hermes send Command — Complete Reference & Examples

Overview

hermes send pipes text from any shell script to any messaging platform Hermes is already configured for. It reuses the gateway’s platform credentials (~/.hermes/.env plus ~/.hermes/config.yaml). No LLM, no agent loop, and no running gateway is required for bot-token platforms such as Telegram, Discord, Slack, or Signal.

hermes send [-t TARGET] [-f PATH] [-s LINE] [-l] [-q] [--json] [message]

Options

Option	Description
`message`	Message text. If omitted, read from `--file` or stdin.
`-t TARGET`, `--to TARGET`	Delivery target. Format: `platform`, `platform:chat_id`, `platform:chat_id:thread_id`, or `platform:#channel-name`.
`-f PATH`, `--file PATH`	Read message body from `PATH`. Use `-` for stdin.
`-s LINE`, `--subject LINE`	Prepend a subject/header line before the message body.
`-l`, `--list`	List available targets. Optional filter: `hermes send --list telegram`.
`-q`, `--quiet`	Suppress stdout on success (exit code only).
`--json`	Emit raw JSON result instead of human-readable output.

Examples

# Send a simple message
hermes send --to telegram "deploy finished"

# Pipe from another command
echo "RAM 92%" | hermes send --to telegram:-1001234567890

# Send a file as the message body
hermes send --to discord:#ops --file /tmp/report.md

# Prepend a subject line
hermes send --to slack:#eng --subject "[CI]" --file build.log

# Send a media attachment
hermes send --to telegram "MEDIA:/tmp/chart.png"

Common Scenarios

CI/CD notification

hermes send --to telegram "Build passed on $(date)"

Cron job alert

echo "Nightly backup completed" | hermes send --to discord:#ops

Listing targets

hermes send --list
hermes send --list telegram

Exit codes

0 — delivery succeeded
1 — delivery or backend error
2 — usage error

Tips

Use MEDIA:/path/to/file in the message text to attach an image or document.
Recipient format varies by platform; use --list to see available targets.
Use --quiet in scripts to avoid polluting stdout.
Use --json when chaining hermes send with other automation tools.