
 MAX_DESCRIPTION_LENGTH = 1024