211 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
211 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
---
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sidebar_label: "Catalog submission"
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title: "Submitting to the Plugin Catalog"
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description: "The full admission guidelines for the Hermes plugin catalog: what to check before you submit, the rules every entry follows, and what reviewers look at"
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---
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# Submitting to the Plugin Catalog
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The [plugin catalog](../../user-guide/features/plugin-catalog.md) is a human-reviewed
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directory of Hermes plugins. Being listed is the trust signal: users install a
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catalog plugin by name, at the exact commit a maintainer read. This page holds
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the complete guidelines for getting a plugin in and keeping it there.
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The canonical copy of the admission rules is
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[`plugin-catalog/README.md`](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/plugin-catalog/README.md)
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in the repository. The [rules section](#admission-rules) below mirrors it word
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for word, and a test fails the build if the two drift apart.
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## Before you submit
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- **A public repository.** The `repo` URL is an `https://` URL anyone can clone
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(GitHub or GitLab).
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- **A loadable plugin at the commit you pin.** The tree has a `plugin.yaml`
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manifest plus at least one entrypoint Hermes loads: `__init__.py` (Python),
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`desktop/plugin.js` (Desktop), `plugin.json` (portable Agent Plugin) or
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`dashboard/manifest.json` (web dashboard). If the plugin lives in a monorepo,
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point `subdir` at its directory. The
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[plugin developer guide](./index.md) covers the layout.
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- **Public surfaces only.** Extend Hermes through hooks, middleware, the
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`ctx.register_*` APIs, provider plugins and the
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[Desktop plugin SDK](../desktop-plugin-sdk.md). Never patch Hermes
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code or Desktop markup at runtime. If the hook you need is missing, see
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[Asking for a hook](#asking-for-a-hook).
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- **Validation passes locally.** Run the same check catalog CI runs, against a
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checkout at the commit you are about to pin:
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```bash
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hermes plugins validate /path/to/your-plugin --install-deps
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```
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It checks the manifest and `requires_hermes`, that the plugin loads, that the
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`capabilities` you declare match what it registers, `config_schema` and
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`requires_env`, Python dependencies against Hermes's core constraints, the
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install security scan, and the `desktop surface` and `no core override`
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rules. Fix every failure before opening the PR, and read the warnings, since
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a reviewer will.
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## Opening the PR
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1. Add **one** file, `plugin-catalog/<name>.yaml`, to
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[`NousResearch/hermes-agent`](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent).
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The fields are documented in the README's
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[entry schema](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/plugin-catalog/README.md#entry-schema)
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and in [What's in an entry](../../user-guide/features/plugin-catalog.md#whats-in-an-entry).
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Pin `sha` to a full 40-character commit, and quote `version`.
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2. In the PR description, say what the plugin does, which Hermes surfaces it
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uses, and everything rule 13 asks you to disclose. Add screenshots for
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anything with a UI.
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3. Wait for the catalog CI job to go green. It clones your repo at the pinned
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commit and runs `hermes plugins validate`.
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4. A maintainer reviews the pinned tree and merges, asks for changes, or
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declines. Rule 3 and rule 9 problems are declines rather than bug-fix
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requests: the plugin has to change its design before it can be listed.
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Your plugin's page at `/docs/plugins/<name>` is built from the same file. The
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README at the pinned commit renders there by default, and `screenshots:` fills
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the gallery. There is no separate listing to maintain.
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## Admission rules
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<!-- admission-rules:start (mirrored in website/docs/developer-guide/plugins/catalog-submission.md; tests/website/test_catalog_rules_mirror.py keeps them identical) -->
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1. **Human-merged gate.** Entries are added *only* via a PR to the
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`hermes-agent` repository, reviewed and merged by a maintainer. There is
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no self-serve registry, no automated ingestion.
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2. **Exact SHA pins are mandatory.** Every entry pins a full 40-character
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commit SHA. Branches, tags, and short SHAs are rejected by the loader.
