> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nika.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Nika × Hermes

> Hermes orchestrates. Nika captures the repeatable work as a checkable file and runs it with receipts — budget-capped, trace-verified.

[Hermes](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) is the always-on
orchestrator whose community pattern is delegation: Hermes plans and
coordinates, then hands work to specialist CLIs. Nika slots into exactly
that pattern as **the deterministic workflow worker** — not another coding
agent (that's OpenCode's seat), but the runner for work that should be
*repeatable, budgeted and auditable*.

> **Hermes orchestrates · Nika runs the plan with receipts.**

## Install the skill (day 1 — no catalog wait)

The Nika delegation skill lives in the public marketplace repo and installs
three ways:

```sh theme={"system"}
# as a tap (Hermes scans skills/ by default)
hermes skills tap add supernovae-st/nika-agents
hermes skills install nika

# or single-file from the raw URL
hermes skills install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/supernovae-st/nika-agents/main/skills/autonomous-ai-agents/nika/SKILL.md

# or via the skills.sh CLI
npx skills add supernovae-st/nika-agents
```

New skills take effect next session (or `--now`). The skill teaches the
delegation idiom end-to-end: scaffold via `terminal()`, the
check-before-run law, budget caps on paid models, background+poll for long
runs, and the receipts loop (`nika trace show` · `nika trace verify`).

## Wire the oracle (optional, recommended)

For schema/validation answers without shell round-trips, add the read-only
MCP oracle to `~/.hermes/config.yaml`, then `/reload-mcp`:

```yaml theme={"system"}
mcp_servers:
  nika:
    command: nika
    args: [mcp]
    timeout: 120
```

Validation and learning only — running workflows stays on the terminal,
where the budget flags and traces live
([the oracle's contract](/reference/mcp-server)).

## Prove the delegation

In a Hermes session:

> Use the nika skill: smoke-test my nika install offline, then create
> hello.nika.yaml from the chain template, check it, and run it with the
> mock model. Report the trace verify verdict.

Expected: `nika --version` → `nika examples run 01-hello --model mock/echo`
(offline, zero keys) → `nika new --from chain` → `nika check --json` →
mock run → `nika trace verify` exit 0.

## The two clocks

Hermes runs live — its terminal is a pipe, and a long `nika run` renders
quietly until the final card. The skill teaches the fix: launch with
`background=true`, poll with `process(action="poll")`, then read
`nika trace show` for the run card.

## Cost honesty in delegation

* Always pass `--max-cost-usd` on paid cloud models — the floor refusal
  (exit 2) and the mid-run stop (`NIKA-1704`, exit 1) are the guardrails.
* Prefer local models for drafts (`ollama/…`) — no key, no meter.
* An **uncataloged** model meters as \$0: never rely on the budget cap for a
  custom endpoint ([cost honesty](/guides/cost-honesty)).