Import from Other Agents

hermes import-agent imports your existing Claude Code or OpenAI Codex CLI setup into Hermes with one command. It follows the same preview-first pattern as hermes claw migrate: you always see a per-item plan before anything is written, and --dry-run never touches disk.

hermes import-agent                    # auto-detect ~/.claude or ~/.codex
hermes import-agent claude-code        # import from ~/.claude
hermes import-agent codex              # import from ~/.codex
hermes import-agent claude-code --dry-run          # preview only
hermes import-agent codex --source /path/to/.codex # custom location
hermes import-agent claude-code --overwrite --yes  # replace conflicts, skip prompts

What gets imported

Claude Code (~/.claude)

Claude Code	Hermes
CLAUDE.md (global instructions)	Memory entries in ~/.hermes/memories/MEMORY.md
settings.json → permissions.allow (Bash(...) rules)	command_allowlist in config.yaml
settings.json → permissions.deny (Bash(...) rules)	approvals.deny in config.yaml
mcpServers (from ~/.claude.json and settings.json)	mcp_servers in config.yaml
skills/<name>/ (dirs with SKILL.md)	~/.hermes/skills/claude-code-imports/<name>/
commands/*.md (slash commands)	Skipped with a note — convert them into skills

Claude's Bash(npm run test:*) prefix rules become npm run test* globs. Non-Bash permission rules (Read(...), WebFetch, ...) gate Claude-specific tools and are reported as unmapped rather than imported.

Codex CLI (~/.codex)

Codex CLI	Hermes
AGENTS.md (global instructions)	Memory entries in ~/.hermes/memories/MEMORY.md
config.toml → [mcp_servers.*]	mcp_servers in config.yaml
memories/*.md	Memory entries in ~/.hermes/memories/MEMORY.md
skills/<name>/ (dirs with SKILL.md)	~/.hermes/skills/codex-imports/<name>/

What is never imported

API keys and credentials. Credential files (~/.claude/.credentials.json, ~/.codex/auth.json) are never read, and MCP server environment variables or headers with secret-looking names (*_TOKEN, *_API_KEY, Authorization, ...) are stripped and listed in the report so you can re-add them deliberately. Run hermes setup to configure providers, or add secrets to ~/.hermes/.env.

Behavior notes

• Preview first, always. The command prints the full plan before applying; in non-interactive sessions it stops at the preview unless you pass --yes.
• Merges, not replaces. Memory entries are deduplicated against your existing MEMORY.md; allowlist/denylist patterns merge with what's already in config.yaml.
• Conflicts are skipped by default. An MCP server or skill that already exists in Hermes is reported as a conflict; pass --overwrite to replace it.
• Malformed files don't abort the run. A broken settings.json or config.toml becomes a per-item error in the report while everything else still imports.
• Coming from OpenClaw instead? Use hermes claw migrate.

Keeping imports in sync

Every successful import registers its source (and the digest of everything it read) in ~/.hermes/import-sync.json. When the other agent's setup changes later — new skills, edited CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md, added MCP servers — pull the changes in with:

hermes import-agent --sync            # re-import every changed source
hermes import-agent --sync --dry-run  # preview what a sync would do

Sync is prompt-free and cheap: sources whose files are unchanged are skipped by digest comparison, so it is safe to run on a schedule (e.g. a daily cron job). Rules:

• Memory and config merges stay deduplicating — a sync never duplicates entries or patterns you already have.
• Skills previously imported by import-agent are refreshed in place when the source copy changes.
• Skills you created or modified under the import category yourself are never clobbered — they keep normal conflict semantics (use --overwrite on a manual run to force).
• Credential files never trigger a sync — token refreshes in ~/.claude/.credentials.json or ~/.codex/auth.json are ignored by the digest, and secrets are still stripped from anything imported.

This mirrors ChatGPT Work's Settings > Import automatic updates, adapted to an explicit, inspectable command instead of a background service.

The manifest is per profile. A profile created with hermes profile create <name> --clone --sync-imports carries it over, so hermes -p <name> import-agent --sync keeps pulling from the same external trees (see Profiles).