diff --git a/agent/prompt_builder.py b/agent/prompt_builder.py
index 49a63d6881..82c6300f73 100644
--- a/agent/prompt_builder.py
+++ b/agent/prompt_builder.py
@@ -877,9 +877,11 @@ _WINDOWS_BASH_SHELL_HINT = (
     "MSYS-style paths like `/c/Users/<user>/...` work alongside native `C:\\Users\\<user>\\...` paths. PowerShell "
     "builtins (`Get-ChildItem`, `$env:FOO`, `Select-String`) will NOT work — use their POSIX equivalents (`ls`, "
     "`$FOO`, `grep`). Path arguments for NATIVE Windows programs (git, rg, node, python, ...) are NOT translated: MSYS "
+    # no-tmp: ok — illustrates the MSYS path that FAILS for native Windows tools
     "path conversion is disabled here, so `git -C /c/Users/x` or `node /tmp/a.js` fails with 'cannot change to'/'not "
     "found' even though `cd /c/Users/x` (a bash builtin) works. Pass `C:/Users/x`-style forward-slash native paths to "
-    "native tools, and prefer `$LOCALAPPDATA/Temp` over `/tmp` for scratch files a native tool must read. When "
+    # no-tmp: ok — tells the model what NOT to use
+    "native tools, and prefer `$LOCALAPPDATA/Temp` (or `$TMPDIR`, which Hermes points at its own scratch dir) for scratch files a native tool must read — never a bare `/tmp`. When "
     "answering prompts in a pty background process, use process(submit) — never process(write) with a bare trailing "
     "newline: Enter on a Windows PTY is a carriage return, and a lone `\\n"
     "` is not delivered as a line terminator, so the child's prompt silently never returns. When a CLI offers a "
diff --git a/tools/kanban_tools_schemas.py b/tools/kanban_tools_schemas.py
index 7642b6d58a..f4134e92c6 100644
--- a/tools/kanban_tools_schemas.py
+++ b/tools/kanban_tools_schemas.py
@@ -146,8 +146,8 @@ KANBAN_COMPLETE_SCHEMA = _schema(
                 "Optional list of absolute paths to deliverable "
                 "files you produced during this run — generated "
                 "charts, PDFs, spreadsheets, images, archives. "
-                "Examples: [\"/tmp/q3-revenue.png\", "
-                "\"/tmp/report.pdf\"]. The gateway notifier "
+                "Examples: [\"~/.hermes/cache/scratch/q3-revenue.png\", "
+                "\"~/.hermes/cache/scratch/report.pdf\"]. The gateway notifier "
                 "uploads each path as a native attachment to the "
                 "subscribed chat (images embed inline, everything "
                 "else uploads as a file) so the deliverable "
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ KANBAN_REQUEST_REVIEW_SCHEMA = _schema(
                 "Optional list of absolute paths to deliverable "
                 "files this handoff names — generated charts, "
                 "PDFs, spreadsheets, images, archives. Examples: "
-                "['/tmp/q3-revenue.png', '/tmp/report.pdf']. "
+                "['~/.hermes/cache/scratch/q3-revenue.png', '~/.hermes/cache/scratch/report.pdf']. "
                 "A review handoff is the last implementer "
                 "transition, so the kernel copies these into the "
                 "task's durable attachments before the reviewer's "
diff --git a/tools/read_extract.py b/tools/read_extract.py
index 808749a41c..ccda054761 100644
--- a/tools/read_extract.py
+++ b/tools/read_extract.py
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ def _needs_ocr_warning(path: str, pages, hosted_error: str = "") -> str:
         f"[NEEDS OCR: pages {page_list} of this PDF are scanned images "
         f"with no text layer — their content is MISSING below. {hosted}"
         "If the missing pages matter: render just those pages with "
-        f"`pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f <first> -l <last> {shlex.quote(path)} /tmp/page` "
+        f"`pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f <first> -l <last> {shlex.quote(path)} $TMPDIR/page` "
         "and inspect via vision_analyze, or check whether an OCR skill is "
         "available (skills_list).]\n")
 
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ def _pdf_coverage_note(path: str, display_path: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
         f"{_gap_map(counts, texts, empty)}\n"
         "Decide which gaps you actually need — do NOT OCR or render "
         "everything. For the gaps that matter, render just that range with "
-        f"`pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f <first> -l <last> {shlex.quote(shown)} /tmp/page` "
+        f"`pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f <first> -l <last> {shlex.quote(shown)} $TMPDIR/page` "
         "and inspect each image with the vision_analyze tool, or use the "
         "ocr-and-documents skill (marker-pdf) for bulk OCR of large "
         "ranges.]\n")
diff --git a/tools/send_message_tool.py b/tools/send_message_tool.py
index 70fd88e558..ebc3cbf813 100644
--- a/tools/send_message_tool.py
+++ b/tools/send_message_tool.py
@@ -766,7 +766,7 @@ SEND_MESSAGE_SCHEMA = {
             },
             "message": {
                 "type": "string",
-                "description": "The message text to send. To send an image or file, include MEDIA:<local_path> (e.g. 'MEDIA:/tmp/report.pdf') in the message — the platform will deliver it as a native media attachment."
+                "description": "The message text to send. To send an image or file, include MEDIA:<local_path> (e.g. 'MEDIA:~/.hermes/cache/scratch/report.pdf') in the message — the platform will deliver it as a native media attachment."
             },
             "emoji": {
                 "type": "string",
diff --git a/tools/terminal_tool_background.py b/tools/terminal_tool_background.py
index eb70a1fc6c..63ebd8f2b4 100644
--- a/tools/terminal_tool_background.py
+++ b/tools/terminal_tool_background.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ _HOMEBREW_CI_POLLER_HINT = (
     '"$2==\\"pending\\""`) for sharded matrices. Load '
     "skill_view(name='github/hermes-agent-dev', file_path='references/green-ci-policy.md') for "
     'the verbatim snippets. If you must roll a custom loop with rich structured output, write '
-    "each tick to a known file (`tee -a /tmp/ci.log`) and rely on `process(action='log')` to "
+    "each tick to a known file (`tee -a $TMPDIR/ci.log`) and rely on `process(action='log')` to "
     'read THAT file — do not rely on background-process stdout capture for line-buffered shell '
     'loops.'
 )