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Installs clone the repository and check out exactly that commit.
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3. **No self-updating code.** A listed plugin must not fetch and replace
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its own files (in-app "check for updates", signed release downloaders,
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remote `plugin.js` loaders). The exact SHA pin *is* the trust model; a
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self-updater lets an installed copy move to a commit nobody reviewed.
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Updates reach users only through a SHA-bump PR here plus
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`hermes plugins update <name>`. Keep the updater in the standalone
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distribution if you want one; strip it from the catalog build.
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4. **SHA bumps are new PRs.** Updating an entry's pin is a new PR whose diff
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(old SHA → new SHA) is re-reviewed like any other change — reviewers are
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expected to look at the upstream commit range being adopted.
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5. **Owner-or-major-contributor submissions, or a maintainer-curated sweep.**
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An entry may be submitted by the plugin repository's owner or a major
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contributor to it; drive-by submissions of third-party repos are declined.
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Hermes maintainers may also add entries in batches from a reviewed sweep
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of community plugins (every pin validated and scanned at the pinned
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commit, self-updater and credential-store checks run, English-first UI).
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Authors of swept-in entries keep control: a PR from the owner adjusting
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or removing their entry is accepted on request, and SHA bumps stay
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owner-or-maintainer PRs under rule 4.
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6. **Declared capabilities must match reality.** The `capabilities:` block
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(tools, hooks, middleware, env vars) must match what the plugin actually
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registers at the pinned commit. Validation fails the entry otherwise —
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undeclared capability creep is treated as a security issue.
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7. **The install scanner runs at admission.** `hermes plugins validate` includes
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the `security scan` check: `dangerous` fails the entry; `caution` findings
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appear as warnings in the CI log and the reviewer reads them before merging.
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In exchange, installs at the pinned SHA accept `caution` without a prompt
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(`dangerous` still blocks). Review the warnings; do not merge past them.
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8. **Desktop plugins stay inside the SDK surface.** A `desktop/plugin.js` runs
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in the Desktop renderer with the app's full authority (the loader isolates
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errors, not capabilities), so a listed one may only use the plugin SDK:
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no prototype patching (`X.prototype.y =`, `Object.defineProperty(...prototype`),
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no `eval`/`new Function`, no `import()` of anything but `@hermes/plugin-sdk`
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/ `react` (app bundle chunks, blob or http URLs included), no script-tag
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injection, no reaching into the app's internal stores or its own markup
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(querying `data-slot` / `data-tour` / `data-sidebar` / `data-testid`
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elements from `document`, or a `document.body` MutationObserver, to restyle,
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hide, click or rewrite core UI). `hermes plugins validate` refuses these at
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admission (`desktop surface` check); a plugin that needs a capability the
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SDK lacks asks for an SDK hook instead of patching around it.
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9. **No runtime overrides of Hermes core.** A listed plugin extends Hermes only
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through public surfaces: hooks, middleware, provider profiles and the
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other `register_*` APIs, and Desktop SDK slots and routes. It must not
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replace, wrap or rebind core functions, methods, module attributes or
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private dicts in place (`AIAgent.<method> = ...`, `setattr(server, ...)`,
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`sys.modules[...]`, writes into a core module's tables). Two plugins
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patching the same seam silently break each other, and every core release
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can break both. `hermes plugins validate` refuses these at admission (`no
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core override` check). If the hook you need does not exist, open an issue
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describing it: we would rather add the seam than list a patch.
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10. **Dependency security policy is the plugin's.** Hermes's 14-day
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`exclude-newer` quarantine covers Hermes's own dependencies only; a plugin's
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`python_dependencies` / `pyproject.toml` install under the plugin's policy
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(no quarantine, still inside Hermes's core constraints). Reviewers read the
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dependency list at the pinned SHA: bare floors (`>=X` with no upper bound)
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and floors on the newest release get a request for the oldest
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API-compatible floor plus an upper bound, and authors are strongly
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recommended to run their own release quarantine (`uv --exclude-newer` in
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their CI) — see the developer guide's *Dependency security policy*. A
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recent floor alone is not grounds to hold an entry.
