Opt Out of Bundled Hermes Skills Safely

A minimal profile may not need the full bundled skill set. New installs can start with installer --no-skills, and named profiles can use hermes profile create <name> --no-skills. Existing profiles can opt out without destroying their current library.

Understand the marker and removal rule

hermes skills opt-out writes .no-bundled-skills, preventing future installer, update, and sync operations from seeding bundled skills into that profile. The default action is non-destructive.

With --remove, Hermes deletes only bundled skills that remain byte-identical to its bundled copies. User-edited bundled skills, hub-installed skills, and handwritten skills are preserved. hermes skills opt-in --sync removes the marker and immediately reseeds current bundled skills.

Change checklist

• Confirm the active profile before changing skill state.
• Inventory user-authored and hub-installed skills.
• Start with non-destructive opt-out.
• Review the removal preview or confirmation carefully.
• Avoid --yes in copied public instructions.
• Test one task that depends on the remaining skill set.

Common pitfalls

• Assuming opt-out deletes existing skills. It primarily stops future seeding.
• Manually deleting the whole skills directory. That can erase user work.
• Treating modified bundled skills as disposable. The byte-identity check protects them during managed removal.
• Changing the wrong profile. Skill footprints are profile-specific.

Verification

List skills before and after opt-out, confirm .no-bundled-skills exists in the intended profile, and run a normal update or sync check without exposing file contents. If testing opt-in, use --sync and verify only expected bundled skills return.

Official reference: Hermes skills.