feat: add boot-md example hook — run BOOT.md on gateway startup by teknium1 · Pull Request #3733 · NousResearch/hermes-agent

teknium1 · 2026-03-29T15:31:21Z

Summary

New example hook that runs a ~/.hermes/BOOT.md checklist on every gateway startup. Inspired by OpenClaw's boot.md feature, implemented as a copyable example hook rather than built-in behavior.

Install:

cp -r gateway/example-hooks/boot-md ~/.hermes/hooks/boot-md

Create ~/.hermes/BOOT.md:

# Startup Checklist
1. Check if any cron jobs failed overnight
2. Send a message to Discord #general saying 'Gateway restarted'
3. Check /opt/app/deploy.log for errors

The agent runs in a background thread so it doesn't block gateway startup. If nothing needs attention, it replies with [SILENT] to suppress delivery.

Files

File	Description
`gateway/example-hooks/boot-md/HOOK.yaml`	Hook manifest
`gateway/example-hooks/boot-md/handler.py`	Handler with boot prompt, background thread, error handling
`gateway/example-hooks/README.md`	Index of available example hooks
`website/docs/user-guide/features/hooks.md`	Boot-md added as first example with install instructions

Tests

Handler loads correctly, skips missing/empty BOOT.md, runs without error on valid content, prompt includes [SILENT] instruction.

The gateway now ships with a built-in boot-md hook that checks for ~/.hermes/BOOT.md on every startup. If the file exists, the agent executes its instructions in a background thread. No installation or configuration needed — just create the file. No BOOT.md = zero overhead (the hook silently returns). Implementation: - gateway/builtin_hooks/boot_md.py: handler with boot prompt, background thread, [SILENT] suppression, error handling - gateway/hooks.py: _register_builtin_hooks() called at the start of discover_and_load() to wire in built-in hooks - Docs updated: hooks page documents BOOT.md as a built-in feature

…earch#3733) The gateway now ships with a built-in boot-md hook that checks for ~/.hermes/BOOT.md on every startup. If the file exists, the agent executes its instructions in a background thread. No installation or configuration needed — just create the file. No BOOT.md = zero overhead (the hook silently returns). Implementation: - gateway/builtin_hooks/boot_md.py: handler with boot prompt, background thread, [SILENT] suppression, error handling - gateway/hooks.py: _register_builtin_hooks() called at the start of discover_and_load() to wire in built-in hooks - Docs updated: hooks page documents BOOT.md as a built-in feature

BOOT.md was merged in PR #3733 before the feature was ready — the built-in hook spawned a bare AIAgent() with no model/runtime kwargs, which immediately 401s on any provider with a custom endpoint. Three separate community PRs (#5240, #12514, #14992) tried to paper over it. Remove the BOOT.md hook entirely and its user-facing docs/tips. Keep the gateway/builtin_hooks/ package and the HookRegistry._register_builtin_hooks() hook-point intact as the extension surface for future always-on gateway hooks. Closes #5239. Co-authored-by: teknium1 <teknium@users.noreply.github.com>

BOOT.md was merged in PR NousResearch#3733 before the feature was ready — the built-in hook spawned a bare AIAgent() with no model/runtime kwargs, which immediately 401s on any provider with a custom endpoint. Three separate community PRs (NousResearch#5240, NousResearch#12514, NousResearch#14992) tried to paper over it. Remove the BOOT.md hook entirely and its user-facing docs/tips. Keep the gateway/builtin_hooks/ package and the HookRegistry._register_builtin_hooks() hook-point intact as the extension surface for future always-on gateway hooks. Closes NousResearch#5239. Co-authored-by: teknium1 <teknium@users.noreply.github.com>