Recency Anchor: plugin for Hermes Agent

Hermes Agent plugin that appends your own short text to every user turn so the model reads it last

What Recency Anchor does

Recency Anchor targets instruction drift, where a system prompt sits at message zero and gets outweighed by whatever the user just typed. The plugin restates your instruction at the end of the user turn, which is the last thing the model reads before replying. Out of the box it has no text to add, so you set one under plugins.entries.recency-anchor.text in the Hermes config. Edits take effect on the next message without a restart.

Technically it is a single pre_llm_call hook returning a context block. The block rides the API copy of the user message, so the system prefix stays byte-identical for caching and the stored transcript never contains it. It fires once per user turn, not once per agent step. A channels allow-list and an exclude_channels deny-list control where it applies, and deny wins. The /anchor command reports the resolved channel and which rule decided. The README says it cannot fix a model that refuses.

Key features

Appends your text to the API copy of each user turn
Cached system prefix and stored transcript stay unchanged
Text changes apply on the next message with no restart
channels allow-list and exclude_channels deny-list, with deny taking priority
/anchor slash command that reports the channel and the deciding rule
Fires once per user turn, so multi-step agent turns pay once

When to use it

Keeping a persona or style rule active after switching to a model that drifts
Restating a short formatting instruction at the end of every message
Excluding the CLI channel when another entrypoint already injects its own block

Who it is for: Hermes Agent users whose models gradually ignore system-prompt instructions and who want a short reminder placed after the user's message.

How it fits with Hermes Agent

A Hermes Agent plugin installed with hermes plugins install and enabled in the config. The README says it was tested against Hermes Agent v0.20.0.

How to install Recency Anchor

These commands are copied from the project's README. Check the repository for the latest steps before you run them.

hermes plugins install etkecc/hermes-recency-anchor --enable
hermes plugins update recency-anchor

FAQ

What is Recency Anchor?

Recency Anchor is a Hermes Agent plugin that adds your own short text to every user turn. Because the text comes last, the model weights it more than an instruction buried in the system prompt.

Does Recency Anchor work with Hermes Agent?

Yes, it is a Hermes plugin built on the pre_llm_call hook. The README states it was tested against Hermes Agent v0.20.0 on 2026-08-04.

How do I install Recency Anchor?

Run hermes plugins install etkecc/hermes-recency-anchor --enable, then add the text you want repeated under plugins.entries.recency-anchor in your Hermes config. Update later with hermes plugins update recency-anchor.