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11. **Credentials stay with their owner.** A plugin reads the credentials it is
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configured with: the env vars in `requires_env` and its own `config_schema`
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secrets. Reading another tool's login (a vendor CLI's token file, a browser
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profile) must be disclosed in the PR and is a trust-tier call for a
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maintainer. Refreshing, rotating or writing another client's OAuth tokens, or
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presenting itself as another vendor's client, is not admitted without an
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explicit maintainer ruling; a read-only build is the usual way through.
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12. **Approvals and unattended runs are respected.** A plugin never routes around
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Hermes's approval system: no auto-approving, no disabling guards, and no
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spawning Hermes or shell children that inherit YOLO or non-interactive mode
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to run commands nobody approved. Anything that waits for a person (a prompt,
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an OAuth browser flow) fails cleanly or times out under cron, the messaging
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gateway and other unattended runs instead of hanging the agent.
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13. **Risky behaviour is disclosed.** What a user would want to know before
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installing goes in the PR description and the plugin's README: network calls
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to third-party services, reads outside the plugin's own data, shell commands,
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long-running background processes, stored credentials. Telemetry and usage
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reporting are opt-in. Reviewers summarise these as disclosure lines on the
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entry PR; undisclosed behaviour found in review is a request for changes.
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14. **Compatibility metadata is truthful.** `requires_hermes` is a SemVer floor
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(`">=0.21.5"`), never a CalVer date, and never newer than the current release
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(the loader skips the plugin otherwise). `version` matches the pinned code,
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and Python dependencies resolve under Hermes's core constraints
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(`hermes plugins validate --install-deps` is what CI runs).
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15. **No skins or forks of bundled plugins.** A change to a bundled plugin is a
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PR against `hermes-agent`, not a competing listing, and vendor-lookalike skins
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are not listed under Nous branding.
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16. **One listing per plugin lineage.** A fork of a listed community plugin is
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listed only when it is materially different from the original: a different
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transport or architecture, or capability the original lacks and its author
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declined or has not answered a PR for 30 days. Improvements to a listed plugin
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go upstream as a PR to its author. A fork that renames, rebrands or adds small
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changes is declined in favour of the original. A listed fork names its origin
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in its disclosure line (`Derived from <entry>`).
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<!-- admission-rules:end -->
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## Updating your entry
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Pin updates (bumping `sha` to a newer commit) go through the same PR and review
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process. A reviewer reads the commit range you are adopting. Bump `version` in
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the same PR so the label users see matches the code, and re-pin any `image` /
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`screenshots` URLs that embed the old sha.
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Installed plugins compare their recorded sha against the live pin:
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`hermes plugins list --json` reports `update_available`, the Desktop Plugins tab
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shows an **Update to 1.4.0** button, and `hermes plugins update <name>` checks
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out exactly the new pin.
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If a maintainer swept your plugin into the catalog and you want the entry
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changed or removed, open a PR on its file. Owners keep control of their entries.
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## Delisting and removal
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- **Delisting** deletes an entry's file: for plugins that are unmaintained,
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superseded, squatting a name, or no longer meet a rule. Users who already
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installed the plugin keep it, and it is welcome back once the problem is
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fixed. When a new rule affects plugins that are already listed, their
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authors get an issue on their repository explaining the change and time to
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update before anything is removed.
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- **Removal** adds the plugin to
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[`removed.yaml`](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/plugin-catalog/README.md#removedyaml--the-blocklist),
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which is reserved for security and policy incidents. Installers refuse
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anything on that list, and installed copies stop updating and cannot be
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enabled.
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## Asking for a hook
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If your plugin needs something the plugin surface doesn't offer, open an issue
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on [hermes-agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues)
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describing what you need and why. We would much rather add a proper seam than
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list a patch, and a plugin that will use the hook is exactly the concrete
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consumer a new hook needs.
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