I don't want an AI agent to turn a keyword into another 1,500 words of plausible advice. I want it to inspect the site, find a question worth answering, read the relevant documentation, and give me an article whose claims I can check.
Hermes Agent plus Google Search Console gets you part of the way there. Add reusable research and writing skills, your repository, and your own technical notes, and you have a workflow you can inspect instead of a conversation you hope went well.
This tutorial covers installation, connecting Google Search Console, and using short skill commands to research, write, or audit an article. It adapts the process behind my work at Straffe Sites.
Contents What you are connecting Install Hermes for your operating system Connect Search Console through gcloud Adapt the marketing skills for Hermes Turn the setup into an article Check the draft before you publish Troubleshooting before you blame the model
| Piece | Job | What it does not provide | | --- | --- | --- | | Hermes Agent | Runs the conversation and tools; reads files; follows skills | A Google account or verified technical expertise | | Google Search Console API | Returns search performance for properties you can access | Market-wide keyword volume or an explanation of why rankings changed | | NotFair's open-source skills | Supply research, audit, planning, and writing procedures | An automatically working replacement for their default hosted connector |
You ask for a task; Hermes loads the relevant skill, uses the connected tools, and returns an audit or draft for you to review. The skill carries the detailed procedure, so your chat message can stay short.
Your Google credentials stay in the local setup, but content passed to a cloud model may reach that model provider. Use approved accounts, keep credentials out of chat, and only share client data you are allowed to process.
You will need Git, a model provider configured in Hermes, and a Google account. You or your administrator must be able to approve Cloud setup and access to the intended Search Console property. Hermes can help select or create the Cloud project instead of making you configure it in advance. The Bash examples below target Linux, macOS, and WSL2 on Windows.
That executes a downloaded installer with your user's permissions and installs dependencies. If you prefer to review it first, use this route instead:
Open a new terminal if hermes is not yet on your PATH. Then verify the CLI and run setup in the default Hermes profile:
In setup, choose your model provider and follow its authentication flow. Hermes installation and access to a model are separate requirements.
The current platform support page lists Apple Silicon macOS as supported and Intel macOS as unsupported. Check that page before assuming an older Mac has the same installation path.
For the Bash examples in this article, use WSL2. In an administrator PowerShell window:
Restart if Windows requests it, open the installed Linux distribution, complete its initial user setup, and run the Linux installer above inside that shell. Have Hermes install Google Cloud CLI inside WSL too. Mixing a Windows Hermes process, WSL credentials, and Bash paths makes authentication harder to diagnose.
Hermes also has an official native Windows installer. If you prefer PowerShell rather than WSL:
Review that script first if you would not normally execute a remote installer. Native Windows installation is an alternative, not an extra step after WSL. The remaining shell snippets here are Bash; don't paste them unchanged into PowerShell. The Google setup prompt below asks Hermes to handle installation and paths for your actual environment, including native Windows.
For an introduction that also covers the desktop app, see installing Hermes on Voltti. Use the official Hermes docs for current commands.
Hermes can work out the installation commands, Cloud project setup, and authentication details from the official documentation. You handle Google login, consent, and 2FA. If browser control is unavailable, a Search Console property owner can add the email under Settings → Users and permissions. Restricted access is enough for performance reports.