HERMES
Status: CURRENT
Scope: Hermes cognitive orchestration runtime, ownership boundaries, migration state
Canonical Owner: Hermes
Last Verified: 2026-07-12
Evidence Basis: docs/CANON.md, docs/architecture/CANONICAL_PLATFORM_ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/architecture/PRODUCT_ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/architecture/WORKBENCH_DOCTRINE.md, docs/platform-specs/23-agent-runtime.md, docs/platform-specs/06-twin-runtime.md, docs/platform-specs/10-signal-engine.md, Option B divergence audit, wrangler manifests, AGENTS.md
Supersedes: none
Superseded By: none
Canonical Reference: CANONICAL_PLATFORM_ARCHITECTURE.md
This document is downstream of the Canonical Platform Architecture. When this document contradicts the canonical architecture, the canonical architecture wins.
1. WHAT HERMES IS
Hermes is the cognitive orchestration runtime.
Hermes interprets signals, coordinates reasoning, selects capabilities, uses tools, coordinates agents, generates proposals, and coordinates action execution.
Hermes does not own canonical truth.
CONTEXT
↓
HERMES
├── interpret signals
├── coordinate reasoning
├── select capabilities
├── use tools
├── coordinate agents
├── generate proposals
└── coordinate action execution
2. HERMES OWNERSHIP LAW
Hermes may infer.
Hermes may propose.
Hermes may coordinate.
Hermes must not be documented as the canonical Spine writer.
Historical documents that assign canonical truth, canonical state ownership, or sole operational authorship to Hermes are inaccurate unless additional founder authorization is recorded.
Current canon forbids any model from owning canonical truth.
3. MIGRATION STATE OF HISTORICAL COGNITIVE RUNTIME IDENTITIES
Historical runtime identities or modules that target canonical collapse or repositioning into Hermes:
| Historical Identity | Documented Role | Migration State | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| think | semantic reasoning stage | PROPOSED/UNKNOWN | Need runtime manifest + retirement decision |
| act | semantic execution stage | PROPOSED/UNKNOWN | Need runtime manifest + retirement decision |
| govern | semantic governance stage | MIGRATING? current worker still named integratewise-govern | Need explicit target owner migration |
| l2 | cognitive overlay schema | PROPOSED/UNKNOWN | Need separation of runtime vs product grammar |
| signals | event/notification semantic | PROPOSED/UNKNOWN | Need repo evidence |
| intelligence | analytics + signal rendering | PARTIAL/CURRENT? | Need repo evidence for runtime overlap |
| twin-orchestrator | governed AI runtime | PARTIAL/HISTORICAL? | Some responsibilities may remain in iw-agent-runtime |
| iw-agent-runtime | Twin stateful runtime | PARTIAL/CURRENT | Active Durable Object runtime is deployed |
| agent-registry | registry/runtime identity | PROPOSED? | Classify after registry state review |
| iw-agent-runtime | per-user stateful Twin runtime | CURRENT/TARGET | Need end-to-end routing evidence |
Do not declare any of these merged into Hermes solely because the collapse is proposed. Document migration state explicitly.
4. TWIN AND HERMES DISTINCTION
Twin is a silent partner inside L1 Workbench.
Hermes is the cognitive orchestration runtime.
Twin and Hermes are not the same runtime identity.
Twin-authored proposals surface through L1 buttons (Four-Button OODA Grammar):
- Store in Spine (OBSERVE)
- Ask Your Twin (ORIENT)
- Assign Your Twin (DECIDE)
- Approve Twin's Action (ACT)
Hermes owns the coordination path behind proposal generation and action orchestration.
Documents that blur Hermes and Twin roles must be reviewed and classified as CONTRADICTORY or HISTORICAL.
5. RUNTIME EVIDENCE
Current wrangler manifests show:
- services/hermes/wrangler.toml name = integratewise-hermes
- services/iw-agent-runtime/wrangler.toml name = iw-agent-runtime
- services/twin-orchestrator/wrangler.toml name = twin-orchestrator
All three Worker identities exist in repo manifests. Deployment, routing, and call-graph evidence are required before classifying each as CURRENT operational runtime.
Hermes does not require these historic workers to remain alive. Their current lifecycle state must be classified per Option B evidence and runtime audit.
6. DOCUMENTS THAT PRECEDE THIS
- docs/CANON.md
- docs/FINAL_E2E_SYSTEM.md
- docs/platform-specs/23-agent-runtime.md
- docs/platform-specs/10-signal-engine.md
- docs/ip/tech/TWIN_AS_COGNITIVE_ORCHESTRATOR.md
When conflict arises between this document and those documents, this document is canonical.