hermes backup Command — Complete Reference & Examples

Overview

hermes backup creates a zip archive of your entire Hermes configuration, skills, sessions, and data. The backup excludes the hermes-agent codebase. Use --quick for a fast snapshot of only critical state files.

hermes backup [-h] [-o OUTPUT] [-q] [-l LABEL]

Options

Option	Description
`-o OUTPUT`, `--output OUTPUT`	Output path for the zip file (default: `~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zip`).
`-q`, `--quick`	Quick snapshot: only critical state files (config, state.db, .env, auth, cron).
`-l LABEL`, `--label LABEL`	Label for the snapshot (only used with `--quick`).

Common Scenarios

Default full backup

hermes backup

Save to a custom path

hermes backup --output ~/backups/hermes-2026-07-27.zip

Quick critical snapshot

hermes backup --quick

Quick snapshot with a label

hermes backup --quick --label before-experiment

Daily scheduled backup

hermes backup --output ~/backups/hermes-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).zip

Tips

Run a full backup before major changes or migrations.
Use --quick when you only need to preserve critical state and want a smaller, faster archive.
Store backups outside ~/.hermes so they are not included in the next backup.
Restore any backup with hermes import <path-to-zip>.
The --label option is only meaningful when combined with --quick.