Hermes Agent is a self-improving autonomous agent that creates and refines skills over time. By default, its research skills rely on the LLM's training data, which becomes stale for topics like pricing, tool versions, and market trends. Connecting an MCP search server gives Hermes access to live web data, making its research outputs accurate and current. This tutorial configures Scavio's MCP server with Hermes Agent's profile system.
Prerequisites
- Hermes Agent installed (v0.12.0+)
- A Scavio API key from scavio.dev
- Basic familiarity with Hermes Agent profiles
Walkthrough
Step 1: Create a research profile
Hermes Agent uses profiles to separate context and tool access. Create a dedicated research profile with MCP search.
# In your Hermes Agent config (hermes.config.json):
{
"profiles": {
"research": {
"description": "Research profile with live web search",
"mcp_servers": [
{
"name": "scavio-search",
"url": "https://mcp.scavio.dev/mcp",
"auth": {
"type": "header",
"key": "x-api-key",
"value": "$SCAVIO_API_KEY"
}
}
]
}
}
}Step 2: Verify tool discovery
Start Hermes with the research profile and verify it discovers search tools.
hermes --profile research
# In the Hermes shell:
> /tools
# Should list: google_search, reddit_search, youtube_search,
# amazon_search, walmart_search, and 6 more from ScavioStep 3: Create a search-grounded research skill
Define a skill that uses live search to verify claims before including them in outputs.
# Example skill prompt for Hermes:
# "Research {topic} using web search. For every factual claim
# (pricing, version, feature), verify it with a live search
# before including it. Cite the source URL for each verified claim.
# Do not include any unverified claims."
# The skill will use google_search, reddit_search, etc. automatically
# when it encounters claims that need verification.Step 4: Test with a pricing comparison task
Give Hermes a task that requires current data to verify the grounding works.
# In Hermes research profile:
> Compare the pricing of Tavily, Serper, and SerpAPI search APIs.
# Include current tier names and prices.
# Hermes should call google_search for each tool's pricing page
# and return verified, current pricing instead of training data.Python Example
# Hermes Agent MCP config for research profile:
import json
config = {
'profiles': {
'research': {
'mcp_servers': [{
'name': 'scavio-search',
'url': 'https://mcp.scavio.dev/mcp',
'auth': {'type': 'header', 'key': 'x-api-key', 'value': '$SCAVIO_API_KEY'}
}]
}
}
}
print(json.dumps(config, indent=2))JavaScript Example
// Hermes Agent MCP config:
const config = {
profiles: {
research: {
mcp_servers: [{
name: 'scavio-search',
url: 'https://mcp.scavio.dev/mcp',
auth: { type: 'header', key: 'x-api-key', value: '$SCAVIO_API_KEY' }
}]
}
}
};
console.log(JSON.stringify(config, null, 2));Expected Output
Hermes Agent research profile with live search grounding. Research skills verify claims with current web data before including them.