# Hermes Ephemeral Delegation

Trigger: a mapping need, parallel units, context backstop, high-risk verify, fresh...

- Repository: https://github.com/Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai (8170 stars)
- Category: Testing
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai --skill hermes-ephemeral-delegation -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai --skill hermes-ephemeral-delegation -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai --skill hermes-ephemeral-delegation -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai --skill hermes-ephemeral-delegation -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Trigger: a mapping need, parallel units, context backstop, high-risk verify, fresh review, or multi-step debug. Delegate via delegate_task for a named reason.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

## Activation Contract

Load this skill when you are acting as the parent orchestrator and the work ahead has a named reason to delegate:

- A map you need to decide or route that exceeds the inline evidence budget (codebase mapping, approach comparison); never to read files you will read anyway before writing inline
- A writer reason: 2+ independent units of behavior (code, tests, and docs together; each several minutes of work) launched together, or the context backstop; a large task alone is tracked, not delegated
- A high-risk change that needs an independent verifier, or a large task's long suites and builds
- Fresh adversarial review (diffs, PR readiness, incident audit); never restart it automatically for a candidate whose terminal `approved` authority was already burned and that is unchanged since, unless a new independent review is deliberately requested
- Multi-step debugging that would flood the parent context

Do NOT load this skill if you are already inside a delegated child task, you are the executor, not the orchestrator.

## Hard Rules

- Use `delegate_task` only for a named reason listed above. Without one, work inline following your logbook; file count, size, or a large task alone is never a reason.
- Workers are EPHEMERAL: each `delegate_task` call creates a fresh context. Do NOT request persistent agent files or profiles.
- Pass a self-contained mission. Workers have no memory of the parent conversation.
- Treat worker output as self-report: verify file writes, test pass/fail, URLs, and IDs before reporting success to the user.
- Batch parallel calls only for INDEPENDENT workstreams. Sequential dependencies must run sequentially.

## Decision Gates

The rest: https://github.com/Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai/blob/HEAD/internal/assets/skills/hermes-ephemeral-delegation/SKILL.md